Speed drop in a particular room
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Hi Everyone,
I'm new here and created an account to ask the experts here because I can't solve my problem regarding lost or internet speed drop in a particular room of our 2-storey house. I'm a noob when it comes to this so please be patient and kind 🙏🏻
I attached here our current setup. We currently have a Huawei router(or modem??) provided by our Internet provider and connected to it is an Asus router. Connected to the Asus router is a Tenda mesh. Greed and yellow dots are mesh. Red star is the modem and asus router. Violet pentagon is my workstation where the internet speed is really bad. I've been relocating the modem and the meshes to get the best coverage of our house and the current setup is the best so far. With this setup and placements, even without the mesh, the Asus router covers the whole house including rooms in the 2nd floor pretty well except for the computer room in the first floor. I really can't figure out why even though the computer room is very close to the router, the speed drops really big time even with the door open. The second floor rooms have good speed even though they are farther away from the modem. The wifi signal on my devices has full bars when inside the computer room but the speed drops to 20mbps - 1mbps. I don't have any appliances in the computer room. Even with the Tenda mesh outside and inside the computer room, it seems that the data/internet/speed (or whatever you call it) can't enter the computer room. So I'm thinking that maybe with Deco mesh, Internet speed can penetrate into the room? If so, what is the best model and how many should I install? Also if you have any other suggestions or any faults that you can see with the current setup, please let me know.
Btw, our house is around 200++sqm. The second floor has wood floorings and rooms have wood walls. The CR at the 1st floor has concrete walls and internet speed is quite good. The computer room also has concrete walls except for the wall where the door is in. Wall divider inside is also concrete. Not sure if these info matter but just so you know.
Please let me know if you need more info.
Thank you in advance!! 🙏🏻
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Now, there is only main unit and computer room unit.
Speed thru LAN is 140-150 mbps.
Thru Wifi, it's 60-70 mbps
Wifi speed for Smart phone is 100-115mbps
When in dining area and connected to main mesh, speed is 360 mbps.
You said that main mesh should deliver 500-650 mbps, but it doesn't even though Huawei router (when tested before w/o Asus and mesh) delivers 500-600 mbps.
Again, thank you so much for all your efforts.
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With the best hardware, WiFi 5 router will deliver up to 500-650Mbps. It appears Tenda mesh hardware is on a budget side and can't deliver that much.
Even if Main mesh unit does just 360Mbps, computer room Tenda unit should still deliver 150-180Mbps. Having 60-70Mbps through WiFi is too low, but now I start asking myself if this is Tenda problem or is it WiFi interference.
There is one more test, the last one I promise I am going to ask you to do. It may require some time and preparation, so up to you if you want to try that. I'll explain the test, and what path to take depending on its outcome.
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Test Preparation:
You will need to lay Ethernet cable from room where Huawei router is to computer room. If you don't have such long cable, you'll need to acquire it. Because it is for testing only, just put cable on the floor - it is not permanent cabling. After the test, you can remove the cable.
Test:
Connect one end of Ethernet cable to Huawei modem. Take Main Tenda unit to computer room. Connect Main Tenda unit to another end of Ethernet cable. Power it on. Power off all other Tenda units. Keep Asus router powered off.
Run speed tests with WiFi in computer room (smartphone and PC), and also with LAN connection from Tenda unit to PC.
Expected results:
LAN connection speed test should deliver same speed as your Internet link. If not, something must be wrong with Ethernet cable or Tenda Ethernet ports.
1. WiFi speed tests deliver same results as for Tenda main unit when it is near Huawei router - that means, WiFi interference is between computer room and where Huawei router is.
or
2. WiFi speed tests deliver substantially worse results than for Tenda main unit when it is near Huawei router - that means, WiFi interference is inside computer room.
Next steps:
If WiFi interference is between rooms, we can discuss what options you may have to bring wired link from Huawei router to computer room.
If WiFi interference is inside computer room, not much can be done about it until you find what is it.
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Let me know when you can manage to run that test or if you are not going to. Both are OK with me.
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I honestly don't mind how many tests I need to do. I am just so thankful that finally there's someone who's willing to help me and who is actually knowledgeable unlike those technicians and salesperson who don't care at all.
I'll do the test because I also want to know the answer to this mystery and I am also learning in the process.
I just don't have an Ethernet cable that long so I have to find time to get one.
I will update here once I am done with the test.
Thank you so much for bearing with me.
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Before I transferred the Tenda Main Mesh from dining to computer room, I tested first the speed in the dining area using my smart phone, speed is around 350mbps
For the final test case wherein the Tenda Main Mesh is in computer room and connected to Huawei modem in the dining area through a long Cat 6 LAN Cable, and
only the main mesh is turned on, the output are as follows:
PC
LAN - 330-340 mbps
Wifi - 200 - 220 mbps
Smart Phone:
Wifi - 360 - 370 mbps
I even tried using the computer room Tenda mesh as the main mesh just to be sure that it's not an issue of a specific node/unit but the results are the same with abovementioned speedtest.
