Slow Ethernet Connection between XB8, Mac mini, and Netgear Orbi Router

@startedwithasmi We can test out the connection coming into the home, but when it comes to additional routers, there is only so much we can help with. Please send us a direct message with your full name and service address. 

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Thank you but I won't be able to spend time on this for the next few days.  Instead, I would encourage your people to put their heads together with Netgear to figure out why the 2.5 Gbps port on the XB8 doesn't play well with their routers.  This has not happened with previous Xfinity gateways that I have used and there are a number of similar cases popping up.

Again, when you strip away all of the background and troubleshooting results, the core problem is that the wired ethernet connection on my Mac is only seeing internet speeds of about 325Mps when plugged into my router (while the XB8 is in bridge mode) and the expected gigabit speed when plugged into the 2.5Gbps port of the XB8.  WiFi speeds are not affected...

@FEC We can certainly pass along your feedback about the issue, however my first suggestion may be to try a replacement XB8 to see if the issue still persists. We can help with that if you want to give it a try!

@XfinityFrank, yes I would like to give a replacement XB8 a try.  Thank you...

Hi there! Our awesome digital care team would be happy to assist you. Can you initiate a direct message and start with your full name and address? To start a direct message, you must be signed in. Please click the "Direct Messaging" icon in the top right of the page next to the bell, and send your message to "Xfinity Support". Talk to you there!

FYI, I completed the transition to a replacement XB8 gateway and my circs remain identical to those when I began this adventure.  When my router is plugged into the 2.5 Gbps port on the gateway, I get around 325 Mbps from the Internet to the gigabit ethernet port on my Mac.  When I move the router connection to one of the gigabit ports on the gateway, I get a full gigabit to the Mac.  It doesn't matter whether I'm in bridge mode or gateway mode.  Again, this never happened on my old XB7 gateway.

While there may be other explanations, the preponderance of my troubleshooting suggests that there is something related to that 2.5 Gbps port and/or my router that is causing the devices not to play well together.

For now, I'm just going to remain attached to the gigabit port on the gateway, and perhaps Xfinity and/or Netgear will eventually figure things out.  The WiFi speeds around the house are a little bit off but the difference it makes to my various wireless devices is inconsequential...

Interesting that you should post but I wish it was yesterday!  That's because I had a rather frustrating interaction with Xfinity Support on their direct message channel.  Seems that the reps manage multiple conversations simultaneously and it can take 20 minutes or more to get a reply to the simplest of statements.  I also got handed off to several different reps in their pool, some of them quite understanding of the problem and others that clearly didn't review the thread before intervening and I had to start from scratch.

After all that, bottom line is that Xfinity believes that it's not an Xfinity problem because they don't support third party equipment.  My comments that the problem seemed to reside in how the 2.5 Gbps port operates were discounted by all but one rep who was about to send a support ticket in before I lost her.  As I was describing the situation to others, I said that there was enough message traffic flying around from owners of other router brands to lead me to believe there was something going on in the XB8 gateway (think common denominator) but the thread basically ended with a statement that it isn't an Xfinity problem, goodbye.

All I was really hoping was for someone to kick it over to the network engineers to look at it.  They said they might do that if they saw enough traffic to justify it.  Your note adds to that list.

I gave some thought to starting a similar discussion on the Netgear support side but have better things to do right now.  I also suspect I'll hit a paywall since my free support period has long since expired.  For now, I'm just leaving the Orbi plugged into a gig port on the XB8 and plan to check the 2.5 gig port from time to time, especially when new Orbi firmware surfaces.  I get the full gig to my wired Mac that I expect and the modest loss in speed to our various wireless devices really isn't noticed.  Frustrating but that's life sometimes...

@FEC​ 

I never pulled from the 2.5g port until I read your post and just plugged into another gig port and at least that is a massive improvement from where I was!  So thank you for posting and taking the time.   This is frustrating and what’s even more frustrating is the inability of Xfinity to even consider the problem may lie within the 2.5 port!  Again, common denominator regardless of brand. No doubt more will experience it and we have done our part and thank you for improving my situation at least and taking the time!

Good afternoon, @user_8335df and thread! Thank you all for reaching out and for the thoughtful discussion. I checked and do not see this listed as a known issue, but am happy to further investigate. Have you tried out a replacement XB8 modem already to see if there is a problem with the modem that you have? What other troubleshooting steps have you already tried? 

@XfinityRay 

I am the OP and I have indeed transitioned to a replacement XB8.  My efforts to pin this down are detailed in the first message of this thread.  Three footnotes to that message are 1) I have tried this with bridge mode turned both on and off with identical results, 2) I have put the router in access point mode and used the routing capability of the gateway, again with identical results, and 3) I have chosen to leave the router plugged into a gigabit port in the gateway (rather than the 2.5 gig port) so I can get a full wired gig to my Mac. This causes me to lose some bandwidth to the devices on WiFi but I’ve opted for that tradeoff for now.

Lastly, while I can’t swear that the router has no guilt in this, I find it interesting that the XB8 is the common thread in multiple cases involving several router brands…

@user_nyn8cn​ It's me again here.  I was able to solve my issue by going to the older XB7-T and I was getting a solid 500Mbps on the router, and was nailing over 900+ Mbps on a direct connection with a computer.  Ended up replacing the router as well with an Asus RT-AX82U.  Now everything on my network is getting over 900+ Mbps.  I still recommend looking at the XB8-T modem as being a slow down issue since through my tests being hardwired directly with a computer I was not able to get very fast.

@FEC

At this point, we have exhausted all of our troubleshooting options. I have read through your DMs with us, your thread here, and even the one on the other forum. I recommend contacting Netgear and troubleshooting there. If they can figure out why this is happening on a 2.5GB port, they will forward that over to us. 

@XfinityTony 

If you haven't passed this upstairs, you haven't exhausted all of your options.  Tell me that you've done that and I'll go away...