Computers & Electronics

Will new router increase DL speed

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Deal Addict
Sep 11, 2006
1382 posts
360 upvotes
Toronto

Will new router increase DL speed

I have a Dir-655 wireless router but I only use it as a hard wired router for my PS4 and PC. I was just wondering if upgrading my router would increase my DL or UP rate at all. I have installed the latest firmware but the router is about 5 years old so I thought I would ask.
Thanks
13 replies
Deal Addict
Nov 27, 2004
3061 posts
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If you're using wired only and your Internet speed is less than 100Mbps then no, a new router would not help.

You would only get a new router if:
1. Modem/plan exceeds the router speed
2. Unstable router causing reboots
3. New wireless tech to increase coverage and speed
Deal Expert
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Jun 12, 2003
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Markham
Depends... Can you check your router load while downloading at max speed?

My old wrt54gl with shabby tomato firmware reaches near 100% usage when I max out my 25mbps dsl connection... And that's only with direct download (low number of concurrent busy connections)

It gets owned when I bittorrent with QoS
ShadowVlican
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Oct 6, 2005
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ShadowVlican wrote: My old wrt54gl with shabby tomato firmware reaches near 100% usage when I max out my 25mbps dsl connection... And that's only with direct download (low number of concurrent busy connections)

It gets owned when I bittorrent with QoS
QoS requires state tracking and is very CPU intensive and the WRT54GL is a very old router - more than 10 years?

If the OP is using stock firmware on the DIR-655, it can hit 250mbps+: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless ... ick-review

So to the OP, no a new router probably won't fix your Internet speeds.
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
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tmpz wrote: If you're using wired only and your Internet speed is less than 100Mbps then no, a new router would not help.
This is all sorts of wrong. Most consumer routers (especially older routers) can't come close to reaching port speeds when routing.
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Jul 27, 2009
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If you are downloading/uploading through ethernet cable through your ISP than no it won't make a difference. But if you are streaming locally(lan) from a computer to your tv, PS4 and many other sources all at once than it might.
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Apr 16, 2001
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death_hawk wrote: This is all sorts of wrong. Most consumer routers (especially older routers) can't come close to reaching port speeds when routing.
Sure they can. My e3000 hit 120Mbps, and that was using Tomato with no HW acceleration. I only replaced it when I upgraded to 150/10.
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Deal Expert
Oct 6, 2005
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death_hawk wrote: This is all sorts of wrong. Most consumer routers (especially older routers) can't come close to reaching port speeds when routing.
Most routers from the last 5 years or so can probably hit 200mbps+, more than adequate for the home user.
Deal Addict
Sep 27, 2008
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JAC wrote: Sure they can. My e3000 hit 120Mbps, and that was using Tomato with no HW acceleration. I only replaced it when I upgraded to 150/10.
No you weren't. If your maxing out the router at 120Mbps down your port speed is 1GbPS not 100MbPS. Either way if you were to run a download which required many connections or if some devices were downloading on WiFi at the same time you would have gotten no where close total download speed.
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Aug 22, 2006
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coolspot wrote: Most routers from the last 5 years or so can probably hit 200mbps+, more than adequate for the home user.
This gets wronger as you go lower in price points. I've tested numerous routers that can barely hit 20mbps let alone hit 100mbps (aka the speed of the WAN port).
If you stick above the $100 mark then sure, a decent portion of them should be able to reach at least 100mbps. But when you start dropping below the $100 mark they get worse and worse.
Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
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JAC wrote: Sure they can. My e3000 hit 120Mbps, and that was using Tomato with no HW acceleration. I only replaced it when I upgraded to 150/10.
You just proved my point. 120mbps means at least a Gigabit port.
Linksys' site reflects this: http://support.linksys.com/en-us/support/routers/E3000
If it can't hit 150mbps then it can't hit its own rated port speed.
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Apr 16, 2001
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Not entirely sure what your point is, and how it's relevant to the OP's question. He was inquiring about WAN-LAN routing speed, not LAN-LAN. How close a given router can come to gigabit speeds is irrelevant, in the context of OPs inquiry.

And yes, while anyone who would expect 200Mbps performance from a $20 router is a fool, people who pay for 200Mbps internet speeds don't spend $20 on a router.
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Deal Expert
Aug 22, 2006
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JAC wrote: Not entirely sure what your point is, and how it's relevant to the OP's question.
How is WAN-LAN capping out at speeds well below port speeds not relevant?
It's literally what OP is asking.
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Apr 16, 2001
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death_hawk wrote: How is WAN-LAN capping out at speeds well below port speeds not relevant?
It's literally what OP is asking.
I see your point, but your reply to tmpz's answer, while factually correct, is inaccurate in OP's instance.
tmpz wrote: If you're using wired only and your Internet speed is less than 100Mbps then no, a new router would not help.
death_hawk wrote:This is all sorts of wrong. Most consumer routers (especially older routers) can't come close to reaching port speeds when routing.
Given that OP's router is capable of 231 Mbps WAN-LAN throughput, tmpz's reply is correct. In fact, I'd say the majority of consumer gigabit routers made within the last five years can handle 100 Mbps internet speeds without any problems, even if they don't approach their rated port speeds.

My mistake was that I didn't realize you were talking about gigabit port speeds, when the thread had previously mentioned 100Mbps internet speeds.
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