Speed drop in a particular room
Speed drop in a particular room
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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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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I'll start with bad news. All WiFi mesh systems are very similar when it comes to WiFi signal. Different WiFi mesh systems and brands can offer different features in hardware and software, but when it comes to WiFi signal - essentially they are the same. Because, obviously, they have to talk to WiFi client devices (smartphones, etc.) same way regardless of WiFi mesh brand.
Which means, unless you can figure what is wrong with computer room, changing one WiFi mesh to a different brand may not help.
I wish you also posted that on Tenda forums, if you haven't, because each WiFi mesh offers its troubleshooting tools. I am Deco mesh user, I can give Deco mesh troubleshooting recommendations: what info to look and relay to me, from where, but when it comes to Tenda myself and most visitors on that forum will be in blind about what is going on with your WiFi.
If you would like to, I can offer you general recommendations that might be able to improve WiFi signal at computer room, or at least figure where the obstacle is.
1.I'll start with your photo. What I see there is what looks like fiber box (CONVERGE) from which green Ethernet cable goes to WiFi router (Huawei?). The green cable, is it Ethernet cable with standard Ethernet connector? Hard to tell from the photo, so please clarify.
From there Ethernet cable goes to another WiFi router (Asus I am guessing). From there Ethernet cable goes to master unit of Tenda mesh that also probably works as a WiFi router.
So, what you have is router connected to the router connected to the router. Why? Usually, one router is enough. Who did that setup for you?
2. I counted six Tenda mesh units on your floor plans, but you are saying "the Asus router covers the whole house including rooms in the 2nd floor pretty well except for the computer room."
Why would you need Tenda mesh at all if this is the case, and 6 units, not less?
3. What is the approximate distance between computer room and place on your photo (Asus/Huawei/modem)?
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@Alexandre. Thank you so much for taking the time to respond.
I reached out to Tenda support but I didn't get any response. Customer service is bad. I haven't tried the forums because I just decided that I will replace them. I assume that it's a hardware limitation because Tenda is really cheap compared to other known and reputable brands.
To answer your questions:
1. The Huawei router and Asus router came in a bundle from our internet provider (Converge). They are advertised for gamers. Initally, these routers are located at the second floor sala. I don't know why the technicians placed them there, maybe because it's the easiest place to install the connection and most convenient for them. The signal downstairs were so bad so I bought 3 Tenda mesh at first so the signal around the house improved. Not to a great extent but just enough to be able to use wifi in every area. This did not include the computer room that's why I bought another 3 mesh. Still didn't solve the problem so -
2. I had the routers relocated to 1st floor dining area hoping it would resolve the problem. I was surprised that the Asus router is already enough for the whole house, rendering the mesh useless. I don't know, maybe the signal is thrown sidewards and upwards??? I'm just keeping the mesh so they wouldn't be a waste. Right now I think I can just keep 3 of them. One main mesh, 1 outside the computer room door and 1 inside the computer room. The speed inside the computer room when connected to the mesh is a tiny bit better than when connected to Asus router - around 30mbps difference. I'm frustrated because my subscription is 600mbps and I only get 30mbps below in the computer room. Very rarely, it reaches 100-200mbps and only lasts for a short period of time. It is very unstable. Whereas in the other areas, the speed can even reach 700mbps.
2. The distance between the router and computer room door is around 10-13 steps. The room is around 20sqm.
Thank you so much for your insights! Apologies for the lengthy post.
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I'm not sure what is standard and what is not.
I hope these photos help.
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Lengthy posts are OK. The more info you give, the easier for me to be of assistance. Your floor plans are also very useful.
My plan is two steps:
1. Find if your WiFi networking setup can be simplified/optimized. With the consideration that you plan to keep Tenda WiFi mesh.
2. Figure if WiFi signal in computer room is bad because something provides in-room signal interference, or because there is some WiFi signal obstacle between computer room and rest of the house. That may help to understand how to deal with that.
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Can you unplug that green cable and make photo of connector? If it is not possible to unplug it, it's OK - then, just show me photo of where this cable another end is. Also, if another end can be unplugged - unplug it and make photo of a connector.
What I am trying to do here is figuring if you can connect Tenda master unit from your photo directly to the CONVERGE box. If standard Ethernet cable comes from CONVERGE box we should try - and if it works, that will eliminate both Huawei and Asus routers from the further troubleshooting.
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1. I only intend to keep the mesh if it will solve the problem which right now it doesn't. Is it possible to remove the huawei router and just connect Asus router to the Fiber box?
2. I'm still figuring this out but as of now the only source of Wifi inside the house is the Huawei/Asus. Though I can see wifi from our neighbors.
I tried to open the box but I'm afraid to pull anything because I might break something. I hope the other end will tell you.
Thank you so much!!
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It does not look like you can get rid of Huawei router: the connector from CONVERGE box is not Ethernet and does not look like Ethernet on another side of green cable. Which means, Huawei/CONVERGE box combo will have to stay.
It may be possible to turn off Huawei WiFi and then only Asus will provide WiFi coverage, but we can return to that topic later.
In regard to WiFi coverage, what do you mean when saying "the only source of Wifi inside the house is the Huawei/Asus?" Have you turned off Tenda mesh?