Does that mean WiFi interference is between computer room and dining area?
I'm finally seeing some light...
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I added more test cases since I now have a long cable:
1. Main Mesh outside computer room door and another mesh inside computer room. Both PC and smart phone are connected to mesh inside computer room.
- PC
- LAN - 240-270 mbps
- Wifi - 100-110 mbps
- Smart Phone
- Wifi - 180-200 mbps
2. Main mesh outside computer room door, no mesh inside computer room
- PC
- Wifi - 180-200 mbps
- Smart Phone
- Wifi - 215-240 mbps
There are only a microwave oven and a refrigerator at the left side of dining area. The only possible interference that I can think of are the reinforced concrete walls which I enclosed in grey. Especially the toilet in between the dining area and computer room.
Also, the hallway to the computer room is only 1m apart. Not sure if I'm making sense lol.
Sorry for the very messy floor plan. 
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Reinforced concrete walls will be primary WiFi signal killer. Microwave and fridge might contribute, but they won't be major factor.
Here are bad news: newer versions of WiFi protocols deliver faster speeds, but more sensitive to obstacles. Your Tenda is WiFi5, Asus must be WiFi6. Next will be WiFi6E and WiFi7 - routers and WiFi mesh supporting these are expensive and will perform very bad at your house.
For now, I would suggest you stay with WiFi5 and WiFi6 capable routers and mesh, do not spend on more expensive but practically useless for you WiFi6E and WiFi7 capable devices.
You should also decide, will you use a standalone router such as Asus, or WiFi mesh such as Tenda. Having both in same house creates its own issues, so better be one or another.
There are not very many options you can have with concrete walls. If you plan to decomission WiFi mesh and stay with Asus router only, you will have to accept what you have.
With WiFi mesh, there is additional option, such as: bring wired connection from Huawei/Main WiFi mesh unit to computer room and attach WiFi mesh unit to it in computer room, also replace Tenda mesh with more powerful WiFi mesh to boost WiFi signal a bit more. No WiFi mesh will deal well with reinforced concrete, but better WiFi mesh hardware could get you slightly better results.
For wired connection, there are three possible options, from best to worst:
1. Ethernet cable is ideal. If you could find the way to lay it permanently from dining room to computer room, that is the best option.
2. If your house is cabled with TV (coaxial) cables and you have TV cable outlet in dining room and in computer room, it may be possible to use these cables (with third party adapters) to create Ethernet link. Especially if these TV cables are no longer in use.
If your house has TV cables, let me know and I'll share details.
3. Powerline adapters. This is the worst, but still option. Powerline link is least reliable and very sensitive to electrical wiring noise, such as from microwave, fridge, dimming lights. Electrical outlets must be on the same circuit breaker. If nothing else, and you have them on same circuit breaker in dining room and computer room, that is an option. Again, let me know and I'll give you more details.
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When in comes to WiFi mesh, if you plan to use it, I would suggest replacing Tenda with 3-unit set of TP-Link Deco X90 or X95. Both X90 and X95 are very much same hardware and specs, so if buying - check prices for both and buy one that is for less.
These are top of the line Deco WiFi6 capable devices, Main Deco X90/X95 should deliver WiFi speeds close or even better than Asus.
The layout will be the following: Main Deco in dining room, Satellite Deco in computer room with wired link to Main Deco, third Deco on the second floor, ideally right above Main Deco.
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So, think about all of it and decide what you want to do next. If you want to proceed, I would suggest to start with creating wired link between dining room and computer room and use Tenda mesh you already have to test that link (especially if it is powerline). If everything works up to your expectations, replacing Tenda mesh with Deco mesh would be the next step to take (or not, if you are good with Tenda performance).
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Thank you so much for laying everything out for me. I really appreciate it. Thanks also for pointing out that more expensive and advance don't mean that it's always the perfect choice. I would have bought the most expensive mesh that I can buy in desperation to solve my problem, had I not stumbled upon this forum. Thanks also for the Deco mesh recommendations.
I will go for option 1. Option 2 is not possible. Option 3 is too advanced for me. I have no idea about powerlines. The words 'electric' and 'circuit breakers' scare me. Fortunately, option 1 is the best choice.
I might stick with Tenda mesh in the meantime and will upgrade to Deco x90/x95 when budget permits.
You already laid everything and spoonfed me. I learned a lot. The only thing left is for me to execute. This might take time though. Thank you so much, really!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
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Just to give my final update..
I did the following layout using Tenda mesh:
The layout will be the following: Main Deco in dining room, Satellite Deco in computer room with wired link to Main Deco, third Deco on the second floor, ideally right above Main Deco.
The results are great.
PC through LAN:
PC through Wifi:
This is definitely the way to go. I will have to sell the Asus router to be able to upgrade to Deco mesh. Again, thank you so much.
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