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Intermittent Slow Speeds

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Nate92

New Around Here
Hey all, so I'm having this issue with my wireless network that keeps reoccuring and neither I nor my ISP (Spectrum) seem to be able to solve it. I'm having to reset my router/modem/extender at least once a week, so any advice would be much appreciated.

Setup:
Spectrum Upstate NY 200 MBPS service
Netgear CM500 cable modem (3 years old)
Asus RT-ACRH13 router (3 years old)
Qos enabled, 100mbps bandwidth limiter to the TV)
WPA2 authetication, AES encryption
TP-Link RE-450 Extender (brand new as of Jan 2021)
Usuually 5 devices connected (1 smart TV on 5Ghz, 1 laptop on 5Ghz-Extended, 2 smartphones and 1 printer on 2.4Ghz)

Problem:
I added the extender a few weeks ago to fix the deadspot in my wifi (happens to be in my office so it needed fixing). I get reliable signal now 24/7, but there's an intermittent speed drop that has never happened before. Speeds are ok (between 150-220mbps on the 5Ghz, 25-50 on the 2.4 Ghz) for about 2-3 days after a full reset/reconfiguration of the modem, router, and extender. Then, suddenly, the speeds will drop to 0-10mbps on both 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz and will stay that way for about 20-30 minutes. This will usually happen around mid-day, and I haven't noticed any unknown clients on the network (either on http://router.asus.com/ or on the extender's app).

I've tried the following without success:
- Simply rebooting the router or extender
- Turning just the extender off
- Removing devices (turning their wifi off)

Spectrum's only solution has been to send a reboot signal to the modem, which has not worked. They say that the signal "seems fine" from their end (i.e. that it's getting to the modem ok).

Any thoughts? Let me know if more info would be helpful, and thanks in advance to whomever replies.


Attachments:
1. screenshot of connected wifi clients showing what I beleive are good tx and rx rates
2. speed test at the same time
3. speed test 45 minutes later
 

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Welcome to the forums @Nate92.

Do the devices themselves possibly need a reboot? A shutdown is different from a reboot, BTW.

I would not put a limiter on the TV or any device (the TV is self-limiting, it can only stream). Remove that (at least to do an extended test with).

Are you able to return the extender and buy a router with Media Bridge mode instead? Even an old/used one that has Media Bridge mode (i.e. RT-AC56U still works extremely well for this) will be far better than what the repeater does to a network.

What type of QoS are you using? Are you using it in Auto mode or are you specifying the up/down numbers (from anywhere between 85 to 95% of your tested averages)?

Are you using Auto Control Channels? Have you tested specifying the control channel used? For the 5GHz band, simply test each one (forget about using an 'app').

The following links may help get your network to a good/known state.


L&LD | SmallNetBuilder Forums

New M&M 2020

M&M 2020 Specifics


It may be worthwhile to go through the following suggestions too to make sure your router is using the current firmware expected defaults too.

Fully Reset Router and Network


After doing a full reset with the link above, add customizations, features, and options cautiously. Test them fully before adding the next. This will help you determine what/where the issue is (when also done from a good/known state, after the reset suggested).
 
TP-Link RE-450 Extender

That extender doubles the amount of traffic on the channel, and more importantly, uses twice as much airtime...

And airtime is precious in WiFi...

As @L&LD mentions - consider a media bridge perhaps... or, just move the AP to a better location
 

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