Sorry for not replying sooner; life happened.
Yes, I am on a channel that is not in use anywhere around me. I make it a habit of looking at all my neighbors channel usage and separating myself from them.
I have disabled all the functions but HA on the almond 3, and do not wish to fire it up again to provide current results, but I do have the stored results from that time.
Using the Speedtest app on my Android phone, quite often it would take forever to even get through the initial ping....and my stored results from that time run anywhere from .87mbps down and 2.34mbps up to about 20mbps down and 5mbps up............with 32mbps down and 9.48mbps being typical with both an Asus and now a TPLink router I am currently running. It was a rare thing that I didn't experience long waits or no download at all when looking at news or sifting through websites with the Almond 3.
The difference is drastic.
I get great speeds from the TPLink AC-1200 and the TPLink extender I got to provide better coverage in the back yard. These two cost me less than $100.00 total. Also....the extender did not work reliably with the Almond 3. I gave up on it talking to the Almond and just unplugged it.
It works VERY well with the the cheapo TPLink router!
I am no fan of TPLink.....but I needed a solution that allowed my girl to access and maintain her website.........grabbed the cheapest and most convenient router I could find.
Thank you for the suggestion on the channels.