I have dumb questions about WiFi....

I just ran a Speedtest and I'm getting 350mb down on my Orbi RBR850 satellite (an older mesh system and I'm sitting next to it). This is pretty much in line with our Spectrum plan which I think is around 500mb max.

I see that the latest Orbi system using WiFi 7 can get close to 30gig (lawd!). However, I'm assuming whatever cable you have running to the modem and then to the router is going to be your constraint in remotely hitting those speeds?

Example: if I upgraded from Spectrum to AT&T Fiber I can get up to 5gig with AT&T fiber. Spectrum is limited to 1gig in my area and it's actually more ex*****ve than AT&T.

In order to achieve that 5gig on AT&T I would need to have at least CAT6 cabling running from modem to router that can handle that? Challenge I have is that my modem is downstairs in a closet under stairs where it enters home and my router is upstairs and I think the cabling between the two is CAT5e at best.

Not even sure how I would replace cable between the two.

Am I on target with this thinking?

Yes you would need 6 to get full speed but tbh, speeds that fast are worthless right now as most devices cant consume it and even if it could, the services serving the data will not be sending it anywhere close to that.

FatZilla said:

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Yes you would need 6 to get full speed but tbh, speeds that fast are worthless right now as most devices cant consume it and even if it could, the services serving the data will not be sending it anywhere close to that.

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True but I'm thinking my max limit period is 1gig regardless due to CAT5e. I need to confirm.

YouBet said:

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FatZilla said:

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Yes you would need 6 to get full speed but tbh, speeds that fast are worthless right now as most devices cant consume it and even if it could, the services serving the data will not be sending it anywhere close to that.

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True but I'm thinking my max limit period is 1gig regardless due to CAT5e. I need to confirm.

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Yes, 5e is maxed at 1gig.

Your bottlenecks are:

PC NIC
Cable from PC to switch port
The switch port and switch itself
The cable to the modem
The modem port speed
The quality of the cable from your modem to the street. If it's fiber, then whether it's 62.6 or 50 micron.
If it's shared in the area, then what everyone else may be doing at the same time.

From there, you could also always be affected by environmental factors.

ETA: Also, cat6 is only rated up to 10Gbps up to around 100ft.

I would be good with the 2gig ATT now offers.

I'm bumping this for any help on best solution to improve my internet speed.

I have quad shield RG6 for cable internet from the street to modem. I then have plain old Cat5 from modem (which is downstairs in closet) to my router which is upstairs.

Rather than having to rerun cable which would be a huge project, can I switch to AT&T gig and connect fiber from street to a new gig modem and then connect directly to a gig router and cast gig wifi from downstairs closet?

I realize that is not remotely optimal but I'm wondering if I pay for 2g service can I still achieve 1g speeds (to offset bad router spot) or is being downstairs going to block signal whether it's 1G or 100g?

My other option is to potentially add another Orbi satellite and see if that helps some....