My plan was to eliminate as many WiFi routers as possible from your network, leaving just Tenda mesh to work with. Even if you want to replace it with the different brand of WiFi mesh later.
If you do not have Tenda mesh providing WiFi at your house, the troubleshooting steps for computer room WiFi will be different.
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Also, please made close photo of Huawei lights and labels that are on top of that router, so that I can see what is on these labels: what green lights correspond to and what other labels are there.
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Sorry, what I meant was the only source of internet in the house is my current setup, this includes the routers and mesh.
I am a bit hesitant to rely just on the mesh since the speed is faster when connected to Asus. I honestly don't know what's the best setup to do, if I should keep the mesh or not, and look for other solutions.
MAIN MESH
ASUS
Thank you for helping me out even though this isn't about Tp-Link products
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I am not from TP-Link Support, just WiFi mesh user with good understanding of technology. As such, I won't be driving you in the direction of Deco mesh. I prefer to troubleshoot things with what is on hand.
I have house of about your size, but three floors, with single Deco node on the each floor providing sufficient WiFi coverage for that floor.
You must understand what is the purpose of WiFi mesh and if you need it. With WiFi mesh, you are getting better WiFi coverage. Before I had WiFi mesh, I used single ISP router in the middle of the house - and got constant complains from family members about WiFi interruptions. Whatever I tried, I couldn't get good WiFi through all corners of my house. I got WiFi mesh - complains stopped. WiFi speeds from WiFi mesh are not as fast as from single router, but coverage is superior if WiFi mesh units are correctly placed.
You will need WiFi mesh if single WiFi router does not provide sufficient coverage, and you should expect to pay with WiFi speed for stable WiFi signal. Regardless of WiFi mesh, device connected to Satellite WiFi mesh unit will get WiFi speeds about half of when it is connected to Main WiFi mesh unit. This is the limitation of mesh technology.
It will be your choice, mesh or not, but for troubleshooting purposes with your computer room I would like to use Tenda mesh and eliminate other WiFi routers. After we are done with troubleshooting, you can undo all changes and decide what you want to do with your home network next.
If you are OK with that plan, let's continue, and this will be my last posting for today, I'll return to this conversation tomorrow.
This is what I would like you to do:
1. The photo is useful but unfortunately it does not tell me if Huawei router broadcasts WiFi or not. I need you to turn off Huawei WiFi. For that, you may need to access its Web management interface, find where it is and turn WiFi off.
2. I would like to eliminate Asus router while we are troubleshooting. Power off main Tenda unit that is near Asus, power off Asus. Connect Tenda unit with Ethernet cable to Huawei router. Power Tenda on, keep Asus off.
Verify you have WiFi coverage and Internet access. If everything done right, at this point after steps 1 and 2 the only WiFi coverage at your house will come from Tenda.
Now, test again WiFi speeds in computer room. If still not good, please do the following:
1. Give me model name of Tenda unit connected to Huawei router and model name (if different) of Tenda unit in computer room.
2. Connect PC (workstation - violet pentagon) in computer room with Ethernet cable to Tenda unit in that room, verify workstation uses Ethernet connection, run speed tests on workstation again.
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I removed Asus from the setup and disabled WAN of Huawei so wifi coverage is only coming from Tenda. I removed the node from the Kitchen because I noticed that my device connects to this instead of the node in dining area which seems to give a faster speed. I moved the node in the computer room closer to my PC to be able to connect thru LAN Cable.
I tested speed using my PC, speed is around 50mbps.
Using my phone, speed is 30mbps.
Not good, right?
I tested the speed in the dining area using also my phone and it is 340 - 440mbps.
In bedroom1, it's 340 mbps
The yellow dots in the floor plan are Tenda Mesh MW3.
The green ones are Tenda Mesh MW6 - the one connected to Huawei router, computer room and CR upstairs.
The speed using LAN in my workstation is 170-190mbps.
Thank you!
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These speeds are not good. Your Tenda mesh is WiFi5. Main node should deliver 500-650Mbps, other nodes half of that: 250-300Mbps. PC connected by LAN should get over 300Mbps if everything is right.
Your Asus router must be WiFi6 or better. It should deliver faster speeds, but on shorter distance.
If you ever decide to replace Tenda mesh with different WiFi mesh, look for WiFi mesh that supports WiFi6 at a minimum. If you will want to go with Deco, I can give you recommendations. Note, this (replacing Tenda mesh) is not going to address computer room.
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Back to the computer room. With WiFi mesh each hop cuts speed by half. That means, if your computer room Tenda unit connects not to Main Tenda unit but to some other Tenda unit, that could cut speeds. Tenda mesh should be smart enough not to do that, but who knows. This is where I am flying blind, because I don't know how to check that with Tenda.
Because of that, please run one more test. Power off all Tenda units except two: Main unit and computer room unit. Re-run speed tests in computer room for PC connected by LAN and wireless, and for smartphone.
The purpose of this test is to ensure computer room Tenda connects to Main Tenda unit.
If results are still poor, that eliminates Tenda mesh as a suspect, but does not answer the question: is there some obstacle between computer room and where Main Tenda unit is, or is there WiFi interference inside computer room.
To answer that, another test will be required and I'll discuss it with you after you get me results for the test above.
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