Question Wifi goes to kb/s but lan is perfect

[Comjens]

Hi guys,

I am encountering big stability issues on the wifi.
During the day the speeds of the wifi are very ocilating between 110 mbs and barely anything.

I tryed to install a new wifi because I thought it was connictivty issues but now signal is perfect but there is simply something else wrong. I have Google wifi.

As I said(in the title) , lan works fine, have been running tests on many different devices (pc/mac/iPhone /Android) and the same thing happens.

Hope you can help
Regards Jens

 

[bill001g]

You need to test systematically to find where the problem is. Your first test is to always test with a ethernet cable plugged into the router. This is make sure the problem really is the wifi and not a issue with the ISP or maybe the router.

The mesh systems are mostly hype. The key problem is no matter how hard you try the more wifi signals you have in the house the more they interfere with each other. You need to run with just a single wifi source using the main router. You need to see how well it works with the most simple wifi.

These are really hard to find you likely have interference from neighbors wifi. They too likely have a lot of radio units transmitting stuff. When you have lots of devices it tends to be hard to say if you are having issue between the units or between your end device and one of the radio units. Unless you absolutely need the extra radio repeaters you should not use them.

 

[Comjens]

First of all thank you for the response!
The thing is I have tested on the wifi and lan at the same time (from a desk top and a laptop using a script that recorded internet speeds asynchronously such that measurements did not interfere with each other). The result was the Lan would always get 110 mb/s where the wifi would periodically completely drop (almost to zero).

We live in a quite big house, therefor the mesh network made some sense. We upgraded from a 3 access point network, where connection issues where also present. Adding more accespoints to the network only increased the interference so it was a loose/loose situation.

Anyway, I guess that means getting a good wifi in our house is hopeless. danm

 

[bill001g]

If you use actual "Access points" you will get much better coverage. The key is it runs ethernet to the room and then has a wifi radio (ie AP) in the room. This is how all large corporations do it, none use mesh.

The problem with using mesh or any form of wifi repeater is you now have 2 radio signals that can get interference. You have the connection back to the main router and the one to the end clients. The new mesh systems are slightly better because they do not use the same radio to talk to the main router as the end client like simple repeaters do. Then again it depends on the mesh system some do not use different radio. It is purely a problem with too much radio signals in general.

If you were to move far out in the country with few neighbors it is surprising how well wifi works with extremely weak signal levels.

Going to make the fairly common recommendation when repeaters are not working well and that is to use powerline units. They do not compare to ethernet cables but using powerline to connect back to the main router eliminates 1 of the radio hops.

 

[bdginmo]

Getting good WiFi in your home is not hopeless. You just need to do it right. Ditch the mesh systems. Go with something like Ubiquiti and use multiple APs. Run an ethernet wire to each AP location if it all possible. If that's not possible use MoCA via existing coax wiring. If that's not possible use a HomePlug AV2 or G.hn powerline ethernet adapter. Use mesh as a last resort.

I have 2x UAP-AC-PRO that are ceiling mounted and 2x UAP-AC-M units for locations that I could not ceiling mount. I have the Tx power set to medium or even low. I have perfect WiFi even though I live on a cul-de-sac with a lot of radio activity.

If you want to figure out what's going on with your current setup then you'll need to do some controlled tests. This may require powering down each AP individually, changing channels, etc. You may want to borrow a non-Google AP from a friend and see if the problem goes away. Also download one of those WiFi analyzer apps and walk around the house to get a feel for what other WiFi sources you may be dealing with. My goto WiFi Scanner by Lizard Systems. But there is inSSIDer and a few quality options on iOS and Android as well.