Router not fast enough?

[jcdenton]

I just upgraded to Gigabit today and the installer stated that the router telus supplies is actually not fast enough for Gigabit speeds.

The advertised speeds are 950Mbit down and 250 mbit up. I'm getting 850 down 275 up as I guess the router isn't quite fast enough. Will a faster one be available soon? Or is there a workaround to get the full speed?

The current router is a T3200M connected to the fibre modem

Thanks!

[Nighthawk]

You do not have a modem if you are using fibre. The T3200 is merely a router with gigabit ethernet ports on it. You'll also find that most speed test websites are not able to give accurate results to gigabit connections. 

[jcdenton]

Really? Because if I connect directly to the fibre modem's Ethernet out, bypassing the router I get no connection. So I assumed the router was also required to even access the internet.

But if I were to connect a better router I could get the full speed then?

[Nighthawk]

There is no modem at all in any capacity. You have a fibre optic terminal and a router. The ONT only has ONE active port on it and that is what the T3200 is connected to.

The bigger question will be how are you testing your speed? Did you see my previous comment about speed test sites not being able to give reliable results for gigabit connections?

[jcdenton]

Right got it. But the installer said the t3200m is not fast enough to deliver the full speed, and that its the fastest they had available at that time.

I tested using a variety of speedtest servers as well as our work server which has 10g speed, located in the same city. The fastest speed was about 850 down, which was consistent with what the installer had said for max t3200m speed

So would a faster router fix this problem?

[Nighthawk]

Ignore the installer. The T3200 is designed and rated for a fibre connection. Plus, a gigabit port is a gigabit port. The only things that impact speed will be the fibre connection itself, the CPU on the router, and the computer(s) connected to the router. To check the easy one, take your computer and borrow the ethernet cable from the T3200 plug that computer directly to the fibre ONT. Run the test then. See if your computer is the bottleneck.

Also do you have Optik tv? If yes, that will mean you'll need the T3200 for Optik to work at its best. There is the odd third party router that may be capable of dealing with multicast data, but most don't do it well or reliably.

A new expensive replacement router might show some difference but not likely by much if any. You'll be looking easily in the $200+ router range. An example of a highly rated router. 

[jcdenton]

"take your computer and borrow the ethernet cable from the T3200 plug that computer directly to the fibre ONT. Run the test then. See if your computer is the bottleneck."

That doesn't work, I don't get an internet connection unless I am connected to the T3200
The computer is not the bottleneck, as it has been used for Gigabit in the past.

Nope, no Optik TV

[Nighthawk]

Make sure the computer is plugged into port 1 only on the ONT. None of the others are enabled.

[jcdenton]

Okay its working now, but barely. With it plugged directly into port 1 of the fibre box I get a whopping 1.7 Mbits down, but i still get ~278 mbit up. Strange
Did notice a decrease in latency of about 2 ms though which is nice

[rc]

Cannot find any specific performance information on the t3200, but I would not be surprised by the installers comment regarding speed of 850 Mbps.   

Router performance numbers that have been published on smallnetbuilder.com  show numbers in the range of 750 to 950 Mbps.   The bulk of the tested routers show performance numbers in the 750 - 850 range while  a few routers can get up to 950 Mbps.

The following link shows the performance numbers for a couple of routers.

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32958-netgear-r7800-nighthawk-x4s-smart-wi...

What typically effects performance on consumer grade routers is the overhead associated with address translation (NAT) and firewall rule processing.