Replacing Router

I timed out.. I wish Apple gave us a bit more editing time.

Just to add the bit about Hardware NAT is vital.

I did a search for WAN to LAN throughput.

https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/7858/ubiquiti-amplifi-hd-802-11ac-mesh-wi-fi-review/index.html

Unfortunately they give very little info about their testing procedure.. in the search for confirmation I found the info referenced above about hardware NAT.

Hardware NAT removes all functionality like QoS, Firewall, Parental Controls. etc. Anything that involves packet inspection must be off otherwise it is using firmware NAT and it will reduce the speed by half or more in the cases of lower power devices.

Did you make sure your router is set to hardware NAT??

My existing WiFi password is pure alphanumerics and has no spaces, but, unfortunately, is 21 characters long.

That is no problem.. I usually add the comment.. more if you are paranoid. I think the limit is 64.. so it was not prescriptive.. merely enough to ensure security.

Just as btw.. I would tend to say now is the time to change password.. pain I know but keeping the same password for years and years is not a good idea. You should change them on cycle of at least 2x per annum. (Not that I do it)

However when making a major equipment change I think it worthwhile.

Tesserax explained the other part..

It is nature particularly of mobile devices to gather an inordinate number of wireless names and passwords.. A very good practice is to clear out all currently stored wireless names.. do a full reboot and then do a wireless discovery again.

Here is the Apple article.

https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT208941

Sorry for late reply.. I am in Melbourne Australia.

If I create Network Names and Passwords on the new router that are identical to the existing ones on the Airport, will that allow my 6 WiFi devices to maintain their connections or must I reconfigured each device all over again?

There is no one right or wrong answer.

I just replaced a couple of wireless routers with a different brand.. I used identical wireless name (SSID) and Password.

End result.

One user is so happy everything is working better than ever. (The desired outcome)

One user cannot get on the internet at all. (Definitely not the desired or even expected outcome)

Some programs that were working now don't on another user's computer.

I have been a computer tech and doing this for a few too many years now and so my reply to your question is.. do whatever suits you.. because some clients will work better than ever.. some not at all.. and some work but with issues. (It is the answer to everything.. yes no and maybe. Amazing how often the real world is like that).

If your Airport used typical APPLE RECOMMENDED airport naming.. something like..

Fred Blog's Airport Extreme

Just don't.. it is wrong on so many levels.

Use a short name <8 characters if possible, no spaces and pure alphanumerics.

Password same rules but 8-20 characters.

Make sure you use WPA2 Personal security.. if AES is part of the offering use it. Or WPA2 AES.

eg

NOT

The problem with using identical name and password is the behind the screens name, is a more important name, BSSID which will be different.. and rather like wired roaming network.. it will not always work.. delete the existing wireless, restart the device.. rediscover the wireless and type in the password. (even though they are identical to previously used user name and password) That should help.

The location of the test server doesn't seem to correlate at all.

You will not get gigabit speeds from many websites.. other than test sites of your ISP I am guessing. Or other major test sites.. latency will go up to servers far away but if the sites are not overloaded the speed should be good as long as all the interconnects are fast.

from a download low of 64Mbps to a high of 553.53 Mbps.

If you are testing all of the devices to the same site.. are all these tests by ethernet.. because if not.. there is no way wireless will give you consistent results.

First thing to check is if the client is working on 2.4ghz or 5ghz.

And what link speed it is getting.

So for my computer here.

I am getting a link speed of 878Mbps.. but with wifi actual throughput will be half of that.. due to wireless being half duplex.. it cannot Tx and Rx at the same time. So best case will be around 480Mbps.. if you look at your highest speed connection .. that looks about right for maxed out AC wireless.

On the other hand if I swap to 2.4ghz the max link speed on a Mac is 217Mbps. That will give an actual throughput on a good day with nothing sharing of around 100Mbps.

I don't own amplifi router to check but the Asus I use has excellent listing of speed of items like clients where it is hard to locate the speed. Check the manual for your amplifi how to locate link info.

You can see the speed at the router is much worse than the speed at the device.. which means a lot lower throughput.

Does that cover most of the problem?

Remember to get 922Mbps plug ethernet directly to the modem.. and measure it to best test site.. that is the only way you will achieve those speeds. Any router will slice off a bit of the total. And using wireless will slice off most of it.

Randy Knowles wrote:

What I am not sure I understand is: "it will not always work.. delete the existing wireless, restart the device.. rediscover the wireless and type in the password. (even though they are identical to previously used user name and password) That should help." By delete the existing wireless would I do that in System Preferences-->Network-->Wi-Fi-->Network Name? How do I "rediscover the wireless"? Would the "previously used user name" be the SSID under Network Name?

I believe LaPastenague is referring to each individual computer that has an issue with reconnecting to the "new" wireless network. The process of deleting, and then, attempting to reconnect is the rediscover part.

Yes, I think changing to new SSID makes setup a lot easier. It makes it clear what is on the new network.

For most devices a new setup is easy.. for any computer just select the SSID you wish from the list and type in the password.. easy. For printers it is usually easier to use WPS. Please read what is involved in using WPS on your Ubiquiti Amplifi unit.

I have hit the problem with getting a TV to join wireless and in the end just could not get the TV stupid typing setup to work so just select WPS in the router and away it goes.

To test you must plug ethernet directly to the Modem.. unplug and remove the Amplifi.

The problem is IPv4 goes through NAT.. and all routers have a NAT speed which is highly variable depending on the setup of the router.

Note carefully the need to use Hardware NAT.

See https://help.amplifi.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016146534-Troubleshooting-Not-Getting-Gigabit-Speeds

However if the test is using IPv6 it is not using NAT and then it will depend on other issues.

I am not in US as you know, so cannot really tell you which test sites work .. but if you want the best available you need to test to a site supported and maintained by your ISP in your city. e.g. if they have a download cache of files for say linux distribution.. download one of those.. as that is a much better test than usual ookla sites.

So WiF is not a factor.

Sorry when you stated earlier that you were getting such a large variation in speeds I assumed you were using wireless. And the vast majority of the thread is about wifi.. and issues with wifi..

Clearly I did not ask enough questions.

Exactly what computer are you using for these tests? It must have inbuilt ethernet NOT dongle.

Since only desktop computers have ethernet ports in the Apple world now.. apple long ago eliminated ethernet from their laptops. If you are getting such huge variation from the same site.. on the same computer in tests immediately one after the other with the computer plugged directly to the modem, then ISP has to be responsible.

If it is on different computers it is more complicated.. as in any testing you MUST set conditions to perfectly replicate the original. You cannot use Amplifi router in such testing.. because you need to establish a baseline first. What sites consistently give you gigabit (-10%) speed. Then you can put the Amplifi back and test.. taking care with checking IPv6 vs IPv4.