IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable

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IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable

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IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-01-31 03:03:27
Model: Deco XE75  
Hardware Version: V2
Firmware Version: 1.2.3 Build 20231011 Rel. 60272

TL;DR - I was hoping by enabling the IoT network I'd have stable connectivity as it's at 2.4Ghz. So far...not the case. Does anyone out there have same/similar experience and what have you, or can you suggest, be done ?

The attached image is my setup, a mix of ethernet from a switch off my router for work Laptops and the Deco's broadcasting 2.4Ghz & 5Ghz to all non IoT devices on "Internet" + all IoT devices on Internet_IoT. There are upwards of 70 devices attached to the network, most are running off the Deco's and many of those are IoT devices (TP-Link bulbs and switches, Google Home products, a Leviton switch and a Good Earth light fixture).

1. One of the Deco XE75's stopped functioning properly throttling bandwidth from an already bad 50 x 10 (my over the air Wireless) to 20 x 2 last week. I've now completely reset all the Deco's and rebuilt the network from scratch, not a trivial exercise.

2. Before and now again I'm having trouble with the Google Hub constantly dropping off the IoT network and reconnecting within 2-3min normally. Other devices appear to be stable but it's hard to tell as they don't have displays. The hub has been reset multiple times and is now off the IoT network where it's stable
3. The mobile app on Android is horribly slow to report device status and often reports Deco's offline for 2-3min when I know they're actually online
4. The browser portal is worse and missing many features, it stinks

PS: I's a big, old, long, farmhouse with brick and unknown substances in the walls that block signals, that's why I have 6 Deco's indoors, 3 backhauling by ethernet and the 6th, an M5 on ethernet in my garage. The network is in Access Point mode.
Blue lines = Ethernet
Green Lines = Wireless 

~~~~~~~~~ Yo!Adrian Toronto
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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-01 07:47:03

  @yo_adrian_eh 

Hi, For the Deco XE75_v2, It is suggested to install the beta firmware here to see whether it helped:

Optimize The Overall App Experience on Deco XE5300/XE75/XE75 Pro

 

As for the unstable speed Deco XE75, it is one of the wirelessly connected satellite Decos?

Did it help if you tried to set 'connection preference" on the Deco APP for Google Hub?

How to select a preferred signal source on the Deco App

Please also turn off "Mesh Technology" on the Deco APP for Google Hub.

 

Thank you very much and best regards.

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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-02 04:31:34

The firmware has been updated, three wired X75 v2 1.24 and two WiFi v1 are on 1.28

The device that was unstable was the main device, a wired v2 and is now stable after a complete reset and recreation of the network.

Mesh for the Google Hub has been disabled, is on main "Internet" SSID and Mesh disabled.

 

Initial feedback is the IoT network is very unstable and is dropping internet connectivity repeating 3-4min cycles. I may need to revert to a previous firmware (where can I find this?).
Firmware  

 

topology

~~~~~~~~~ Yo!Adrian Toronto
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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-02 23:02:58

The IoT network was so unstable that I've had to disable it. I could see on my phone that it would connect but not get Internet access and then drop. 

 

I've enabled Guest, limited it to 2.4Ghz and I'm resetting every single IoT device in the house to move it to Guest. As I understand how the Deco works the Guest network is also it's own VLAN which IoT isn't so this should actually be more secure.

 

FYI - My router is an AXE5400.

 

If you have any other guidance I'm listening.

~~~~~~~~~ Yo!Adrian Toronto
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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-03 00:37:58

  @yo_adrian_eh For what it's worth, I spent HOURS and HOURS trying to get the XE75 Pros (6 of them) to be stable and do what they should - all without success.

 

I had most of the symptoms you also describe - including flakey Google Nest Hub connections to both the main and IOT network.

 

In the end, I gave up.  I've returned the XE75 Pros and I'm currently trialling the XE200s.

 

I wish you luck.

 

 

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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-04 13:43:48

  @MattPorter I'm outside the return window so I'm stuck with them

They were OK until I tried the IoT network <ugh> 

I suspect there’s very little (no?) difference in the firmware running the XE75 & XE200, it will be the antenna strength and coverage that increases.

The biggest learning from this exercise

Deco IoT Network
I understand why the Deco has this feature and in theory it’s a great feature. People are complaining about it as it’s not an actual VLAN and doesn’t segregate the traffic. If it worked it would be fantastic…but, at least for me, it was unstable, my devices dropped and rejoined frequently which often rendered them unusable. More often it was of course when I wanted to issue a command "turn a light on/off" "what's the weather" "set a timer" etc

Guest Network for IoT Devices

After spending approx. 4hrs connecting IoT devices to the Guest Network (as it’s basically a VLAN), doing a lot of reading of error messages and asking myself why I was trying so hard I came to the realization that Google Hub and Nest Audio devices can’t connect to required LAN services as the VLAN is too segregated from some of the core network services they need. They just can’t connect. It may actually be access to ports but it doesn't work, no need to fight it. I spent almost an entire day resetting all my IoT devices (70+) back to the main network where they all connect and function.

Note: I tried both IoT & Guest networks in 2.4Ghz mode, turning 5Ghz off. This didn’t make any difference. On the Guest network I'm almost positive it's a Port issue that limits where traffic can go.

