Deco M5 with EE Full Fibre issues
Apologies in advance for a long first post, but I thought this needed a full explanation of what's been happening, in the hope someone will be able to help.
I have 3 Deco M5s providing WiFi throughout a long old house. Until 6 weeks ago the setup was working with BT FTTC broadband with a BT Hub and I wasn't aware of any issues with it. Then Openreach installed full fibre and we swapped at the same time to EE with a Smart Hub Plus. One Deco is plugged into the hub at one end of the house on the first floor. The second is in the living room on the ground floor, the middle of the house. The third is in a bedroom on the first floor at the opposite end of the house to the first, where a Windows 11 PC is plugged into the ethernet port of the M5. This gets most of the traffic, but there is also an iPhone 16 and an iPad using the Deco wifi, as is a Canon wireless printer. This is the same setup I had with the BT hub.
After the EE full fibre was installed, I've noticed that some pictures on some websites are slow to load on the Windows PC and Youtube videos bufffer before starting. The Youtube message about unstable internet often comes up while a video is loading. Downloads don't seem to be faster than they were before the upgrade. This led me to start investigating.
A speed test on the Deco app was showing >900Mbps for downloads. However, on the Windows PC, and the Apple devices, various speed tests run in a browser were only getting ~50Mbps. There is a Windows 10 PC plugged directly into the EE hub and a speed test on that clocked ~500Mbps. So I'm sure the problem is in the Deco network.
I looked for similar issues in various places, including this forum. As a result, I installed the latest Deco firmware, completed successfully, and did a Network Optimisation scan from the app. That made some changes and reported the network "Perfect". But there was no difference to the speeds. So I changed the Operation Mode from Wi-Fi Router to Access Point. That reduced the download speed in the app to ~500Mbps and in the browsers to 30Mbps or less. Also the upload speed was showing as zero. So I changed the Operation Mode back to Wi-Fi Router. Now the download speed in the app is 887Mbps (just now). Upload speed 102Mbps.
However, various speed tests in browser (Firefox) are now reporting even lower speeds.
Google Fibre Internet Speedtest: Download - 30.3Mbps Upload - 39.7Mbps Ping - 10ms Jitter - 7ms
Which UK broadbandtest: DL - 30Mbps UL - 35 Mbps Ping - 12ms
Ookla Speedtest: DL - 24.8 UL: 36.4Mbps Ping: 12ms
As I seem to have only made things worse, I'm reluctant to try anything else without some more specific advice, based on what I've done so far. So I'm hoping someone here will have some more informed ideas.
Phil
Hi, welcome to the community.
Is your current topology like:
Have you checked the WiFi speed next to the main Deco M5? Or is it only the network speed from satellite#3 far below than expected?
Please make sure the QoS has been disabled on the Deco APP.
Please also temporarily disable the 2.4GHz band under the main WiFi network and test the speed again.
If the WiFi speed was still about ~50mbps, could you please refer to this link to help me check the current wireless link speed:
How to check the associated/link speed on a wireless client
Wait for your reply.
Best regards.
Have switched off 2.4 GHz. I've been testing speeds using the Ookla Speedtest app on an iPad (9th Gen) with iOS 18.5.
Speed next to the main Deco #1 was 421/101 with 2.4GHz enabled and 486/103 with 5GHz only. I also tested the Wifi on the EE Hub and got 514/90.9.
With 5GHz only, speed next to Deco #2 was 94.2/89.9 and next to Deco #3 50/50.2.
I moved Deco #2 upstairs directly above were it was previously.
I then got 153/57.6 in the room where Deco #2 was originally and 53.5/59.5 next to Deco #3.
I couldn't really do the associated/link test as the Windows PC is connected to Deco #3 by an ethernet cable. This is what I got from that.
I can't find the equivalent information on the Apple devices.
What seems to be happening is that every satellite added reduces the speed drastically and the chain from Deco #1 through #2 to #3 ends up at about 50Mbps or less. What I still don't understand is why the connection seems less stable since the full fibre upgrade.
@David-TP Looks like you weren't tagged in my previous replies.
I've since done a lot more experimenting and testing with the Ookla Windows and iOS apps. There's a Windows 10 pc hard wired to the ISP's hub and this is getting 900Mbps. The master Deco M5 wired to the same hub is providing ~500Mbps wifi in that room.
Satellite 2 used to be downstairs about 30ft from the master, but I noticed this was getting a weak signal. I tried moving it and found I could get a medium strength signal placing it by a window in the bedroom above, with line of sight to the master. That gives ~120Mbps in the room, but downstairs, where it was before, it drops to ~50Mbps, which is adequate there.
Satellite 3 is in another bedroom ~25ft from Satellite 2. There is a medium signal between them. There is a Windows 11 pc wired to Satellite 3 and the Ookla app shows that is getting ~100Mbps. On iPhone and iPad in the room the wifi is ~50-70 Mbps, depending on the time of day.
There appeared to be some increase in speed by disabling 2.4GHz, but I have a Wifi printer that uses it. This is the layout I have now.
I'm surprised by the drop in performance across the system, because I wasn't aware of it before the upgrade to full fibre. I now realise I should have had the hub relocated when the wiring was upgraded. As it is, I guess the only way to preserve more of the 900Mbps that's coming in would be to upgrade the mesh system with new units.