Typical expected drop in speed wired over wireless

[Meadster]

Hi, I'm wondering what a 'typical' expected drop in speed would be from wired over wireless? Here me out. My current ISP is BT, I have FTTP and their smart hub 2. I was on their lowest speed service which was 150mb down load to the hub. This was fine and was virtually always stable. I added their mesh wifi mesh disks to achieve good wifi speed all around the house and, this was pretty stable with whichever 'speed tester' was used. Regularly achieved 140mb/ 150mb down load. This is on the 5mHz band

So, I expect a drop in speed due to all the variables, device, walls, atmospherics to name but a few. However, I was always getting good stable speeds.

Now, I upgraded to their service speed of 500mb down load with a 'guaranteed' 425mb so their apparently some fluctuation here. Again, I understand this is to the hub as a wired connection which is achieved. However, wifi not so good. I have had to change the wifi mesh disks as they do not support the higher download speeds, no problem he says. So, I am currently using Asus Zen Wifi AX units x 5 (1 upload and 4 nodes) with wifi 6 enabled. I don't expect to achieve a full 500mb down load (which I'm not getting) on wifi, but, what sort of speed on average should I expect? Based on my previous experience, I was expecting a similar sort of difference with the new setup but with higher speeds. Is my expectation a million miles off?

The system is using a wireless backhaul on the second 5mHz band the topology optimisation connects each node direct to the upload hard wired to the hub node.

I ask as I have a laptop connected to a netgear switch which is connected via ethernet to a node which, according to the speed test just done, hit 530mb however, my mobile will only achieve 340mb (samsung S21 ultra) I also have an iphone 11 which can hit higher speeds although just returned 190mb.

I'll be asking a more detailed question in the Asus forum regarding set up of the Asus router/ nodes. This question is more for wireless speeds and stuff.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Tech Junky]

First off you should be wiring all of the "pods" "discs" whatever you want to call them.

2nd people don't notice speed issues until they upgrade their internet speed if they're not using the LAN for moving files around to say a NAS or server.

Most likely the issue stems from the WIFI card inside your PC / laptop as most of them ship with the cheapest / slowest option available at the time of production.

Go into device manager and figure out which WIFI card you're using and we can rule that out from the equation. Older cards tend to have slower speeds regardless of the network setup.

 

[L&LD]

With 5 routers in your home, you have too much WiFi.

How big is your home in SqFt? What construction materials are used in the walls/floors?

Can you use something better than a handheld device to test speeds with? Preferably when it is plugged into the wall AC and on Performance settings?

 

[Meadster]

First off you should be wiring all of the "pods" "discs" whatever you want to call them.

2nd people don't notice speed issues until they upgrade their internet speed if they're not using the LAN for moving files around to say a NAS or server.

Most likely the issue stems from the WIFI card inside your PC / laptop as most of them ship with the cheapest / slowest option available at the time of production.

Go into device manager and figure out which WIFI card you're using and we can rule that out from the equation. Older cards tend to have slower speeds regardless of the network setup.

Hi thanks for the reply. I agree with wiring the nodes and having a hard wired backhaul but at the moment that's not possible so, I'll live with the wireless. You're quite right about noticing the speeds when changing stuff around and it's absolutely messing with my head. It is an older wifi card, current sat in a 2018 latitude (work computer) I also have a 160mHz killer wifi card in my person xps computer and speeds vary with this too.

 

[Meadster]

With 5 routers in your home, you have too much WiFi.

How big is your home in SqFt? What construction materials are used in the walls/floors?

Can you use something better than a handheld device to test speeds with? Preferably when it is plugged into the wall AC and on Performance settings?

Hi, that wouldn't surprise me having too much wifi. Although it's what's worked before so didn't see an issue. The house is no mansion, 4 bed, 2 bath, 2 reception, kitchen utility, no idea on sq ft. Solid brickwork on the ground with timber stud on the first floor and timber floors.

Have tried with both laptop and mobile, unfortunately I don't have anything better than these.

 

[Tech Junky]

2018 latitude (work computer) I also have a 160mHz killer wifi card in my person xps computer and speeds vary with this too.

Right now the best card option for either is an AX210 as it will get the highest available bandwidth for those systems since I doubt the xps is ADL.

If it's ADL then an AX411 would be an option which maxes out real world up to 1.5gbps.

 

[Tech Junky]

As to the phones if you go into their WiFi properties they should indicate the link rate and you should be able to hit 70% of the speed stated there.

 

[L&LD]

I would start by turning off all nodes except the most central one (and ideally, even better if you can get this one wired). Then test and only add nodes if needed.

With higher ISP speeds, it is much easier to see WiFi anomalies when you have so much WiFi inside. At lower speeds, the issues were simply masked.

 

[Meadster]

I would start by turning off all nodes except the most central one (and ideally, even better if you can get this one wired). Then test and only add nodes if needed.

With higher ISP speeds, it is much easier to see WiFi anomalies when you have so much WiFi inside. At lower speeds, the issues were simply masked.

Well, eventually got round to doing this and then testing the speed around the house. With 1 'router/ node' hard wired to my BT router (which is connected to the net) I get 400mb + in all rooms on the ground floor. Meaning too much wifi! Interesting, I new different signals would interfere but thought that all on the same network wouldn't matter. Everyday is a school day! And, a little knowledge is dangerous!

