Wrong country code - practical issues?

The difference for the ax3 between US and ETSI is about 10dB in TX power. This certainly often gets you a significant and noticeable increase in speed, but what you are reporting is beyond this.

Of course running beyond the limits is - well - not within the limits. Many ISPs distribute routers that they “forgot” to configure the limits on, so they transmit at their max available power. Make of this what you will.