In terms of WiFi speed, which is better: Pace 5268AC or Arris NVG599

Hey, @tyrion!

We can definitely understand your curiosity about the Pace 5268AC versus the Arris NVG599, however we would recommend testing the Smart Home Manager to see if you may need a WiFi extender in your home.

The Smart Home Manager will run tests on your network, and recommend the WiFi extender to you if it is needed.

We hope this helps!

John, AT&T Community Specialist

My MacBook WiFI on average gets about 150Mbps, which is a substantial drop from ~800Mbps wired.

You can try other routers.

However no matter what you do, nothing will make your WiFi close to 800mbps. 5GHz AC WiFi just can't do that. 

It could also just be your device's highest capability (150mbps). You will know that's the case if you try multiple routers and they all give you the same WiFi results.

Both the 599 and 5268 have AC 5GHz WiFi. The 5268 is newer.

I have had the BGW210-700, 5286AC & 599 on the FTTP 1000Mbps connection. The 599 performed the worst as it relates to Wi-Fi in my environment. To be frank, I can no longer recommend the Airties 4920's as the price went up and it since the last firmware update, as it no longer works with the Airties App, only AT&T Smart Home Manager which, in my case, made it difficult to mesh and did so at slower link speeds than before the update.

I would look at a 3rd party extender (i.e., Netgear),  perhaps one to which you can run an Ethernet cable, getting maximum performance for Wi-Fi coverage for your laptop and other wireless devices such as smartphones. However, you should know the specs of your laptop in advance so your expectations are accurate.

There are some AT&T employees in the forum that do the for a living, I'm sure they have some ideas as well. My experience is limited networking but a decade as an AT&T Internet customer, so I'm somewhat familiar with what works. 

@192kHzWhen my MacBook is placed next to the Pace 5268AC, I see WiFi speeds up to 350Mbps down (using fast.com) and 400Mbps down, 500Mbps up (using https://www.att.com/support/speedtest/).  So my MacBook's WiFi is certainly capable of better performance.    I have no illusions about WiFi achieving 800Mbps    I just want something better than 150Mbps.  

@jjgk I will try an extender or perhaps go with mesh. LMK if you have any recommendation on Eero, Netgear Orbi, Amplifi HD. 

When my MacBook is placed next to the Pace 5268AC, I see WiFi speeds up to 350Mbps down (using fast.com) and 400Mbps down, 500Mbps up

Sounds about right for a Macbook. AC 5GHz is fast, but it's not without it's sacrifice; range. This is why you're getting 150mbps at times, as the 5GHz coverage is small. You're not totally out of it's bubble, otherwise you'd get put on the 2.4GHz radio and get around 50mbps.

Getting a different gateway from AT&T isn't going to provide better 5GHz coverage. A 3rd party router would shoot it out further. Alternatively you could look into WiFi Mesh. AT&T even makes one of those, called AirTies. There are a TON of companies making these mesh systems these days, Google, Ubiquity, etc.

@tyrion,

To be frank, after spending funds on the two AT&T Airties 4920's, my budget for networking for year is done. Needless to say my research will run deeper than loyalty on my next purchase. For now, my VZW 4G speed does just fine in the dead zones, so it is not worth fighting with the 4920 mesh network anymore (it's just a smartphone, not a laptop, the computer is hardwired). In fact, I don't use the Airties anymore; and for that matter, the 4920 is not worth the new price of about $50, especially with Airties announcing the 4930.

Generally, I like to use products that are supported under one team—it keeps things simple and there is less finger pointing. In this case, that is not the case. There are so many sources for help, so go for the better product. There is good support here and another good source is dslreports (opens in a new page). I believe even Consumer Reports may have done an article on Wi-Fi, though I am not sure it includes an actual review of extenders or mesh networks. Also if you shop Amazon, Newegg, Best Buy, etc., reviews in numbers tell a story. So I am not going to make a recommendation.

Good luck in your seach and I wil look forward to learning from your experience 😉.

Yeah right, all that online "tech support" does is restart your box and make sure everything is "working" and then when it does not do anything it tells you to start over....junk! 

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