I’m paying for the broadband and what I’m paying it’s to supposed to be 900 and I get 100mbps

[Mgriff04]

I'm m paying for the broadband and what I’m paying it’s to supposed to be 900 mbps and I get 100mbps and help would be helpful 

[TimmyBGood]

@Mgriff04 

Are you measuring that over ethernet or WiFi?

If ethernet, is the client device definitely gigabit rather than 100baseT?

Note that only the Sky Max Hub has WiFi 6: you won't get anything like 900Mbs over WiFi from a previous model.  Client devices must be WiFi 6 as well to benefit from that technology.

[Mgriff04]

Re: I’m paying for it so I should get what I’m paying for and measuring WiFi

[TimmyBGood · Accepted solution]

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@Mgriff04 wrote:

 I’m paying for it so I should get what I’m paying for

You aren't paying for 900Mbs WiFi: you're paying for that much bandwidth being delivered on optical cabling as far as the ONT, then over ethernet cable to the router.  That's the same for all ISPs on the Openreach network.

Anything like 900Mbs wirelessly simply isn't possible without both the router and the client device being specified to the WiFi 6 (802.11ax) standard: the previous generation WiFi technology (802.11ac) cannot carry such speed. 

Even with WiFi 6, gigabit speed from a router is rather unlikely on the other side of a wall:  some fairly fundamental physics relating to the attenuation of wireless signal when travelling through solid objects applies.

[Mgriff04]

Is there a way to simplify this message 

[TimmyBGood]

@Mgriff04 

How about " Broadband is not the same thing as WiFi " ?

[Mgriff04]

How do I go on then with broadband on 

[TimmyBGood]

@Mgriff04 

Essentially you need to accept that you'll never get the same speed over WiFi as you're paying for at the router: that's what ethernet cable is for.

To find out what speed is actually arriving at the router needs an ethernet-cabled device with a gigabit chipset.

Also important to understand that very few wireless devices need anything like a gigafast internet connection: really only gaming PCs / consoles do, and they should be on ethernet anyway.  Streaming UHD Netflix takes about 30Mbs.

[JimM1]

@TimmyBGood 

Not sure if it is allowed to reference other material, but there is a very good description at Duckware

Understanding WiFi xxxxx  bit of a read but really good.

extract

In summary: Wi-Fi can only operate as fast as the least capable Wi-Fi device in a 'conversation',
which almost always is your client device (and not the router).

KEY Wi-Fi concept: Client devices often limit speeds, not the router/AP.

The weakest link in Wi-Fi is YOUR client device: You have 1 Gbps Internet, and just bought a very
expensive AX11000 class router with advertised speeds of up to 11 Gbps, but when you run a speed
test from your iPhone XS Max (at a distance of around 32 feet), you only get around 450 Mbps (±45
Mbps). Same for iPad Pro. Same for Samsung Galaxy S8. Same for a laptop computer. Same for most
wireless clients. Why? Because that is the speed expected from these (2×2 MIMO) devices! This
section explains in great detail exactly why that is.