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Poor wifi on node, but great ethernet

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slvrscoobie

Regular Contributor
I have an AC3100 as my main router / AP upstairs and have 3x AC1900 all ethernet backhaul over the property for additional coverage. Everything works great, getting around 400mbps wireless most places.
I found a dead spot in my one area and got a deal on a AC88U/3100 extreme. I added it to my living room with ethernet backhaul but my 5G speeds went down from ~400mbps to 250-300mbps.
Ethernet connected to said router is great, 990-1gbps wired, but wireless its very erratic. speed tests jump from 400 then roll down to 150-200 then jump back up.
Since these are on a mesh node, I suspect this is interference from the router upstairs, basically the room above my living room, the AC3100. WifiExplorer shows my living room has 58dB, but the upstairs is around 40dB
is my speed issue just interference of the 2 AP being too close and on the same channel?
id LOVE to switch the node channels around, but ai mesh doesn't allow this, and having all settings through the mesh was better than setting individual APs
 
you may have to reduce the power on both significantly.
Other option is to re-orient the node. The wireless radiation/strength pattern is usually moderate in the "up" direction from default placement ( table top for example) and strongest in a rough;y uniform circle out to the sides. The radiation/strength is usually low in the "down" direction.
Just imagine a biscuit shape with the top closer to a dome shape than flat..

So if you can place the two such that the weakest radiation is pointed towards the other on each, it may work. You may find that having the upstairs one placed normally on a flat surface and the downstairs mounted upside down on the ceiling might work. Either way, turn down the power or you may have to remove/reposition the upstairs or downstairs node.
You could also try placing the upstairs unit on the wall so that the biscuit is reaching further into the downstairs to improve the strength and the "top" radiation is adequate for the upstairs area.

If the signal of issue is the 2.4 Ghz band, you may just turn that radio off unless you have to have it. Go all 5 GHz. This signal is naturally more attenuated by walls and floors/ceilings than the 2.4 Ghz band.

Lots of ways to play with the layout.
 
yeah, the 2 are basically 'on top of each other' separated by 20 ft. (living room on a bottom shelf of TV stand, office directly above it, on the top shelf of a desk.
The living room has always had decent service from the office above it, as the couch is on the other side of the room so it's kind of 45 degrees down from the router. the sunroom, next to the living room was the dead spot, so I might move it out there, but that's a concrete floor so I already had an ethernet drop in the living room for the TV.
 
If you can, mount it on the sunroom wall, as high as possible, that faces away from the living room. And turn the transmit power all the way down. Turn off the 2.4 GHz if possible.
You can use flat ethernet cable to run through the doorway if you dont want to put in a new ethernet connection. Just don't crimp the cable tight.
 
is my speed issue just interference of the 2 AP being too close and on the same channel?

Most likely, and being located one-over-the-other.

OE
 
Most likely, and being located one-over-the-other.

OE
well I tried setting it up as an AP and changing the channel to the other end of the spectrum (ch 40 / 157) but wifi speeds didnt seem to improve much. and I added a 2nd ethernet from the 3100 direct to the ac88u and Im getting high 500/low 6 on Fast.com - speed.cloudflare is still a bit slower but I think thats just the internet. connecting over ethernet from that switch didnt see much improvement to the speeds.
 

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