New 10Gbps/5Gbps/6Gbps/3Gbps XGS-PON based plans

[tsammyc]

The BE230 might go faster, but my MacBook Air M3 is actually maxes out at WiFi 6E. Macs don't seem to have adopted WiFi 7 yet. As of now, WiFi 7 USB adapters for the Mac are still very expensive so no point trying that.

 

[xiaofan]

The BE230 might go faster, but my MacBook Air M3 is actually maxes out at WiFi 6E. Macs don't seem to have adopted WiFi 7 yet. As of now, WiFi 7 USB adapters for the Mac are still very expensive so no point trying that.

TP-Link Archer BE230 is not really faster -- not much anyway with WiFi 7 but without 6GHz band.

It is a good entry level router for M1's 2.5Gbps plan or 3Gbps plans because of dual 2.5G ports. But that is it. The WiFI spec of BE3600 is actually the lowest end among WiFi 7 routers.

Archer BE230 is of course the lowest cost routers with dual 2.5G ports with local warranty -- so it has its good point.

Just do not be fooled by the "WiFi 7" label in this case.

Same for China "WiFi 7" routers without 6GHz band. I treat them as good yet cost effective WiFi 6 routers.

BTW, BE6500/BE7200 rated China WiFi 7 routers are pretty cost effective and usually much better than Archer BE230 in terms of wireless performance, if you do not mind no local warranty.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...out-6ghz-band-support.6905228/#post-147664804

 

[tsammyc]

I will bite on switching to China routers since the total acquisition cost of all three of my BE230 is only $240 (MR and Carousell) and I can actually sell them off for same or more. Which WiFi 7 dual band China router do you recommend for 3Gbps plan where I need two mesh nodes (3 routers in total) with 2.5Gbps wired back haul to cover all the rooms? Since I'm tied to MR 3Gbps for the next 2 years, I'm just looking to increase current WiFi speed to over 2Gbps from 1.2-1.6Gbps near field currently with BE230. Mine is an Apple household with Macs and iPhones, but I expect Apple to go to WiFi 7 in the next year or true WiFi 7 USB adapters from China become cheap. Not yet clear if Apple WiFi 7 devices will allow 320 MHz channel because to my understanding that's what prevents BE3600 devices from going over 2Gbps real world speed.

Currently on my MacBook Air M3, I'm connected to the BE230 at 5Ghz, 160 MHz channel, AX, TX rate 2,401 Mbps, MCS Index 11

 

[xiaofan]

I will bite on switching to China routers since the total acquisition cost of all three of my BE230 is only $240 (MR and Carousell) and I can actually sell them off for same or more. Which WiFi 7 dual band China router do you recommend for 3Gbps plan where I need two mesh nodes (3 routers in total) with 2.5Gbps wired back haul to cover all the rooms? Since I'm tied to MR 3Gbps for the next 2 years, I'm just looking to increase current WiFi speed to over 2Gbps from 1.2-1.6Gbps near field currently with BE230. Mine is an Apple household with Macs and iPhones, but I expect Apple to go to WiFi 7 in the next year or true WiFi 7 USB adapters from China become cheap. Not yet clear if Apple WiFi 7 devices will allow 320 MHz channel because to my understanding that's what prevents BE3600 devices from going over 2Gbps real world speed.

Sorry but it is practically not possible to hit above 2Gbps WiFi speed using 5GHz band. So China WiFi 7 router is not a solution for your requirement. 320MHz channel bandwidth is only supported on the 6GHz band.

And none of the Apple devices can hit above 2Gbps WiFi speed anyway with any router, including top of the line WiFi 7 routers. This is a limitation of Apple devices as of now. They are lagging behind. Apple iPhone 16 is a WiFi 7 device with 6GHz band, but it does not support 320MHz channel bandwidth and 4096 QAM, so the speed is limited to 1.6Gbps as well.

Let's see if Apple can come out with better WiFi 7 device next year.

 

[tsammyc]

Thanks. Are there any USB-c WiFi 7 dongles that can achieve over 2Gbps real world speed near field with any router?

Looks like I'll stick with the BE230 mesh for now. I'm getting 2401 Mbps Tx Rate (theoretical) and MCS 11, but it will be interesting for me to max out my 3Gbps connection when reasonably priced ($100-$150) 6 Ghz routers are available and Macs adopt WiFi 7 fully

 

[dreamer_toons]

My existing SH 1Gbps plan is coming to an end soon and considering to switch to ST 10Gbps.

As I read this thread, I'll like to clarify does ST provides ONR (superadmin login?) which end-user is able to bridge, or ST provides ONT as practised in the past? Please pardon me if I'm confused as I try to catch up with the earlier posts.

Currently, I have a switch that connects to my router and links to the distribution panel, and to the LAN ports in the rooms. Does this setup works the same when I switch to ST 10Gbps, assuming ST provides a ONR and I connect the switch (disregards it's a 1Gbps switch) to it and links to the distribution panel?

