TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000

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TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-02-23 18:17:48
Model: Archer A7  
Hardware Version: V5
Firmware Version:

I'm pairing an Archer A7 wifi router and an AX3000 wifi adapter, but I'm not recieving the speed I expect.  The Archer A7 router (AC1750) lists a 5Ghz speed of 1300Mpbs and the AX3000 adapter lists a speed of 2402 Mpbs for 5Ghz.  The PC with the adapter is about 6 feet from the router, but on the wifi connection is listing a link speed of only 866 Mpbs.  When I do a speed test on the internet, I'm only getting about 300-350 Mpbs, but when I do a speed test with a hard link from the Archer A7 router to my integrated NIC, I will get 750-800 Mpbs.

 

Can someone explain why I'm not getting this same speed with the 100% TP-Link wifi network?  with the lowest speed between the two devices being 1300 Mpbs, I would expect to hit that same 750-800 Mpbs.

 

I have the latest firmware on the router, and the latest drivers for the adapter, which is installed on a Windows 10 64 PC.  I'm really feeling frustrated because I just upgraded the adapter specifically to get this faster speed, but this speed is the same as my old adapter (TP-Link Archer T9E).

 

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

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10 Reply
Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-02-24 17:50:47

@Turom 

 

The A7 is not an AX router, it is AC so the adapter is connecting via AC not AX. Putting the channel width to 80 MHz on the A7, and with your wireless adapter having a 2x2 antenna, that gives a link speed of 867 Mbps. If you are looking for 2400 Mbps, then you need an AX router that supports 160 Mhz channel width like the Archer AX6000.

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Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-02-25 17:09:50

@Tony 

 

Thank you for your response.

 

I wasn't looking for 2400 Mpbs, I just wanted the ~750 Mpbs that my internet connection supports.  Since the A7 router advertises 1300 Mpbs and the card advertises 2400 Mpbs, I thought 750 Mpbs was reasonable to expected.

 

Prior to the AX3000, I was using an AC1750 WiFi adapter (advertised speed of 1300Mbp), but even with that I was only getting 300 Mpbs over WiFi.

 

Is it possible to get even half the advertised speed from the A7?

 

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#3
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Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-02-26 00:16:38

@Turom 

 

Here is an article that talks about that where link speed doesn't necessarily mean the real-world speed you would expect: https://community.tp-link.com/us/home/stories/detail/381

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Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-02-26 00:51:01

@Turom 

 

I don't understand what make and model your Wifi adapter is? I'll assume AC 802.1 Speed rating (1900Mbps).

 

Now I have one too, and I connect to an AC SSID. My connection speed is :

 

 

A 1300Mbps device is probably 900Mbps (N speed) and 400 for 2.4Ghz SSID.

 

I have 400/20 Mbps service from my ISP. I get over 400Mbps down.

 

That has nothing to do with WIRED speeds. This PC can do both, and I do get 480Mbps wired. Wired you are running 1GBps between the router and PC, hence you can get full speed.

 

Make sure you have an AC Speed Wireless device, and if it is connected to the PC via USB, make sure it is on a USB 3.0 port.

 

 

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Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-02-26 14:56:54 - last edited 2021-02-26 15:01:18

@IrvSp 

 

Originally I was using a TP-Link AC1750 (Archer T8E), but since I was only getting about 300 Mpbs download speeds, I decided to try upgrading the adapter to an AX3000.  The speed stayed right around the same, which is why I came here looking for help.

 

The first response to my message seemed to indicate the new adapter wasn't appropriate for my WiFi router since it's an ax and with only 2 antenna.  That's when I started asking about the Archer T8E because it's an AC adapter with 3 antenna and rated for 1300 Mpbs (and I already have this adapter since I just replaced it).  If my TP-Link Archer A7 AC1750 uses a 5Ghz channel higher than 48, the Archer T8E cannot even see the 5Ghz network exists.

 

I don't care whether I use the AX3000 or Archer T8E, I'd just like to get the advertised speed of the router (1300 Mpbs).

 

I only mentioned the wired speed because that demonstrates the download speed my internet provider is actually giving me, which in turn shows that the WiFi network is my issue -- not my ISP or anything else.

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#6
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Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-02-27 01:54:12

@Turom 

 

Well, you have to understand what to expect, and what router numbers really mean.

 

A good read, although 'technical' like this would be good if you understand it, https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html

 

Now this part:

 

=========

TP-Link AC1750
 
AC1750 Wireless Dual Band Gigabit Router. Supports 802.11ac standard - Faster than wireless N speeds* Simultaneous 2.4GHz 450 Mbps and 5GHz 1300 Mbps connections for 1.75Gbps of total available bandwidth*

=============

 

You can't get 1700Mbps out of it in one SSID... the number of Mbps per band are added together and rounded. An AC device capable of 1300Mbps WILL make the CONNECTION at that speed. However, at best, you can expect 1/2 that speed (see link above), and usually less.

 

================

Archer T8E

End of Life

AC1750 Wireless Dual Band PCI Express Adapter

  • Ultra-fast 1750 (1300+450)Mbps wireless speed with 802.11ac
  • Dual Band connections for lag-free HD video streaming and gaming
  • 3T3R MIMO technology provides robust high-bandwidth wireless transmission

=================

 

See, 2 bands added together. To get the TOP speed you'll need to have 3T3R MIMO SSID signal as well. That is old as well, but Google "3T3R MIMO" and you'll find some routers that have it. Not sure but if your router supports MIMO, it needs to be on as well for better speed. It can of course bother other devices that do not have this feature.

