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TP-Link TD-9980 poor wifi speed

fishyweb
Community Veteran
Posts: 70
Thanks: 3
Registered: ‎07-08-2015

TP-Link TD-9980 poor wifi speed

I've had the 40/2 FTTC package from PN for a couple of weeks now. The line speed is great - 36MB/S when I use a wired connection to the router, and sometimes when I use a wireless connection as well. Most of teh time though, my wireless speed is around 12 or 20MB/S, whether on the 2.4GHz or 5GHz frequency.
I initially thought that might be due to a repeater that broadcasts with a different SSID on the same 2.4 GHz channel as the router - but I'm also getting the same slow speed on the 5GHz frequency and there are no other Wifi networks in range on that frequency.
Anyone else had poor wifi speeds with this model router?
Any ideas what might be the cause of this?
5 REPLIES 5
PeeGee
Pro
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Registered: ‎05-04-2009

Re: TP-Link TD-9980 poor wifi speed

At first, I thought there was a problem as my Freesat unit was reporting 24Mb/s but it changed to 300Mb/s as soon as I started iPlayer.
I also set it to "11n only" as I do not need 11b or 11g and that has, with a previous router, improved speeds. You may need to change the repeater as well, just to make sure.
Phil
Plusnet FTTC (Sep 2014), Essentials (Feb 2013); ADSL (Apr 2009); Customer since Jan 2004 (on 28kb dial-up)
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
ejs
Aspiring Hero
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Registered: ‎10-06-2010

Re: TP-Link TD-9980 poor wifi speed

"11n only" shouldn't really make any difference. There's not really much point in trying to pretend any 11g devices operating on the same channel don't exist, either the "11n only" setting won't change anything, or if it did actually disable the protection mechanisms, that could make things worse.
Also, attempting to use 40MHz / up to 300Mb on the crowded 2.4 GHz band might actually make things slower than sticking to 20MHz.
Unfortunately, it's difficult to know what the problem might be. Getting some software that measures the signal strength might be useful. On 2.4 GHz you would typically require a minimum received signal strength of -65 dBm to get the full wireless speed, around -60 to -50 dBm or higher should ensure the signal strength is not the problem.
PeeGee
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Registered: ‎05-04-2009

Re: TP-Link TD-9980 poor wifi speed

Quote from: ejs
"11n only" shouldn't really make any difference. There's not really much point in trying to pretend any 11g devices operating on the same channel don't exist, either the "11n only" setting won't change anything, or if it did actually disable the protection mechanisms, that could make things worse.

Apart from forcing you to use WPA/WPA2 AES, I'm not sure what else happens - perhaps not having to check for protocols etc specific to 11bg? It may be helped by using 13/9 channel pair and the use by others of 1 and 6 as primary, with a couple of 11s (apart from my neighbour's router which automatically follows whatever channel pair I select!).
Phil
Plusnet FTTC (Sep 2014), Essentials (Feb 2013); ADSL (Apr 2009); Customer since Jan 2004 (on 28kb dial-up)
Using a TP-Link Archer VR600 modem-router.
PowerLee
Pro
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Registered: ‎12-03-2013

Re: TP-Link TD-9980 poor wifi speed

Are you running the most up to date firmware on your TD W9980?
Latest one is dated 7/5/15.
http://uk.tp-link.com/download/TD-W9980.html#Firmware
Ive been using the TD W9980 for a year now, never had any issues with it.
fishyweb
Community Veteran
Posts: 70
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Registered: ‎07-08-2015

Re: TP-Link TD-9980 poor wifi speed

Thanks for the ideas so far, folks. Unfortunately, I need to have 11g available on 2.4 GHz for the sake of my aging Wifi printer. I've now set the 5GHz channel to 11n only, though haven't noticed any consistent improvement.
Note that signal strength is fine, I've checked this with the Android app "Wifi Analyzer". Most of the speed tests are conducted while sat right next to the router.
My router actually shipped with that latest firmware, so I've not needed to update that.
Good to know that some folks are using this router with no issues.
If there are any other ideas, I'll be very happy to receive them!