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GT-AXE16000 Poor Ethernet Performance

ViperXII
Level 8
Hi all - I've done quite a bit searching on this topic, but haven't found a fix. I'm hoping that someone here can offer an assist!

Current setup:
Internet: Xfinity, 1200 down / 40 up
Cable modem: Arris S33
Router: GT-AXE16000

The main issue I'm seeing is very mediocre and unstable Internet speeds when connected via Ethernet (currently 10G Port, but I've tried other ports as well.)

In speedtests (Fast.com, Speedtest app to local Comcast server), speeds start fast (just over 1Gbit) then immediately drop somewhere between 300-500Mbit before recovering a bit. In comparison, if my laptop is connected either directly to my modem or even to the 5GHz Wi-Fi network, I don't have any speed issues whatsoever and typically test around 1250-1300Mbit. I've actually noticed my gaming laptop typically speedtests faster with more stability on the 5GHz Wi-Fi network (160MHz channel) than it does Ethernet, which is both exciting and disappointing at the same time.

QoS is off, AiProtection is off, I've attempted switching the WAN port to one of the 10G ports, and I've factory reset it at least once in an attempt to fix the issue. No joy.

I did see a review from Tom's Hardware talking about slow Ethernet performance with the GT-AXE16000... If this isn't fixable, I may just switch over to an ET12 mesh system for my home rather than utilizing the GT-AXE16000 as my primary.

Thanks in advance!
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24 REPLIES 24

Saltgrass
Level 13
You don't mention what the Ethernet cable is plugged into on the System end. Also, you have checked or changed out your Ethernet cable?

If you were to have a Dell system, there may be something named SmartByte that could throttle speeds.

When something starts really fast, then slows down, it might be some type of buffer is being filled and once it is, the speed slows.

What does the Link speed show for your Ethernet network?
Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200

Saltgrass wrote:
You don't mention what the Ethernet cable is plugged into on the System end. Also, you have checked or changed out your Ethernet cable?

If you were to have a Dell system, there may be something named SmartByte that could throttle speeds.

When something starts really fast, then slows down, it might be some type of buffer is being filled and once it is, the speed slows.

What does the Link speed show for your Ethernet network?


Knew I probably missed something...

Yes, I've tried different Ethernet cables between the Arris S33 modem and the GT-AXE16000 (both CAT6 and CAT8) to see if the cable was a problem. Same symptoms persisted.

My laptop is a Razer Blade Advanced (Early 2020) and I connect to Ethernet utilizing an Asus 2.5gbps Ethernet to USB 3.0 dongle and CAT6 Ethernet cable. It works perfectly when direct connecting to my Arris S33 modem or previously to my old Netgear CAX80 router (which has inadequacies of its own which is why it's being replaced.)

Link speed for my Ethernet network is 2.5Gbps and the only time I have this issue is when I'm hard-wired to the GT-AXE16000 so I've been able to isolate the issue. Should have no throttling or QoS on my system side.

Hope this fills some gaps!

ViperXII wrote:
Knew I probably missed something...

Yes, I've tried different Ethernet cables between the Arris S33 modem and the GT-AXE16000 (both CAT6 and CAT8) to see if the cable was a problem. Same symptoms persisted.


I have been testing my system for the last couple of hours and am not that happy with it either. It may be the file I am transferring, but I should be able to get at least a consistent 1 Gbs but on some transfers, I am not getting much more than my ISP speed, which is around 600 Mbps.

More research will be done, even switching back to an AXE11000, may be necessary. I will also be ordering new networking cables.
Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200

Saltgrass wrote:
I have been testing my system for the last couple of hours and am not that happy with it either. It may be the file I am transferring, but I should be able to get at least a consistent 1 Gbs but on some transfers, I am not getting much more than my ISP speed, which is around 600 Mbps.

More research will be done, even switching back to an AXE11000, may be necessary. I will also be ordering new networking cables.


You absolutely should be able to get better than 600Mbps on LAN file transfers! I probably would've gone for an AXE11000 if I didn't have over 1Gbit Internet as it seems to be more proven. Asus needs to release better firmware for this device.

So after extensive (literally several hours and at different times of the day) speed testing and further troubleshooting, I think I might've found the issue...

Oddly, it seems like there was some sort of conflict between my Asus ethernet dongle's drivers and how that device interfaced with the AXE-16000. On a hunch, I uninstalled the drivers for that dongle and reinstalled them, even though my laptop had absolutely zero connectivity issues with other devices I tested with (Netgear CAX80 in both modem and router mode, Arris S33, Asus AC66U) other than the AXE-16000. I also ensured all other ethernet and wi-fi connections were turned off or disabled. My issues with irregular speed tests have vanished and I'm testing at full, consistent, stable speeds even with Gear Accelerator activated and fully prioritizing my gaming laptop's traffic.

So it looks like for the time being, I'll be keeping the AXE-16000 and not purchasing an ET-12. Really, really hoping this issue doesn't rear its ugly head again after my return window is up.

Saltgrass
Level 13
There is no way for us to know if your router has some particular problem. Below is an attachment of my transferring a 4 GB .wim file using Wireless (2402 Mbps) to the Router and a 2.5 GB link to my system.

I suppose we can't rule out the ASUS dongle being involved. The only type of test I can do it using different types large files to test the transfer rate.

And you do have plenty of room on the drive to which you are copying the file?

97795
Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200

jzchen
Level 14
I suspect with that kind of issue there’s some kind of errors so packets have to be resent. *Any source of noise? *I’ve read of 2.4 GHz and USB 3 causing issues. *Try turning off the 2.4 GHz band on your router and test again…

jzchen
Level 14
I was going to ask if you guys have enabled Jumbo Frame under Advanced Settings LAN -> Switch Control?

jzchen wrote:
I was going to ask if you guys have enabled Jumbo Frame under Advanced Settings LAN -> Switch Control?


I do not. I heard it wasn't a great idea to enable it unless absolutely necessary. Happy to be wrong if that isn't the case.

Saltgrass
Level 13
Changing to Jumbo Frame slowed mine down.

After my last test, I no longer need to check my system. With the speed I see here, going from Ethernet 2.5 Gbps to a Wi-Fi on the 5 GHz network, I got the transfer speed below. I don't know what was going on yesterday but this looks much better.

97824
Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200