~~~~~~~~~ Yo!Adrian Toronto
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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-04 14:18:45

  @yo_adrian_eh Am I correct in understanding your ISP service is 50 Mbps down 10 Mbps up?  And you have roughly 70 clients sharing this?  (This might be the main source of your issue)...

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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-04 18:32:37

 @jzchen, no, IoT devices don't consuming anywhere close to that kind of bandwidth. Even if they were all running symultaneously (that would mean an action being performed such as bulbs or switches on/off, music or video streaming at exactly the same time) they'd consume just less than half of the upload. When I use monitoring tools it's typically around 1mbps in inbound/outbound traffic when it's static.. Here's a pic of my avaible bandwith from a quick test. We have, although not tons compared to cable or fibre, enough. Our ISP services are delivered over the air which is why it's so limited.

 

  

And we consume quite a bit of data, we average approx 400GB-425GB monthly although in Dec when transferring images to our cloud accounts we managed to use over 800GB. If bandwidth was an issue I'd see it affecting everything we do and have running internally, which we don't. We have 6 Blink cameras and a Nest doorbell for the property that are in "always watching" mode plus 2 people working from home on video calls almost all day and in the evening we're using video streaming services. If avaible bandwidth was an issue most of that would be failing, never mind IoT devices.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~ Yo!Adrian Toronto
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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-04 22:21:27

  @yo_adrian_eh Sorry to hear that returning isn't an option.

 

After a few hiccups getting the XE200s going - I'm finding things MUCH more stable.

 

Here's my guess - if you have a fast connection (mine is 1000/50) and lots of IoT devices, you'll be putting pressure on both the CPU and RAM in these units.

 

While TPLink don't publish the CPU and RAM specs for the XE75 on the product page (they may be available elsewhere, but I couldn't find them with a quick Google), I suspect the XE200s have more CPU (2.2GHz) and RAM (1Gb) than the XE75s - which for me at least might explain the stability issues we've seen on the XE75 Pro units.

 

Keep in mind that's just a guess.

 

Have you tried turning off the IoT network and just using the XE75s for your regular Internet?  My guess is they work exceptionally well in this case as long as the network load isn't too heavy.

 

FWIW, I did try a combination of 2 x XE200 units and the XE75s, but I found no benefit.  Since shifting to the XE200 and wired backhaul I'm finding things decidedly more stable (albeit after some teething issues and one lingering speed problem on upload).

 

Long story short, perhaps the XE75s aren't cut out for your setup?  They weren't for me.  But they do get rave reviews - so it's hard to tell.

 

Hope that is in someway useful - I realise it may not be ideal in your situation.

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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-05 18:08:00

@MattPorter I went digging...

XE75 Broadcom 1.7GHz Quad-Core CPU coupled with 512MB RAM
XE200 2.2 GHz Quad-core CPU. 2× 512MB DDR4 (1G in Total)

 

I didn’t draw the connection to the XE75 & XE200 hardware differences applied to devices, only to range. You may be right about load and it’s affect on throughput.

Want to buy some XE75’s..? I think I have some for sale :)

~~~~~~~~~ Yo!Adrian Toronto
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Re:IoT Network - Deco XE75 - Unstable
2024-02-05 20:49:20

  @yo_adrian_eh Remember that's just my theory...

 

Technically, the XE75s should support up to 200 devices. And IoT devices are relatively passive and don't generate much traffic as a rule. 
 

but I've definitey noticed an improvement in stability, range and performance with the XE200s. 
 

Could be time to cut your losses?

 

Out of curiosity, have you tried turning off all the IoT devices and seeing if things are better?

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