I’ve had the same issue with NetVM. I tried building a new NETVM thinking that NETVM was the bottleneck I need to loosen, but unfortunately the new NetVM would not engage the Wifi router as expected. (possibly a PCI/device config issue.) So I stopped testing my hypothesis. Possibly my network connections were wrong as well.
The object of the test was to create a singular usage networks for appVMs because I thought my NETVM was corrupted.
So is one NETVM enough or was I on the right track in creating new networks?
To clarify, is it always:
AppVM>sys-whonix>sys-firewal>NETVM
or can I change some of the connections.
Ultimately, I need something that connects to the router?
Assuming you have one device (i.e. ethernet) you use one NetVM. Not a Whonix issue, see documentation at Qubes OS website or the Qubes users mailing list at Google groups.