@Bruno74 

 

It appears you have general understanding of how WiFi mesh works and what options you have with Deco mesh confiuration. I'll add a bit more info to that.

 

Satellite Deco can deliver at most 50% of Main Deco speed. Each additional hop decreases speed by another 50%. This is not Deco mesh issue, this is limitation of WiFi mesh technology.

 

Some coverage overlap is necessary, because mobile device moving through the house should be able to switch from one WiFi mesh node to another, without losing connection. This can only be achieved with coverage overlap.

From the other hand, too many Deco nodes will cause WiFi signal interference. I think you have found it by yourself, with adding more Satellites.

 

I would recommend to use not more than 2 Deco units per floor, meaning up to four. In case like yours I'll try to optimize first floor setup and then try different placement and connectivity on the second floor.

 

Which means, before dealing with Satellites one must get the most from Main Deco.

Before I drill down further, and to avoid making this post too long, let's focus on Main Deco and on first floor for now. As I said, Satellite Deco will deliver half of Main Deco speed or less - so getting the most of Main Deco is the must.

 

Based on that, questions:

 

1. What is the speed of your Internet link? Just to make sure, because if it is indeed 1.5 gigabit I'll have follow up questions on it.

2. What device are you using to run speed tests?

3. For Satellite 1, check what level of Signal it reports to Main Deco. You can find that in Deco app in Satellite 1 info page. Example:

 

 

in this example, signal level is Fair.

 

4. In Deco app, find Main Network settings, keep only 5GHz band and run speed tests with Main Deco again:

 

 

after you are done with speed tests, you can restore original dual band setting.

 

4. If it comes to that, will you be able to return X1500 set of 6 and buy different Deco model? If yes, I'll keep that in mind in my recommendations.

 

5. Do you have coaxial (TV) cable between two floors? If yes, it may be possible to use it to deliver Ethernet and provide Ethernet backhaul from first floor to second floor.

  @Alexandre. 

 

Thank you for the insightful feedback Alexandre!!!

 

To your questions...

 

1. What is the speed of your Internet link?

 

Internet is 1500mbps.  But that is wired.  From my provider’s router, I get +650mbps wifi using Speedtest.net.  I get very similar speed from Main Deco, which sits right next to the router anyhow.  So no loss.

 

 

2. What device are you using to run speed tests?

 

iPhone 15 Pro Max.  

Software is Speedtest.net. I try several times and always go airplane mode first standing near the node I’m testing.  In rooms, I just check that it is the Deco Wifi.  I have not turned off my router Wifi off.

 

 

3. For Satellite 1, check what level of Signal it reports to Main Deco. You can find that in Deco app in Satellite 1 info page. Example:

 

Strong.  All Sats are strong.  I attached screenshots.

 

 

4. In Deco app, find Main Network settings, keep only 5GHz band and run speed tests again:

 

Switched to 5GHz only, rebooted whole system, this is over multiple readings taking max.  It fluctuates a lot.  Each time switching Wifi off/on on iPhone, standing next to sat, cannot be sure which sat it is actually using, as they all overlap, including Main.  Tested again with dual band, same process.

• Main - 5GHz only @ max 730 mbps vs. Dualband @ max 690 mbps
• Sat 1 - 5GHz only @ max 310 mbps vs. Dualband @ max 280 mbps
• Sat 2 - 5GHz only @ max 150 mbps vs. Dualband @ max 150 mbps
• Sat 3 - 5GHz only @ max 125 mbps vs. Dualband @ max 125 mbps

Wondering about the test, would the iPhone not use Wifi 5GHz when available, so is test indicative?

 

 

5. Do you have coaxial (TV) cable between two floors? If yes, it may be possible to use it to deliver Ethernet and provide Ethernet backhaul from first floor to second floor.

 

I do and I did check out the MoCA adapters.  Thought they were expensive.  It would reduce number of Deco units to 3, since Sat 1 is only to shorten link for the two floors, so i could return my other Deco 3-set.  However I am not sure how the coax cabling network works?  Is coax in living room (next to router) connected to all other rooms?  Or do they each connect individually to a ‘central’?  AI says they connect to a central but are still in a network, so the MoCA adapters should work fine.  Maybe need to try.  Would you know?  

 

What are Advanced Setting, i do not understand their explanations?  All disabled by default.  Any could be helpful?