 

==========================

Archer AX3000

AX3000 Dual Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router

  • Wi-Fi 6 Technology Featuring Intel: Wi-Fi 6 technology achieves up to 3x faster speeds, higher capacity and lower latency compared to the previous generation of Wi-Fi 5 while the power of Intel's dual-core CPU ensures your experience is smooth and buffer-free.*  
  • Next-Gen 3 Gbps Speeds: Reaches incredible speeds up to 3 Gbps (2402 Mbps on 5 GHz band and 574 Mbps on 2.4 GHz band) for faster streaming and gaming like you have never experienced before. 

 

======================

 

Again, you need the device that can handle it. As you can see, that 3000 'speed' is the addition of the 2 bands.

 

Here is the data for my Archer A20:

 

==============

AC4000 MU-MIMO Tri-Band Wi-Fi Router

  • Ultra-Fast Processing: An 1.8 GHz 64-bit CPU handles all
  • 4000 Mbps Wi-Fi Speed: 1625 Mbps on both 5G bands and 750 Mbps on 2.4G band*

 

==================

 

Sure, it can do 4000Mbps, combined over 3 SSID's. AC router too I don't even know of an AC card that can do 1625Mbps

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Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-03-01 14:35:06

@IrvSp 

 

I understand that it's not reasonable to expect the full advertised speed.  However I'm getting at best, 350 Mpbs for the 1300Mpbs advertised speed, which is 26%.  Is 26% reasonable for a wifi connection that's spanning all of 6-7 feet from adapter to router?  I'm not looking for 1300 Mpbs since my internet speed is capped at 700-750Mpbs.

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Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-03-01 15:10:28

 

Turom wrote

@IrvSp 

 

I understand that it's not reasonable to expect the full advertised speed.  However I'm getting at best, 350 Mpbs for the 1300Mpbs advertised speed, which is 26%.  Is 26% reasonable for a wifi connection that's spanning all of 6-7 feet from adapter to router?  I'm not looking for 1300 Mpbs since my internet speed is capped at 700-750Mpbs.

@Turom 

 

Let us backtrack to one of the links (duckware) I posted above.

 

There are 3 numbers thrown around, and they mean different things.

 

  1. Connection Speed, the speed at which the device connects to the PC. In this case, 1300Mbps... and all that means it is the MAX. that it can do.
  2. Theoretical (PHY) Speed, part of the 802.11 spec for wireless, and this depends on many factors.
  3. Actual Speed, what you get depending on actual state of the connections and transports.

 

From the above link:

 

==========

The solution: Go to your wireless device and find the PHY speed (the raw bitrate between the device and your AP/router) and take 70% of that PHY speed to estimate maximum application speed (the next section explains why the overhead is so large). Then lookup the PHY speed number in the PHY speed tables to then find which MIMO level is currently being used.

==========

 

Also, don't go by the box rating, but the real connection speed seen on the Adapter Status on the Network and Sharing Center device list.

 

 

Many times it might not be connecting at that rated speed, but sometime even 866.7Mbps.

 

You use that figure and 40 to 50% to be the actual speed is normal.

 

Still, do you have matching MIMO router and adapter? Is this an AC device? Do you have AX enabled? If so, turn off AX. Also retest with NO SECURITY, might work faster and then it could be security related.

 

If you open a CMD prompt in W10 and run netsh wlan show all | more (more means each window is stopped and you can press enter to see another windows of data) you can see a lot of data. I was surprised when I looked that MU-MIMO is said was NOT supported, but my device (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07P6Z6NZD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1) says it has it? It is enabled on my Router? Could be the RealTek Driver I guess, but I am getting MAX. possible speed from my ISP as long as it is connected to USB 3.0 which should handle up to 600Mbps I recall? Only can get 250Mps or so via USB 2.0.

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Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-03-14 21:36:22

@IrvSp 

 

I returned the TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000 since it consistently speed tests slower than the TP-Link Archer T9E I was previously using.  Even with the WiFi adapter and WiFi router sitting 8.5 feet from each other, with no obstructions, they will only maintain a 866.5 Mpbs connection.  Even with all encryption disabled, I can only just barely hit 400 Mpbs.

 

If TP-Link is going to advertise 1300 Mpbs connections, they should be honest about it -- real world scenarios.  I'm convinced these devices will only meet the advertised speeds if the damn antenna are touching each other.

 

I no longer have faith in TP-Link as a brand.

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Re:TP-Link Archer A7 & TP-Link WiFi 6 AX3000
2021-03-14 23:56:53 - last edited 2021-03-14 23:58:34

@Turom 

 

Turom wrote

 Even with the WiFi adapter and WiFi router sitting 8.5 feet from each other, with no obstructions, they will only maintain a 866.5 Mpbs connection.  Even with all encryption disabled, I can only just barely hit 400 Mpbs.

 

 

Well, like I said, there is Connection Speed and Real World Speed.

 

400Mbps is about all you can get from the 867Mbps Connection speed. There is a lot of overhead and back and forth to reach the actual speed you see.

 

As I showed you, I get 1.3Gbps.

 

My Band settings are these:

 

 

Some if the above you might not have. I found setting the band to AC only also helps as does MIMI.

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#11
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