Next, I will also use my existing ASUS mesh for my wireless devices. Does it work with ST ONR or I need to use ST mesh?

 

[Henry Ng]

Sorry but it is practically not possible to hit above 2Gbps WiFi speed using 5GHz band. So China WiFi 7 router is not a solution for your requirement. 320MHz channel bandwidth is only supported on the 6GHz band.

And none of the Apple devices can hit above 2Gbps WiFi speed anyway with any router, including top of the line WiFi 7 routers. This is a limitation of Apple devices as of now. They are lagging behind. Apple iPhone 16 is a WiFi 7 device with 6GHz band, but it does not support 320MHz channel bandwidth and 4096 QAM, so the speed is limited to 1.6Gbps as well.

Let's see if Apple can come out with better WiFi 7 device next year.

Actually WiFi speed of 1600 Mbps consider very fast and user must reserve some bandwidth for other devices like camera, smart TV, smart things etc and other user within the household.

 

[xiaofan]

Thanks. Are there any USB-c WiFi 7 dongles that can achieve over 2Gbps real world speed near field with any router?

Looks like I'll stick with the BE230 mesh for now. I'm getting 2401 Mbps Tx Rate (theoretical) and MCS 11, but it will be interesting for me to max out my 3Gbps connection when reasonably priced ($100-$150) 6 Ghz routers are available and Macs adopt WiFi 7 fully

None as of now. All of the USB WiFi 7 adapters I know of do not support 320MHz channel bandwidth on the 6GHz band (from Asus, TP-Link, Comfast and Fenvi). I myself have two, one from Comfast and one from Fenvi. In fact they all use the not-so-good RealTek chipset and rated BE6500, I do not recommend them as of now.

You can check out this thread.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/wifi-7-device-speedtest-and-wifi-7-adapters.7048233/

 

[xiaofan]

My existing SH 1Gbps plan is coming to an end soon and considering to switch to ST 10Gbps.

As I read this thread, I'll like to clarify does ST provides ONR (superadmin login?) which end-user is able to bridge, or ST provides ONT as practised in the past? Please pardon me if I'm confused as I try to catch up with the earlier posts.

Currently, I have a switch that connects to my router and links to the distribution panel, and to the LAN ports in the rooms. Does this setup works the same when I switch to ST 10Gbps, assuming ST provides a ONR and I connect the switch (disregards it's a 1Gbps switch) to it and links to the distribution panel?

Next, I will also use my existing ASUS mesh for my wireless devices. Does it work with ST ONR or I need to use ST mesh?

You are on your own. If you do not want to take risks, avoid ST since it will not officially support ONR bridging.

There are even some rumors that Singtel will make it even more difficult to bridge the ONR.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...te-f8648p-superadmin-password.6946718/page-13

You can use your Asus mesh with ONR, but you will usually need to set up your main AImesh node to AP mode in order to use Ethernet Backhaul and lose majority of the advanced FW features.

There is a rumor saying that that SingTel has changed the DHCP server behaviour and your ONR MAC address is registered when you first register and get the DHCP from SingTel DHCP server. Basically only the MAC address of the ONR will work with Singtel DHCP server.

This will basically kill ONR bridge mode because after bridge your own router connected to the bridge port will not get the IPv4 address.

For those who cannot bridge the Singtel ZTE F8648P ONR, maybe this is the reason.

Let's wait for more reports to see if more and more people are getting affected. Or this is just a temporary experiment from Singtel side.

I was also suspecting SingTel DHCP server changes previously when I was not able to bridge the ONR back in mid-August. Once I bridged one port, I would lose internet access. This could be explained that the DHCP server only allows single MAC address from the ONR to have internet access. Once they detect that you are requesting the second public IPv4 address from the DHCP server, they would cut off your internet access. Luckily I was able to bridge the ONR in late Oct 2024.

If we based on existing reports, Singtel issued ZTE F8648P super-admin login info is as following.

User name: support
Password: reverse of the root password printed on the label

However, there is a report saying that SingTel may have changed the passwords for new ONRs, no longer the reverse. This will basically kill the bridging as well unless someone figures out the way to get the new super-admin password.

 

[tsammyc]

Actually WiFi speed of 1600 Mbps consider very fast and user must reserve some bandwidth for other devices like camera, smart TV, smart things etc and other user within the household.

It drops off pretty fast so by the time it goes through 3 walls, it's reduced from 1.6Gbps to about 200Mbps on the other side of the house. Hence the BE230 Easymesh with 2.5Gbps wired backhaul is crucial to restore the speed everywhere. All the smart things, cams etc are on the 2.4Ghz IoT SSID. Only issue is that mesh satellite routers can't seem to carry Guest and IoT networks. Only the main router can. I actually have to have a cheap Xiaomi 2.4Ghz range extender just to extend the IoT network, which is nuts.

