Deco BE95 Mesh ignoring Wired Backhaul, slowing performance
TL;DR Only the MAIN Deco BE95 uses a wired connection, any remote Mesh routers, including devices with wired connections to the remote and the backhaul all use Wireless regardless of what the app show, and in the case of Wired connections >= 2.5Gbps, it is slow with added latency.
Topology:
1Gbps Fiber Internet _> Cat8 _> OPNsense 23.1.9 Router w/Intel i225V NIC _> Cat8 _> Netgear MS108EUP 2.5Gbps Switch _> Cat6 RJ45 throughout house _> Deco BE95 in AP Mode using 10Gbps port above SFP w/1 Remote Mesh BE95 (bought the 2-pack).
All testing between local LAN systems using iperf3 on FreeBSD 13.1-RELEASE-p7, Windows 11 22H2 x64, and MacOS Ventura 13.4.
Issue:
App indicates Wired Ethernet backhaul, however testing shows no backhaul traffic using ethernet.
In addition, wired connections to remote non-main AP are also using Wireless backhaul instead of local Wired ethernet backhaul over Cat8 cable to RJ45 wall connector.
Wired Ethernet Backhaul with a 2.5Gbps negotiated rate should supersede wireless unless Wireless negotiates >5Gbps.
Latency backs this up as well with pings >=4ms Wireless vs. <=1ms Wired
Recommended solution:
Allow service order / NIC metric to be set to force an order of precedence for backhaul between mesh systems. Also allow manual setting of backhaul preference between Wired/Wireless/Auto
LAN Testing:
Deco BE95 Mesh #1 Main Setup in AP Mode connected to 2.5Gbps Ethernet backhaul via included Cat 6 cable directly to 2.5Gbps switch over cat6
Deco BE95 Mesh #2 Connected via Cat8 cable in 10GBps port above SFP to 2.5Gbps
Wiring to switch over Cat6 < 75 feet at longest run
Tested PC/MacOS iperf3 -c 10.x.x.1 -p 23829 -P 4
To
OPNsense Router
Test: Baseline test Direct PC 10Gbps NIC to 2.5Gbps Switch (No Issues)
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 706 MBytes 592 Mbits/sec sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 706 MBytes 592 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.76 GBytes 2.37 Gbits/sec sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.76 GBytes 2.37 Gbits/sec receiver
----------------------
Test: PC 10Gbps NIC to Deco BE95 Mesh 10Gbps port, Deco 10Gbps port above SFP to 2.5Gbps switch over cat6
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 483 MBytes 405 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 483 MBytes 405 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 482 MBytes 404 Mbits/sec sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 482 MBytes 404 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 452 MBytes 379 Mbits/sec sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 452 MBytes 379 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 472 MBytes 396 Mbits/sec sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 472 MBytes 396 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.84 GBytes 1.58 Gbits/sec sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.84 GBytes 1.58 Gbits/sec receiver
Test: PC 10Gbps NIC to Deco BE95 Mesh 2.5Gbps port, Deco 10Gbps port above SFP to 2.5Gbps switch over cat6
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 238 MBytes 200 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 238 MBytes 200 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 226 MBytes 189 Mbits/sec sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 225 MBytes 189 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 284 MBytes 238 Mbits/sec sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 283 MBytes 238 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 234 MBytes 196 Mbits/sec sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 234 MBytes 196 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 982 MBytes 824 Mbits/sec sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 981 MBytes 823 Mbits/sec receiver
Test: PC 10Gbps NIC to Deco BE95 Mesh 10Gbps port above SFP, Deco 2.5Gbps to 2.5Gbps switch over cat6
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 435 MBytes 365 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 435 MBytes 365 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 420 MBytes 352 Mbits/sec sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 419 MBytes 352 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 432 MBytes 363 Mbits/sec sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 432 MBytes 363 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 505 MBytes 424 Mbits/sec sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 505 MBytes 424 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.75 GBytes 1.50 Gbits/sec sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.75 GBytes 1.50 Gbits/sec receiver
Test: PC 10Gbps NIC to Deco BE95 Mesh 10Gbps port above SFP, Deco no ethernet connection over cat6
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 490 MBytes 411 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 490 MBytes 411 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 466 MBytes 391 Mbits/sec sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 466 MBytes 391 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 453 MBytes 380 Mbits/sec sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 453 MBytes 380 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 449 MBytes 377 Mbits/sec sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 449 MBytes 377 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.82 GBytes 1.56 Gbits/sec sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.81 GBytes 1.56 Gbits/sec receiver
-------------
Switching Deco BE95 Mesh#2 to Main, verified in app wired backhaul icon,
Test: PC 10Gbps NIC to Deco BE95 Mesh 2.5Gbps port, Deco 10Gbps port above SFP to 2.5Gbps switch over cat6
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 706 MBytes 592 Mbits/sec sender
[ 6] 0.00-10.00 sec 706 MBytes 592 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec sender
[ 8] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec sender
[ 10] 0.00-10.00 sec 708 MBytes 594 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.76 GBytes 2.37 Gbits/sec sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 2.76 GBytes 2.37 Gbits/sec receiver
------------
Test: MacOS 2.5Gbps ethernet to Mesh#1 10Gbps port, Deco BE95 10Gbps port above SFP to 2.5Gbps switch over cat6
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 335 MBytes 281 Mbits/sec sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 335 MBytes 281 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 344 MBytes 289 Mbits/sec sender
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 344 MBytes 288 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 344 MBytes 289 Mbits/sec sender
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 344 MBytes 288 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 343 MBytes 288 Mbits/sec sender
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 343 MBytes 287 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.33 GBytes 1.15 Gbits/sec sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.33 GBytes 1.14 Gbits/sec receiver
Test: MacOS 2.5Gbps ethernet to Mesh#1 2.5Gbps port, Deco BE95 10Gbps port above SFP to 2.5Gbps switch over cat6
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bitrate
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 346 MBytes 290 Mbits/sec sender
[ 5] 0.00-10.00 sec 345 MBytes 289 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 346 MBytes 290 Mbits/sec sender
[ 7] 0.00-10.00 sec 346 MBytes 290 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 346 MBytes 290 Mbits/sec sender
[ 9] 0.00-10.00 sec 345 MBytes 289 Mbits/sec receiver
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 346 MBytes 291 Mbits/sec sender
[ 11] 0.00-10.00 sec 346 MBytes 290 Mbits/sec receiver
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.35 GBytes 1.16 Gbits/sec sender
[SUM] 0.00-10.00 sec 1.35 GBytes 1.16 Gbits/sec receiver