I upgraded my Spectrum internet plan to 1 Gbps. When I connect my computer directly to the modem over Ethernet, I get roughly the full advertised speed. However, when the modem connects through my Gryphon AC3000 router, my computer only reaches about 300 Mbps, and sometimes the speed drops closer to 100 Mbps. I already swapped the Ethernet cable and saw the same results. Is the router limiting the connection, or is there another setting I should check before replacing it?
2 Answers
Before buying anything, check the router’s firmware, QoS settings, parental controls, and security scanning. Those can reduce throughput significantly. If the AC3000 still cannot get close to gigabit speeds with those features disabled, it simply may not be powerful enough for the plan, even though its advertised Wi-Fi number sounds high. The AC3000 rating describes combined wireless capacity, not necessarily real-world internet routing speed.
The router is probably the bottleneck. A maximum around 300 Mbps, with occasional drops to 100 Mbps, usually means the hardware or its security features—such as packet inspection, antivirus filtering, or QoS—cannot route a full gigabit connection. Check the AC3000’s wired WAN/LAN specifications and temporarily disable traffic inspection or similar performance-heavy features to test it. Also verify that the computer and router are negotiating a 1 Gbps Ethernet link.
That matches what I was thinking. The router seems to top out around 300 Mbps, so I may need to replace it. I upgraded from 500 Mbps because the 1 Gbps plan was only a few dollars more, and the extra speed is useful for large game downloads and multiple streams.