The first floor is a little awkward in that I need to hard wire to a node (number of ethernet only, devices connected to a switch and then to the node). Pretty good speeds on the first floor but, the node isn't central to the house. It can be moved but then I can't connect an ethernet to it without cables all over the place, hmm. So, I have connected another node on the first floor to boost signal to tother areas but I think this may be causing interference with the other node. Frustrating but that's the way it is.

Didn't realise there was an issue with too much WiFi as the speeds provided were below those where issues were noticeable.

Thank you L&LD regarding too much wifi, would have been tearing my hair out thinking the system is rubbish! Although I am/ was very close to getting an orbi system.

 

[L&LD]

For devices needing a wired connection (only), consider using Media Bridge mode with the rest of the routers you have.

What Media Bridge mode does is connect to your main router wirelessly, and allows you to plug devices as needed into its LAN ports.

The advantages here are that the MB node is just another client device to the main router, but at a much stronger connection than any (mobile) client device can hope to achieve.

If you have more wired capable devices in other areas of your home, I would suggest doing this for all the excess nodes you now have.

 

[Meadster]

I do have another question. How do I force devices to connect to the nearest node? I ask as my iPhone 11 when I'm upstairs and then go down stairs will connect to the node downstairs but my Samsung Galaxy 21 Ultra won't. It likes the first floor node too much and therefore, has slower connection speeds. Annoying. Could be that I have 2 nodes on the first floor, not sure.

 

[L&LD]

You can try turning off the WiFi on the device, then turning it back on again. It should connect to the stronger node then.

But, seriously, get rid of 2 nodes on the same floor!

Can you use the routers in Media Bridge mode?

 

[degrub]

the client decides when to roam. If you want to force it, you may need to create 2 different SSIDs and manually move it over to the other SSID. Sometimes, you can adjust signal strength on the specific radio to cause it to switch

 

[degrub]

You might be able to mount the AP on the wall instead of a horizontal surface to better orient the signal shape in the house. i have APs that wre on the walls and some that are on the ceiling. i also had to turn the transmit power down on some to pre3vent too much overlap.

 

[Meadster]

You can try turning off the WiFi on the device, then turning it back on again. It should connect to the stronger node then.

But, seriously, get rid of 2 nodes on the same floor!

Can you use the routers in Media Bridge mode?

That works turning the wifi on and off on the device, obviously not ideal. Will try with just one node on the first floor.

Yes, they can be used in Media Bridge mode (Asus ZenWifi AX XT8 nodes/ routers) so may try that and see how that works. It may also be possible to move the first floor node to be more central, I may be able to run ethernet in the stud walls and connect that way, food for thought.

 

[Meadster]

You might be able to mount the AP on the wall instead of a horizontal surface to better orient the signal shape in the house. i have APs that wre on the walls and some that are on the ceiling. i also had to turn the transmit power down on some to pre3vent too much overlap.

Thanks. Not tried moving or wall mounting just yet. It's just awkward where my home office is located in the house and where the node is connected on the first floor.

 

[degrub]

If you have coax in the house, you may be able to use MOCA2.5 modems to establish an ethernet outlet closer to where you need it.

 

[Meadster]

Ok, so, I now have just 2 XT8's in the house in Access Point mode. All good and getting good speed all around the house. Now, this may just be a Samsung issue which will be really irritating. Sometimes when I go from the study to ground (ground is upload link to the router), the phone is moved from the first floor node to the ground floor, all good. However, when I go back up stairs, the phone remains on the ground floor node and then the speed goes from 300-400mb to less than 50mb unless I disconnect the phone from the wifi and reconnect again and then all is fine. It's like it gets stuck and doesn't know what to do. I'm not fussed it staying on the ground floor node as it the Asus system tat decides which node it should connect to.

Sometimes the speed will be ok, but is still marginally lower (expected but would seem to be working ok). There's obviously a hiccup some where here and it's looking like it's the way the S21 Ultra handles being connected to a mesh system. (I'm not really an iPhone but have it as it's work issued).

I don't really want to spend money for the sake of it but does anyone know if Samsung devices play nicely with the NETGEAR Orbi WiFi 6 Mesh System (RBK853)? don't want to have to keep messing around.

 

[Meadster]

If you have coax in the house, you may be able to use MOCA2.5 modems to establish an ethernet outlet closer to where you need it.

The penny has dropped about coax. Unfortunately not, only satellite cable which comes into the house at a single point.

 

[degrub]

Ok, so, I now have just 2 XT8's in the house in Access Point mode. All good and getting good speed all around the house. Now, this may just be a Samsung issue which will be really irritating. Sometimes when I go from the study to ground (ground is upload link to the router), the phone is moved from the first floor node to the ground floor, all good. However, when I go back up stairs, the phone remains on the ground floor node and then the speed goes from 300-400mb to less than 50mb unless I disconnect the phone from the wifi and reconnect again and then all is fine. It's like it gets stuck and doesn't know what to do. I'm not fussed it staying on the ground floor node as it the Asus system tat decides which node it should connect to.

Sometimes the speed will be ok, but is still marginally lower (expected but would seem to be working ok). There's obviously a hiccup some where here and it's looking like it's the way the S21 Ultra handles being connected to a mesh system. (I'm not really an iPhone but have it as it's work issued).

I don't really want to spend money for the sake of it but does anyone know if Samsung devices play nicely with the NETGEAR Orbi WiFi 6 Mesh System (RBK853)? don't want to have to keep messing around.

Try reducing power level on the ground floor AP. And if you can set a rssi value in the client or the AP to drop the connection.