Hey everyone! I'm having a frustrating issue with my wired internet where the speed has plummeted from 1Gbps to about 95–100Mbps. My internet plan is for 1Gbps, and it has been consistently fast for years. My setup goes like this: modem to router to PC using a Cat7 cable.
Previously, speed tests showed I could get up to ~950Mbps on Ethernet and around 500Mbps on WIFI, which was fantastic. However, that has changed, and now both Ethernet and WIFI speeds are capped at around 95Mbps. Strangely, Windows still indicates that I'm connected at 1000Mbps, and the speed lights on the motherboard are also showing the same. Yet, when I run speed tests or download games, the speeds are limited.
I ran a few tests:
- Modem ➔ Router ➔ (Cat7 round cable) ➔ PC ➔ ~95Mbps
- Modem ➔ Router ➔ (Cat7 flat cable) ➔ PC ➔ ~95Mbps
- Modem ➔ PC ➔ ~950Mbps (this works fine)
I've switched ports on the router, power cycled everything, but the speed is still stuck around 95Mbps. My motherboard is an x670e Hero and the router is an RT-AC86U, both have the latest firmware. Could the router be the issue? I'm at a bit of a loss here. Any thoughts on what could be wrong?
6 Answers
Check your Ethernet adapter settings! Go to Device Manager, find your adapter, and make sure 'Speed & Duplex' is set to Auto Negotiation. Sometimes this can really affect the speed you see.
This happened to me as well! I called my ISP, and they had me unplug the Ethernet, wait a bit, and then plug it back in. Sometimes it resets the connection properly.
It sounds like you might have a faulty router. If it's been working fine for years and suddenly dropped speed, that's definitely a possibility.
Have you thought about replacing the cables? Ethernet cables can occasionally fail and default to a slower speed. If you have a known good cable, swap it out to see if that changes anything.
Also, I'd recommend not using Cat7 cables for your setup unless you really need them. You should test directly from the modem to the PC to see if you get full speed without the router in the mix.
I’ll give that a shot! I'll test the cables on another device too.
Sounds like the Ethernet connection between your modem and router negotiated down to 100Mbps for some reason. Unplugging and plugging it back in might help, and don't forget to reboot both the modem and router. If that doesn't work, definitely try replacing the cable!
Check the ports on your router. If any of the pins aren't making contact with the cable, that could be causing it to negotiate a lower speed. Take a look and see if it's all wired up correctly.
I looked into that, and it is already set to Auto Negotiation. Thanks for the tip though!