Google wifi mesh

[Robi22]

Hello i use a google mesh gen 1. Wifi is over 200mbps but when i connect through ethernet i never get over 100mbps. I use a cat 6 and cat 8 cable to router and device but still no change

[MichaelP]

Hello @Robi22 

Any time I see an Ethernet link limited to 100Mbps, I have to suspect the cable is the issue. For 1Gbps Ethernet to work, all four pairs of wires have to connect solidly. If even one of those eight wires isn't making a solid connection, it will fall back to 100Mbps using a single wire pair. What can happen with newer cables designed for 10Gbps operation (cat 6 or above) is that the much stiffer cabling required for that speed results in a poor connection for one of the wires due to the bend required to get to the ports on the bottom of the Google WiFi unit. It sounds like the cable between your modem and the primary Google WiFi (router) unit is fine (otherwise WiFi wouldn't exceed 100Mbps), but the cable between the primary and your Ethernet device is failing to make a solid connection that can negotiate and maintain 1Gbps operation. If you have an older, more flexible, cat 5e cable you can try for that connection, I would try that. The ports are limited to 1Gbps, which is what cat 5e is designed for anyway, so there's no need to use cat 6 anyway.

[Robi22]

Evening Michael

firstly thanks for taking the time to reply. When you say all 4 pairs of wires have to work could i clarify. I have 4 google wifi points. 1 router connected directly to the modem and the other 3 around the house as points if thats how they are referred.

I have one cable connecting modem to router, in the living room and another cable point to firestick in the bedroom, which is what receives the 100mb. Over 200 when connected to wifi. i have no other cables connected. 

i am going to try the 5e cable suggestion and see how it goes 😊

[MichaelP · Accepted solution]

I'm assuming your firestick is connected to the primary/router Google WiFi unit's LAN Ethernet port, and not to one of the secondary/point units. In any case, I know a lot of streaming TV devices only have 100Mbps Ethernet ports, so it's also possible a cable swap won't change the results if your firestick is one of those. Keep in mind a high definition video stream isn't going to need more than about 25Mbps, so even if it can't handle more than 100Mbps, it shouldn't be a problem. If you do want to verify the cable is working properly, maybe find another device that has a 1Gbps Ethernet port to test with?

[Apsilon778]

@MichaelP  I did not know this. Thanks for teaching me something new today kudos 

[Robi22]

Thats exactly what it is. Firestick ethernet restricted to 10/100 ethernet. Thanks Michael