@FGARS2,

If you have more devices than your friend, your speeds may be lower because the router is reserving some bandwidth for your other devices in case they go online.

There are definitely settings that can be changed to potentially limit this effect, such as editing or disabling your QoS, as this is the most beneficial to users that receive under 300 Mbps from their ISP. I have seen users on other threads report success by simply manually setting the QoS speed to the expected speeds form your ISP, or slightly above them.

If you disable the Smart Connect Feature, and connect to the bands separately, are the speed results the same?

Try to change the DNS server to a common server such as Cloudflare or Google's servers, depending on your relative location to the servers, changing the DNS server can sometimes result in a pretty large jump.

  @FGARS2,

If the device was working in AP mode, I would be inclined to believe that you may actually have two routers on your network. An Access Point should not be able to assign IP addresses to devices to provide an internet connection, as it passes that responsibility onto the router with the DHCP server that is on the network.

What modem/gateway are you connected to, and who is your ISP?

Does the modem offer wireless functionality? If so, make sure to place the device into Bridge or Passthrough Mode, as this could affect your network's overall performance.

  @FGARS2,

You may be able to contact your ISP or look in their application to see if the functionality can be disabled on your gateway(the official term for a combo unit).

Unless you have Verizon as your ISP and you are using their TV service alongside your Internet Service, you should have no problem switching to a regular modem. (Verizon Modems broadcast a Hidden SSID for only Verizon TV Streaming Boxes, without the Verizon router, your TV boxes will not receive a signal)

Because your gateway is operating as a router, the speeds and other settings of the gateway will be applied on top of the settings for the traffic on the Archer.  Your Archer Router is essentially making calculations based on another router's calculations or info. You added an additional 'hop' into your network that could introduce delays or impact how the router is using QoS. I'm not positive how much of an effect this configuration has on speeds, but it makes your network far more stable and easier to troubleshoot. Any additional 'hops' in the network increase the probability of the signal being impacted or delayed. Even the Deco Mesh Units are not recommended to have more than 3 hops.

Honestly, I am mildly surprised that you haven't had other issues with specific sites or services, as this configuration can cause chaos in some networks. I would assume that by turning off the wireless functionality, you were able to turn off most of the features that were interfering, but there is no way to know for sure without going really in-depth. Do you have any clue why you would not be able to toggle the bridge function on?

tl;dr

• Either way. until the first router is removed from your network, it is recommended that you use your system as an AP, as Access Points are meant to extend a network where there is already a router present. Having two 'routers' in your network can cause a lot of unexpected behaviors across networked devices. Depending on the Gateways features, the Archer and Gateway may be having to communicate with each other to make sure that the network is stable.

• Also, if you are buying just a regular modem, there is no 'bridge' function, as the device is only operating as a Modem, and not as a Modem/Router Combo. Think back 15 years when every network had to have separate modems and routers for their network.

• In AP Mode, The LAN ports will still function as expected, with clients able to connect to the internet via Ethernet, as a result, you will want to keep using the WAN port.

• Your ISP should provide a list of devices that are guaranteed to work with their service, or you may be able to rent a modem rather than a gateway.

--

Lastly, besides the modem connection.

I would recommend looking at potentially changing the wireless channel and channel widths on your Archer router. It is possible that your signal is just being degraded from interference, and that your network would perform better on less crowded channels.  Changing Channel and Channel Width on a TP-Link Router (new logo)

I would recommend using a Wi-Fi analyzer app on your phone to try and find uncrowded channels. (Warning: even though a channel may appear empty, it may be full of interference from appliances or other non-networking factors.)

When you are checking the wireless speed, make sure to check multiple times. From both different locations in your home, and with different servers and services. The server selected in your speed test apps is highly dependent on the capabilities of or the route to a specific server, and when checking via a wireless connection is even more dependent on the factors in your environment.

@FGARS2 

You can try updating to the early release version of firmware for Archer AX11000 in the following link:

Early Release VPN Client Firmware for Archer AX11000 V1