- Fast Roaming

- Beamforming 

- OFDMA/MU-MIMO

 

Can i hope to get 300mbps in rooms, or am i wasting my time?  Current set up is 100mbps in rooms.

 

Thank you

  @Bruno74 

 

If you got 1500Mbps Internet link from your ISP, the router they supplied you with must support WiFi6 at least. With iPhone 15 Pro Max you should be able to get gigabit WiFi speeds from ISP router, or even more.

600-700Mbps is too low for WiFi6, and it is somewhat strange you are getting that same WiFi speed from both ISP Router and Deco. 

 

If you are happy with 600-700Mbps, we can continue discussing how to optimize your Deco mesh layout, considering its current 700Mbps speed on Main Deco.

 

From the other hand, if you want to figure why you are not getting gigabit+ WiFi speed from ISP Router (and that might help to improve Deco speed if root case is found) I can give you basic steps to try in regard to WiFi connection to ISP Router and if they are not helping you may wish to talk to ISP Tech Support. After all, they sold you 1.5gigabit and your smartphone is capable of these speeds.

 

Let me know how would you like to proceed from that point.

  @Alexandre. 
I just had Vodafone in recently. background... my home has been fine with just the one router + 1 extender Huawi, until about a month ago, which is why I called them in. Router was fine. Seems there was damage on the fiber cable outside the house, which they replaced. But they said extender had weak signal. Speed from router they said was normal 700 Mbps for WiFi. They wanted to sell me satellites, which is when I opted for the Deco home mesh. 

I will definitely chase and ask for clarification. Surely if I can get initial speed up, it will benefit rest of my home mesh. 
 

will revert back promptly. 

  @Bruno74 

 

Good. Let's focus on Vodafone router. 

 

From what you told me alredy, the slow speed you are getting might be from either speed testing device ("You are not testing it right") or from Internet link itself not delivering promised speed to your house.

You might get brushed off by ISP Tech Support initially, because they'll question how you do test WiFi speed. I am going to give you extra talking points to deal with that.

 

Below, everything is done with iPhone connected to Vodafone router WiFi. I suggest you also bookmark this for the future, if you ever have to troubleshoot your home network/ISP router again.

 

1. ISP Router internal speed test tool.

 

Some ISP Routers do have internal speed test tool user can run (like mine from Technicolor), some do not. Check router documentation, if it offers speed test tool - run it and that will give you the decisive answer on the speed of your Internet link. 

 

2. Speed test from wired device.

 

If you have device with gigabit Ethernet port, bring it to Vodafone router, wire it to the router and run speed test on it. You will obviously be limited by gigabit speed of Ethernet port, but if you are not getting even close to 900Mbps, if this speed test returns 600-700Mbps, something is definitely wrong with Internet link.

 

3. Check WiFi link speed you are getting on iPhone.

 

This FAQ article is a bit dated, but it'll give you an idea where to look: https://www.tp-link.com/en/support/faq/2265/

Tx rate should be in excess of gigabit for WiFi 6 connection. If there is separate Rx (Receive) rate, should be over gigabit, too.

This is ideal speed, an actual speed you could get is about 80% or less. Which means, if TX rate is 1200Mbps for example, you should be confidently getting almost 900Mbps in speed testing on smartphone.

4. Use multiple speed test services.

 

I suggest the following two web sites: speedtest.net and fast.com

Also, download and install on smartphone OOkla speedtest app, it is available in app store. 

 

You may not get exact same results from all three, it is OK for them to be in the range of up to 20% each way. If more, something is not right with speed testing tools or their servers.

 

This will address concern from ISP Tech Support that single speed test tool you use might not give the right results.

 

-------------------------------

 

In conversation with ISP Tech Support don't even mention Deco mesh. To be  on clear, you can just turn it off during above speed testing. Tell ISP Tech Support that with multiple test tools and high quality smartphone connected to their router WiFi you are only getting WiFi5 speeds, while WiFi6 speeds should deliver gigabit or better. Tell them what Tx/Rx rates you see on smartphone.

 

If they can't figure remotely what is going on, request technician visit to your house and to demonstrate at least gigabit speed on their wired device they bring with themself and connect to your Vodafone router, or similarly gigabit speed on their own WiFi device connected to your router wirelessly.