 

[xiaofan]

It drops off pretty fast so by the time it goes through 3 walls, it's reduced from 1.6Gbps to about 200Mbps on the other side of the house. Hence the BE230 Easymesh with 2.5Gbps wired backhaul is crucial to restore the speed everywhere. All the smart things, cams etc are on the 2.4Ghz IoT SSID. Only issue is that mesh satellite routers can't seem to carry Guest and IoT networks. Only the main router can. I actually have to have a cheap Xiaomi 2.4Ghz range extender just to extend the IoT network, which is nuts.

Just take all the routers will have the speed drop a lot after two walls, since the TX power is limited by the law and regulations.

And indeed Ethernet Backhaul is very critical for dual band mesh solution to achieve good WiFi performance. Archer BE230's dual 2.5G ports are very useful here.

Unfortunately, TP-Link EasyMesh is still half baked and not as good as TP-Link Deco Mesh in terms of feature and maturity.

 

[Henry Ng]

It drops off pretty fast so by the time it goes through 3 walls, it's reduced from 1.6Gbps to about 200Mbps on the other side of the house. Hence the BE230 Easymesh with 2.5Gbps wired backhaul is crucial to restore the speed everywhere. All the smart things, cams etc are on the 2.4Ghz IoT SSID. Only issue is that mesh satellite routers can't seem to carry Guest and IoT networks. Only the main router can. I actually have to have a cheap Xiaomi 2.4Ghz range extender just to extend the IoT network, which is nuts.

Because it is big house so quite common issue.

 

[Singrish]

Noob question to decide if 5 gbps Starhub or 6 gbps M1 is sufficient rather than 10 gbps.

If one has a wired connection to router, what is the fastest speed (best case scenario) would get for:

- Uploading & downloading files from OneDrive
- Updating Mac OS

 

[phayze]

Noob question to decide if 5 gbps Starhub or 6 gbps M1 is sufficient rather than 10 gbps.

If one has a wired connection to router, what is the fastest speed (best case scenario) would get for:

- Uploading & downloading files from OneDrive
- Updating Mac OS

Maximize upload and download speed for OneDrive​

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...06d-997b-98ab6ff67f43?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

 

[tsammyc]

Unfortunately, TP-Link EasyMesh is still half baked and not as good as TP-Link Deco Mesh in terms of feature and maturity.

I actually worried about this when I read Dong Knows review of Easymesh. But it turns out in Oct 2024, Easymesh firmware was introduced that addressed his two main concerns in terms of features: 1. Lack of AP mode and 2. Wired backhaul. With Easymesh AP mode, you can use an ONR without bridging mode and connect one of the TP Links in AP mode as the Easymesh controller. You no longer have to have an Easymesh router as the primary router. As you mentioned, wired backhaul, deals with the issue of bandwidth in wireless backhaul on a 2 band WiFi 7 router.

Now, the main thing missing compared to Deco Mesh is 802.11r, a fast handoff protocol, which affects mainly VOIP if it's slow. You can imagine talking on VOIP and wandering to another part of the house and having an interruption. Doesn't look like they plan on adding it.

My experience with Easymesh was that it was dead simple to install. I actually installed the Easymesh satellite accidentally because I bought a used BE230 and pressed the factory reset button while it was connected to the main router. Miraculously, it configured itself as a Easymesh satellite when I did that. Nothing else to do.

As for the lack of 802.11r, I tried walking around the house talking on my iPhone equipped with the $5/mo Simba plan which is supposed to be VOIP when using the Simba Voice app. There was no disconnection or pause as I wandered between the Easymesh nodes and no change in voice quality. So I'm wondering if this lack of 802.11r makes any practical difference...

 

[Singrish]

Maximize upload and download speed for OneDrive​

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...06d-997b-98ab6ff67f43?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us

Thanks but doesn’t say how fast it goes up to if there’s a cap.

 

[Henry Ng]

Thanks but doesn’t say how fast it goes up to if there’s a cap.

See this
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...oad-rate-71cc69da-2371-4981-8cc8-b4558bdda56e

 

[tsammyc]

Screenshots for the TP-Link BE230 to MR 3Gbps on MacBook Air M3

 

[Henry Ng]

Screenshots for the TP-Link BE230 to MR 3Gbps on MacBook Air M3

This speed is possible but not consistently.

 

[xiaofan]

Noob question to decide if 5 gbps Starhub or 6 gbps M1 is sufficient rather than 10 gbps.

If one has a wired connection to router, what is the fastest speed (best case scenario) would get for:

- Uploading & downloading files from OneDrive
- Updating Mac OS

For macOS update, I do not see the download speed as a bottleneck at all. Based on my own experiences as a Mac Mini user since 2011, rather the installation process after the download takes majority of the time.

It is very much the same for major Windows upgrade. I upgraded 6 computers from Windows 11 23H2 to Windows 11 24H2 recently, including two new laptops, two older laptops and two Intel N100 CPU based low end Mini PCs. The download duration is just a very small portion of the total upgrade process.