why is the wifi speed on my 6ghz band so much slower than expected on my new devices? i have a gigabit connection

— asked by Jordan

Quick answer: The 6 GHz band (Wi-Fi 6E) has fantastic potential speed, but it has a much shorter range and is more easily blocked by walls and furniture than the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands. Your device is likely connecting on 6GHz but at the edge of its effective range, causing it to drop to lower speed tiers to maintain the connection.

Diagnosis

The 6 GHz band (Wi-Fi 6E) has fantastic potential speed, but it has a much shorter range and is more easily blocked by walls and furniture than the 2.4 or 5 GHz bands. Your device is likely connecting on 6GHz but at the edge of its effective range, causing it to drop to lower speed tiers to maintain the connection.

How to Fix It

Check your device’s connection in the Google Home app. Tap on the device (like your phone or laptop), and it should show which band it’s on. If it’s on 6GHz and you’re far from a point, that’s the issue. For the fastest speeds, you need to be in the same room or the next room over with a clear line of sight to a Nest Wifi Pro point. Try moving closer to a point and run a speed test again.

If That Didn't Work

Some older device drivers or operating systems don’t handle Wi-Fi 6E handoffs well. Make sure your device (laptop, phone) has all its system and Wi-Fi adapter driver updates installed. You can also try temporarily disabling the 6GHz band in the Home app (Wifi settings > Advanced networking > 6 GHz) to force your device onto 5GHz, which is often faster at longer ranges.

Heads Up

The system is designed to automatically steer devices to the best band. Sometimes it makes a conservative choice for stability. For absolute max speed benchmarks, you need to be close. For general whole-home coverage, trust the mesh and don’t fixate on the 6GHz number.

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