Mesh Wi-Fi Tips and Tricks?

JAF on 26/04/2021 - 16:06

I have a Nest Wifi 3 pack setup in my house (86m2 unit) and my wifi struggles around the house. I pay for NBN 250 but in my office upstairs I can only get a measly 27.2mbps/12.6mbps D/U speed on my PS5 and I should add I have a nest wifi point sitting in my office beside the PS5.

In my bedroom upstairs above where the router is located downstairs i can only get about 73mbps. I have tried moving nest wifi points around and on the app it says I have "great connection" between the wifi points. My router is 257mbps/21mbps D/U speed so I know it is the wifi points that are the problem. I am wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks on how to increase the wifi speed?

Internet

Comments

  • paulh1977 on 26/04/2021 - 16:31

    You may have to purchase additional units. we had the same issue with our own home as its a double brick and solid brick walls internally. When we went MESH and got the COVR units, we were advised that 3 units was enough but ended up having to buy 8 in total to ensure that we had good speed thru the entire house.

    • jv on 26/04/2021 - 17:00
      +1

      ended up having to buy 8 in total

      Just the one base???

  • hashtagbargain on 26/04/2021 - 16:36
    +1

    A 3 piece mesh unit should be plenty for 86 sq m. Try changing channels and try using the 5Ghz band.

    Also try the Deco X20 if you can, its got great speed and coverage. With this model, you can hardwire the satellite nodes so you get full speeds at all nodes.

  • avoidfullprice on 26/04/2021 - 16:42
    +2

    86m2 seems small for a standalone house.. so presume you meant apartment unit? I am guessing wifi channel contention being the problem

    Can you give us a ms paint diagram where main router node is and where the other two units are located?

    I am assuming internet congestion is not the issue at this stage because of the direct router speed

    • JAF on 26/04/2021 - 17:23
      +1

      Yes it’s a sort of apartment unit without no backyard.

      Picture drawing is terrible but a rough idea of the house.

      G=garage , master bedroom = upstairs above the garage B2= bedroom 2 upstairs, O=office upstairs ,
      L=Living Room/kitchen which is downstairs.

      Picture

      • avoidfullprice on 26/04/2021 - 18:33
        +1

        Your picture is great, actually makes me think spectrum contention (i.e. too many wifi channels around your premise) is what affecting your experience.

        I would suggest just having one of the nest node on (the one that directly connected to the internet), turn off every other node and check speed on your PS5 and also with your phone/laptop. Next turn on a second node and move the node around the house (e.g. have one in the living room, leave it there, do speed test. The purpose would be to see if the mesh part is worsening your network speed rather than helping, and also if placing the node elsewhere help. If nothing helps I'm out of ideas.

        It is possible your units are faulty but I am guessing not.

        • Leo Getz on 27/04/2021 - 23:10
          +1

          You said: too many wifi channels around your premise

          It is not now, nor has ever been singular for premises.
          It is simply premises.

          Premise has a completely different meaning.

          Don't know why this has been adopted in IT, maybe from the Molex Premise Networks brand.

  • jv on 26/04/2021 - 16:52

    One of my points keeps dropping the 2.4Ghz devices.
    They show connected to that point , but no IP address. A few minutes later, they are fine…
    5.0Ghz is not affected.
    Mesh Test shows a 'great' connection to all points when the problem is occuring.
    Has been happening for a long time now.

    any ideas?

    • Digitalco on 26/04/2021 - 17:05

      what mesh do you have? have you tried resetting it? restarting it?

      • jv on 26/04/2021 - 17:07

        Nest Wifi 3 pack

        If i restart the main base or the point with the issue, it fixes the problem, but only temporarily… and only 2.4Ghz devices are affected (all of them on that point show IP address as N/A)

        • Digitalco on 26/04/2021 - 17:48
          -1

          Factory reset start the installation again if you can't find any solution maybe contact isp see if they can troubleshoot your problem.

          • jv on 26/04/2021 - 17:53
            +2

            @Digitalco:

            maybe contact isp

            Why? What does your local network have to do with the ISP ?

            • Twix on 26/04/2021 - 20:03

              @jv: Nothing.

              Perform a factory reset. Are they 2.4Ghz smart home devices?

              • jv on 26/04/2021 - 22:36

                @Twix:

                Are they 2.4Ghz smart home devices?

                One is an Epson printer the other is a tp-link globe.
                Might try swapping the 2 points around first before I try a reset.
                It's just weird it's only affecting the 2.4Ghz devices, the 5GHz devices have an IP address and work fine.

  • AwesomeAndrew on 26/04/2021 - 19:41
    +2

    Try connecting all the wifi nodes using ethernet cable. It makes a big difference as the backhaul from the mesh wifi nodes don't get rebroadcast over wifi and cause congestion.

    • Twix on 26/04/2021 - 20:02
      +4

      Google chopped off the Ethernet ports on the Nest Wi-Fi Points. @JAF has to purchase a Nest Wi-Fi base or a different mesh setup to have Ethernet backhaul.

      • JAF on 26/04/2021 - 20:47

        Yeah I definitely regret not getting a mesh system with Ethernet point. I have a Powerline adapter in the mail so I’m hopeful that will remedy some of the situation

        • avoidfullprice on 26/04/2021 - 22:18

          I have a Powerline adapter in the mail

          You are getting a pair yeah? Not just one?

          Make sure the two power outlets you plugged in are on the same RCD circuit for best performance

          • JAF on 26/04/2021 - 22:27

            @avoidfullprice: Yeah I’ve got a pair haha! How do you check if the power outlets are on the same RCD circuit?

            • avoidfullprice on 26/04/2021 - 23:45

              @JAF: Plug a lamp on each outlet, turn them both on.

              Then turn the RCD switch off one circuit at a time. If they both stay on and both turn off at the same time. They are on the same circuit.

              All apartments unit I lived in had at least two General Power RCD circuits (plus lights and oven etc)

  • drew442 on 26/04/2021 - 22:03
    +1

    You will need to collect some data. There's some free apps like wi-fi heat map from wi-fi solutions. I've only used the expensive professional apps but the free one might be enough.

    We need to signal strength, signal to noise ratio and if you're using 2.4ghz you'll need a channel map.

    This all gets laid over your floor plan and then you can start working out what the solution will be.

  • whitelie on 26/04/2021 - 23:57
    +1

    Does the Nest have QoS or anything like that in it? Just having it turned on with my Netgear killed all speeds, even the ones with highest priority were slowed down. Turning it off was an instant improvement along with tweaking a few other settings

  • OnlyFans on 27/04/2021 - 15:29

    You need to have a mesh setup with Tri-Band for the dedicated back-haul.

    Going from a dual band mesh to a Tri-Band mesh made a big difference

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join