Extremely Slow Speed & Intermittent Connection

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Extremely Slow Speed & Intermittent Connection

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Extremely Slow Speed & Intermittent Connection
Extremely Slow Speed & Intermittent Connection
2021-07-24 15:42:07 - last edited 2021-07-24 15:46:29
Model: Deco S4  
Hardware Version: V7
Firmware Version: 1.5.0

Hi there,

 

I am having some serious issues with the Deco S4. I live in a bungalow and my ISP router does not give out great WiFi to adjacent rooms. So I purchased the Deco S4 to help solve this. The internet speeds since day 1 of purchasing have been terrible. The speed fluctuates so much.

 

Here is how they are set up in my bungalow:

 

 

 

 

As you can see the distance between the Deco units is not very far. I belive this is down to the internet speed coming from the main deco unit.

 

I have it connected directly to the router. My ISP speeds are:

 

76MBPS Download

20MBPS Upload

 

I have updated the units to the latest firmware. The WiFi analyzer shows that the network is good however the DecoLab shows that the devices are using the wrong channel as they are using channel 5 and the clearest channel is channel 13. I have no way to change this.

 

I have tried the guest network as mentioned in troubleshooting, made no difference. 

I have tried the 5GHz only and the 2Ghz only, again no difference.

Disabled uPNP, port configuration etc... no difference.

 

I believe this is directly from the main deco as this is the deco that is showing slow speeds and is connected via Ethernet I am not sure how I can troubleshoot it.

 

Here are some speed tests from the main deco:

 

 

And a speed test via speedtest.net and Google on Ethernet through my PC:

 

 

 

Any help would be appreciated. I have done a full reboot and reset also.

 

Thank you

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#1
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Re:Extremely Slow Speed & Intermittent Connection
2021-07-24 15:55:08

@MrMPViral 

 

1. Please provide Signal Source screenshots for 2-nd and 3rd Decos. Example:

 

 

2. The numbers you see on Deco pages, such as 2.2Mbps Download and 7Kbps Upload is NOT speed test. It is current network utilization: how much bandwidth your devices consume at current moment. If there is no Internet consumption by devices at all, that number could be even zero sometimes.

 

3. Your speedtest.net shows quite good speeds. You should trust it.

 

4. I might be able to recommend slightly better positioning of 2nd and 3rd Deco, but that may not be necessary if they report good backhaul signal levels in Signal Source. 

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#2
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Re:Extremely Slow Speed & Intermittent Connection
2021-07-24 16:18:11 - last edited 2021-07-24 16:18:53

1. Please provide Signal Source screenshots for 2-nd and 3rd Decos. Example:

 

How do I do this as I am unable to find this in the Deco app.

 

2. The numbers you see on Deco pages, such as 2.2Mbps Download and 7Kbps Upload is NOT speed test. It is current network utilization: how much bandwidth your devices consume at current moment. If there is no Internet consumption by devices at all, that number could be even zero sometimes.

 

Ah I see, my mistake.

 

3. Your speedtest.net shows quite good speeds. You should trust it.

 

I do trust it but this is via Ethernet. My issue is with WiFi speed.

 

4. I might be able to recommend slightly better positioning of 2nd and 3rd Deco, but that may not be necessary if they report good backhaul signal levels in Signal Source.

 

I am unable to change the location of the Deco's as they are at the best place for the sockets on the wall. Also each Deco is only a few feet from each other so location should not really be an issue.

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#3
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Re:Extremely Slow Speed & Intermittent Connection
2021-07-24 17:07:29 - last edited 2021-07-24 17:11:40

@MrMPViral 

 

1. How do I do this as I am unable to find this in the Deco app.

 

Check this short YouTube video I have found for you:  https://youtu.be/5PCeJxuHYu0

You can skip to 1:07 and start watching from there.

 

2. Each Deco is only a few feet from each other so location should not really be an issue.

 

For WiFi, 15-20 feet and walls in between is more that "just few feet." Still, let's take a look at Signal Source first.

 

 

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#4
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Re:Extremely Slow Speed & Intermittent Connection
2021-07-24 17:14:07 - last edited 2021-07-24 17:14:45

@Alexandre. 

 

Signal source is showing 2 bars out of 3 for the other 2 Deco units. I did a firmware update before making the post and I am getting 45Mbps now in my office through my mobile phone.

 

Will monitor it for now as it does this sometimes where it will work for a bit then suddenly drop out.

 

Thank you for your help.

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#5
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Re:Extremely Slow Speed & Intermittent Connection
2021-07-26 13:53:29

@MrMPViral 

 

You said you are unwilling to move Satellite Deco units, but I decided to share my recommendations anyway. For one, they are not Deco specific - they apply to any WiFi mesh. Also, someone else reading this might find it useful.

 

One of the mistakes people make is placing Satellite WiFi mesh units close to where mobile devices are. For example, you work at the Office room and your WiFi signal from there to Router is Fair according to smartphone. Not Good or Excellent, but Fair - meaning, mediocre. Download speeds are not quite good, sometimes WiFi connection drops, and so on.

 

So, you decided to deploy mesh. Marketing materials say "WiFi mesh provides all house coverage, no dead zones, works like magic." If only.

 

You placed Main WiFi unit in the Living Room and Satellite WiFi unit in the Office room. Now, while in the Office, your smartphone reports Good or even Excellent WiFi connection. It is connected to Satellite unit nearby. Yet, despite of that, you don't see much of improvement with Internet access.

The reason for that is: Satellite WiFi unit connects to Main WiFi unit by WiFi, and it uses same WiFi protocols as smartphone. There is no secret sauce or some sort of special connectivity between WiFi mesh units. Which means: you did not fix the problem, you've hidden it. Connection between Satellite and Main units is mediocre at best. End result, quality of connectivity from smartphone to Internet, is the same - not as good as expected, not much improved, if at all. 

 

The optimal placement of Satellite units is in the middle between wireless devices connected to them, and  Main WiFi unit. If it were open space, you can draw the line from Main unit to where your mobile devices are, and put Satellite unit exactly in the middle.

In reality, it is not that easy, because houses have walls. Walls do interfere with WiFi much more that empty air, obviously.

 

Take look at Satellite Deco in your Office room. There are two walls between it and Main Deco. The better place would be where there is just one wall between Satellite and Main, and one wall between Office room and Satellite.

Your smartphone may report quality of WiFi as Good instead of Excellent, but its overall Internet connectivity should improve.

 

As for Bedroom, there is just one wall between it and Main Deco, so it makes sense to move that Satellite Deco closer to Main Deco, but keep Satellite Deco inside the bedroom.

 

With that in mind, here is my recommendation.

 

 

Square with 2 is where I would suggest placing Second Deco and Square with 3 is where I would suggest putting Third Deco.

 

Even if you do not have electric outlets in these places - you could put Satellite Deco to that location and use extension electric cord, temporarily. If that will improve your Internet, you'll know the problem was related to placement of Satellite Deco.

 

Next time you start experiencing consistently slow speeds and/or intermittent connection - try that first.

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