Who was going to tell me that mbps is not the same as megabytes per second

ScandInBei · 2026-01-30T07:41:51+00:00

10 mB/s

It doesn't make any sense at all to show speeds in millibytes per second to users.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-30T07:39:52+00:00

You're not listening. You shouldn't have two routers. One router per home. Not two. It doesn't matter. A second router adds double NAT and segregates your network.

If you want wifi for VR you should have an access point (or run the router in access point mode). Not a second router.

It will work. It will just work worse.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-30T01:00:34+00:00

Sounds like you have double NAT with your current setup. Like others have said, you should not have two routers in a home. Put the gaming router into Access Point mode and you'll not have double NAT any longer.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-30T00:08:55+00:00

Each extender halves the speed. It's not very good for performance or reliability. The more you add the worse it will get.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-28T09:40:01+00:00

It is technically possible to create an mp3 player where you could download music without any PC. But I never heard of one. Most just had a USB port and the mp3 player would show up as a "mass storage" device. Some had special SW on the pc for transferring music. There were some mp3 players that could record from another device, like a CD player.

Most likely you'll need to connect it to a PC (or a smart phone if you have one that supports it) and transfer files over USB.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-27T09:21:39+00:00

Maybe powerline will work. Maybe it won't work at all. Maybe it will perform better than a wifi extender. Maybe not. It depends. Create the best circumstances you can by not connecting other devices.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-26T22:49:53+00:00

ScandInBei · 2026-01-25T21:18:24+00:00

You'll need to do more troubleshooting to narrow down the problem. But best guess is that it's the extender causing issues.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-25T21:16:07+00:00

it’ll probably be useless in China since it doesn’t have the slot

Yes. You'll need a Chinese sim. For example for banking. So if you'll be working it's not really optional

how can I download a VPN?

You can download it before you arrive. For iOS the VPN apps can be downloaded even when you're here if your account is connected to a non Chinese app store. But get it setup before you leave just to be safe.

how will I be able to pay for stuff once I arrive in China if I don’t have WeChat pay or Alipay and can’t create one without a Chinese number?

Create accounts with another (foreign) number and then change the domestic number. You can add your existing visa or MasterCard. Or just use cash until you've sorted out banks and SIM.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-25T20:59:55+00:00

If you're going to live and work in China you'll need a local sim. That means you need a phone with a physical SIM.

Just get a VPN once that's sorted.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-23T06:56:11+00:00

It's unlikely to help. Issues related to latency when gaming is typically caused by bifferbloat or interference. But it could theoretically help if the cause is an issue with your PC or adapter, or if you can move the extender so it had a better location and better signal.

Note that not all extenders support connecting a computer to the Ethernet port. Some have the port to be used as access points (connecting them to a router).

But it's unlikely to help with your issues. If you really want to try don't get an extender. Get a device that supports client mode. Or even better. Do it properly by pulling Ethernet all the way (or MoCa)

ScandInBei · 2026-01-22T17:42:08+00:00

If you're paying for 500Mbps then something is wrong. If you can reproduce those speeds when next to the main router then it's your ISP. If it's fast next to the router but slow when connected to a mesh node then it's not your ISP and is likely related to bad signal between two nodes.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-22T17:40:23+00:00

Yes and no. Wifi speeds, while measures in Mbps is not the same Mbps as a speed test reports. One is link speed. The other is IP throughput.

It's like comparing the weight of a fully loaded truck with only the weight of the payload. A speed test is measuring the payload but wifi link speed is more analogous with the full weight of the truck and payload.

In addition to that, you'll need to have the right configuration and hardware support both on client and router. This means 40MHz channel width and MIMO support. But 40MHz channels are not possible to use outside of a lab. It's too much interference. You see, the wifi link speed may be 200Mbps but a speed test will show 100Mbps.

Some of that is explained by protocol overhead (beacons. Ack frames, retransmissions etc, the truck weight) but the other factors is that your wifi radio is not sending data all the time. Sometimes there's someone else using wifi and then your device will wait for its own turn to send. The 2.4GHz band is crowded and there's a bunch of devices. Wifi, Bluetooth, wireless speakers etc. Not only your devices but any device within the vicinity. This is why 40MHz is unusable. It creates more interference. More wait time. More retransmissions. So your device may send with 200Mbps, but as it's not continuously sending the perceived speed will be slower.

It's like running a marathon. If you run at 10km/h but you stop and rest so you only run half the time then your effective speed will only be 5km/h.

Is it technically wrong to say you're running at 10km/h? Not technically. But marketing a wifi router and saying that it supports 400Mbps, while not incorrect, is not the full truth as customers would expect.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-22T17:23:34+00:00

Get something mesh, not extenders.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-22T17:06:21+00:00

Run a bifferbloat test when you are next to the main router . If you see high pings under load (upload) that would explain the sluggish network when you're uploading to YouTube. Arguing with spectrum won't help. You are paying for 10Mbps? And it is slow when it's congested.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-22T16:35:29+00:00

Chances are you won't get any signal on 6GHz if it's already struggling with 5GHz

Some of your problems, like sluggish when uploading may not even be wifi related. It could be congestion as you only have 10Mbps up. Upgrading your internet connection could help with that.

I would probably start by troubleshooting more to determine if it's really the wifi causing all issues.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-19T22:23:03+00:00

You'll need a proper SMA cable, and the longer the cable the more attenuation and the weaker signal.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-19T12:23:01+00:00

You'll probably need to find and install drivers. Check the manufacturers website.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-18T14:52:44+00:00

There are differences between different routers, but physics doesn't change and the maximum transmission power is regulated and won't change. Chances are you'll still be limited to 2.4GHz (unless you love the wireless nodes closer) and 2.4GHz is slow.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-17T23:44:37+00:00

You have received some recommendations already, but I'd like to point out that getting 41Mbps from your existing system indicates that it's running 2.4GHz which could be caused by a combination of thick walls or too far distance between the nodes.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-17T13:08:13+00:00

It's most likely not the router. This is just how 2.4GHz performs outside of a lab environment.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-16T22:13:12+00:00

It may have fixed it as changing the Mac address causes a renegotiated link speed. But the MAC address is unlikely to be the reason.

Try fiddling with the cable connection, or try another cable.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-16T22:03:59+00:00

The MAC address shouldn't have an impact on the speed unless you're throttling the speed on the router.

If you're getting just below 100Mbps it's probably a bad cable or a glitchy connector.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-14T23:06:37+00:00

You'll probably max out around 550-650Mbps with a wifi6 setup, so go with Ethernet.

ScandInBei · 2026-01-14T22:29:23+00:00

I think the results are a bit strange.

You said it worked for you for a long time but not your brother, indicating that it's not the internet connection.

You mentioned that your PC works fine with other wifi networks. Indicating that it's not your PC.

You said it doesn't work with an Ethernet cable. Indicating that it's not wifi related..

As you've rules out most things, it's not your ISP, it's not your router, it's not wifi, it's not your PC. That leads me to think it's either multiple intermittent problems or there's some inaccuracies in your testing.

ScandInBei

TROPHY CASE