is AX router needed for 1Gigabit PureFibre ?

[nic_ho_van]

Hi, 

I just upgraded from 150/150(300Mbps) to 1Gb PureFibre , my current Telus device is T3200M (from 2018). 

When I run speed tests directly from the Telus box , the max I can get is around 350-500 Mbps. Same from 

My personal devices are equipped with 802.11AX NIC so I could potentially reach 866Mbps (2 x 433Mbps channels).

Is the T3200 limited and cannot accommodate 1Gbps ? I believe it can from what I read. 

But the fact that the max speed (350-500 Mbps )measured directly at the router makes me think that what I receive at the endpoint is max 350-500 Mbps .

Tl;DR , should I ask Telus for a different device ? 
I like the simplicity of the T3200M , having just one box in the closet.

Also, My place is small and I don't need a large coverage ( 600sqFt ), so no need to have a booster in the living room.

Thank you ! 

[jackrabbit000]

I’m on 1 Gb fibre and have the T3200M.   My Ethernet speed is 940 mbps.   

[nic_ho_van]

what about from the box ?

[jackrabbit000]

What do you mean by “the box”? Running a Cat6 cable from my T3200M to my desktop I gives me 940 mbps.   

[nic_ho_van]

Thanks for sharing your speed on T3200M , this is helpful. 

Because I do not use cat cable for my test but the built in test in the telus box,  just to compare apple to apple . But I believe you will have at least 900Mbps in your case . 

So it seems my issue is I do not even receive 1Gb at the Box level (Telus Router , the T3200M ). 

No sure what s wrong then.

[Nighthawk]

If you really need the full bandwidth, hardwiring with ethernet is always the way to get it if on gigabit. I get consistent 940/940mbps that way.

You are likely confusing the theoretical max available bandwidth of a wireless NIC or the router vs. the actual speed you get to an individual device. The latter is always lower. While you may have an  802.11ax NIC, you won't see 866mbps ever when using it. Many wireless routers, even some brand new expensive Wifi6 mesh routers have a max speed per device of about 500mbps. It's just the way the wifi protocol works.

Wireless speed is also never guaranteed as there are so many environmental factors that affect speed. You mentioned your place is about 600sqft. If you are in a condo or apartment, you'll also have a lot of other networks nearby and that will also impact the wifi speed.

I am in a condo and I can see give or take about 50 other wifi networks in range. Even with that, when using my T3200M wifi, I get average about 500mbps down / 400mbps up over 802.11ac 5GHz wifi. That's pretty typical for most Wifi5 routers. If I connect to the Wifi6 Boost AP from Telus, which is 802.11AX (if you have it configured right), I get about 665 mbps down / 465 mbps up. Both of these speeds are while I'm within about 15ft of the Boost AP which is on the other side of the wall from me.

If you had a dedicated wifi6 AP, you may get faster speeds but you likely wouldn't notice any difference between the T3200 and Wifi6 for every day use. If you're downloading huge files like games, then yes there will be a more notable difference of maybe a few minutes. If gaming, ethernet is always better anyways. If you like the simplicity of having one device, keep things as they are now. The currently offered equipment from Telus would need the separate Boost wifi AP for wifi as the NAH has no wireless capabilities of its own.

[nic_ho_van]

Thank you Nighthawk for the details, 

I just plugged into a cable cat5e and received instant 960 Mbps. 

What I find a bit odd is the router built-in test never get that speed. 

Also I found stats in the router and they don't really match with what I see  from a browser test (wifi) .

These results are higher : 

I guess without AX wifi router or booster,  then no real gain going with 1G , 500mbps would give me ma max speed anyways . Right ? 

[Nighthawk]

The built in tests haven't worked in years. They're good for 250mbps connections but not faster. It's been mentioned on the forums here in the past but it's been quite a while since I've seen it. You'd need an actual external speed test site like speedtest.net or fast.com.