In the age of 5 gigabit+ internet services... How do you test WiFi speed on networks capable of blazing fast speed?

The context... Joe customer is disappointed that they are only getting 700 Mbps on their I Phone or laptop when they expected 5 Gigabit from their newly upgraded ISP service.

We all know the reasons (limits on networking gear, limits on devices that receive WiFi etc) But Joe customer does not understand it. You can show them that they're getting 5 gig at the access point via the manufacturer's software, but they want it on their phone.

Assuming the router, switches, and wifi gear are capable of 5 Gig (WiFi 7) How do you test WiFi speed that's this fast? I.e. Is there a device out there that can receive and transmit anything near 5 gig in the best case scenario (i.e. Standing next to the AP, downhill with at tailwind)

Ideally it would be something like a phone or a tablet. Pull it out, run a speed test, make customer shut up... But I'm also curious about specialized testing equipment too.

Thoughts?

What model phone?

I would think that someone who buys WiFi6 or 7 might actually need those speeds and if they do, might have at least one computer that can perform at that level. If not, what's the point?

Are they using the 5G network and under the mistaken impression that '5G' means 5 Gigabit'?

FWIW- I have a crappy Linksys WiFi5 router and when I use the 5Gig band, my iPhone SE hits speeds over 500Mbps.

It seems that their expectations need to be managed.

5gig meaning 5000mbps on a home internet system... Wired and WiFi. No confusion with cellular 5g etc.

Att, google and Cox offer this service in our area (and up to 10gigabit in some spots) A properly configured EERO system is capable of 10Gig...

Customers don't understand that the hardware in their hand (phone, tablet, laptop) is not capable of such speeds. You can tell them this over and over and over, they just don't get it. The way to manage their expectation is to show them that the network in their home is working to spec by running a simple speed test on a device capable of operating at really high wifi speed.

I'm asking if anyone here has experience with a device that can communicate with a WiFi system capable of really high speed... 2.5 gigabit, 5 gigabit etc.

Google says these are the fastest WIFI adapter currently available
https://www.netgear.com/ca-en/home/wifi/adapters/a8500/
[Link: shop.asus.com]​

Plug them into a USB 3.0 port and see what speeds you are able to obtain on a laptop.

Not sure how you explain the network speeds but I typically use roads and cars as analogies.  your network speed is the Autobahn but your device is a Ford Pinto.  The Autobahn is capable of you driving 500mph but your ford pinto only lets you drive 80mph.  This typically gets through to customers that don't understand their network speed for me anyways.

I use the same analogy, and it works pretty well... But people can't believe that their latest and greatest i-phone is anything other than a Bugatti.

I've been playing with adapters and handhelds. I'll look into the Netgear.

Continuing the road analogy a bit. The Internet connection is the expressway that can accommodate lots of cars traveling between cities at a reasonable speed.

Regardless, the customer's throughput to a given site will also be determined by the site's performance. As I update packages, the download time for a given file size can vary from a few seconds to several minutes -- depending on the remote server's current load and the intermediate node loads.

Also a gigga-speed connection may not result in websites loading much faster because a page may include connections to text and images from multiple servers, each requiring some time to connect and respond. For a while I had an older computer on a gigabit connection, but webpages were pokey because the poor old machine was overwhelmed by the number of scripts, images, and connections. The new computer could display the page in a blink.

This just came out a few days ago.
Haven't tried it.
Plug it in to a laptop 5 feet away from the WAP.
Show them the speed.
Hope it works.

[Link: store.ui.com]

I always ask my clients why they think they needed to sign up for the 2 gig or even the 1 gig service from their ISP. They have no answer other than that is what they were told was the best from the ISP. Well duh. Then I have to explain to them, even though they do not understand, why they do not benefit from anything over 100Mb/s, when all they do is watch Netflix, listen to Pandora, and shop on Amazon.

99.9% of customers do not need a 1gig internet connection, let alone 5 or 10. But these ISPs are pushing it like its the best thing in the world. Now if I could sell a $50k Kaleidescape movie server and my clients needed to be able to download a 100GB movie in less than 5 minutes, maybe. Or if they worked remotely for Pixar or something, they could utilize the speed. But in that case, they would hopefully already understand all the lingo and specs, and I would not have to explain anything.

It's not worth the effort trying to apease the client who wants the speed test on their phone to match the wording on their internet bill. :)

My wife used to rant about speed of the internet when she was browsing. I explained latency and when she understood what it was and how it affected her browsing experience she quit complaining. Before that the fact of the hundreds of connection between her PC and the web site she was accessing and the connections back just didn't occur to her.

With AT&T fiber the iOS app for AT&T lets me run a system test that shows the up/download speed. The speeds are always inline or better than what I pay for. Just now the download speed is 1307Mbps and upload is 1213 Mbps. AT&T Internet 1000.

Wi-Fi from the AT&T router is never hitting anywhere near those numbers. Wi-Fi via the EERO Pro that is hard wired to the AT&T router gives me near what the app tells me the speeds are. The EERO itself reports similar up and download numbers as the AT&T router.

iPhone 16 Pro - Near top speed.
MS Surface Pro 9 - Near top speed.
2016 Dell all in one - Half the speed.

The dell only gets close if it's hardwired to the AT&T router.

If this is really important (meaning customer wants to pay you for the information/education) I would create a spreadsheet for him. Start with the ISPs app and test each device. Compare wired vs wireless for devices that have that can be hardwired.

If the client doesn't want to pay for it just respond with what you've already told them. A few sentences explaining how the Wi-Fi hardware/software in their devices is different. Distance from Access Points. Wired vs Wireless.

Note: I am listening to a webinar right now so some of this is unorganized rambling.