Eir Gigabit installation and TP-Link Deco M4.

Soarer

Evening all.

Been using the Decos for a couple of months with my “up to” 100mb FTTC Broadband, and was getting around 85mb all around the house. Was more than happy with that.

I got Eir gigabit fibre installed today, and it/they are disappointing.
I installed the Decos following the app (hardwired one to the router, left the other two in their original positions around the house), and turned off the WiFi on the router.
I also have the Xbox One hardwired to the router.
When I did a network speed test one the XB1, I got 650mb.
However, when I use Speedtest.net on a number of other devices through the Decos, that drops to around 150mb!
Turning on the router’s 5G WiFi, connecting time that, then doing Speedtest, that jumps up to around 260mb!

So to an simpleton like me, the speed coming into the house seems ok, and the speed to the hardwired Xbox seems ok (even though down a bit on the advertised 1gb).
The WiFi speeds are concerning though.

Is there something I’m missing, or doing wrong?

Gonzo

I've 1 gig same as yourself and you are not going to get 900 all the time. Connection speed will average between 650 and 900 and everything in between depending on what speedtest you run and what time. The speed result from a speedtest at these sort of speeds is not a guarantee of your real speed either as the speedtest servers themselves may not show a totally accurate result due to lots of other people hammering the same server for speedtests.

I wouldn't use an xbox or a ps4 as a benchmark for speedtests either, stick with hard wired to a pc.

Soarer

Cheers Gonzo.

The Xbox test was done in the Xbox settings, and it’s the only result that’s anything close to what I’d hope for.
All the WiFi results are shocking, to my mind anyway.

Grnsj

Soarer wrote: »

Cheers Gonzo.

The Xbox test was done in the Xbox settings, and it’s the only result that’s anything close to what I’d hope for.
All the WiFi results are shocking, to my mind anyway.

You should watch this video, specifically the portion from five minutes on where he compares the results using ethernet backhaul versus wireless backhaul.

I assume from what you have said that your satellite Decos are not connected by ethernet.

Soarer

No they’re not. Wish they were.

Still don’t know why they’re dropping so much compared to the router.
It’s literally half the speed of the router network when I’m standing next to the second Deco!

Are there any other solutions available?
I’m assuming the only way for me to use the backhaul is with homeplugs?

MBSnr

Soarer wrote: »

No they’re not. Wish they were.

Still don’t know why they’re dropping so much compared to the router.
It’s literally half the speed of the router network when I’m standing next to the second Deco!

Are there any other solutions available?
I’m assuming the only way for me to use the backhaul is with homeplugs?

I have TP 1300 speed rated power line adaptors. They run at about 70Mbps and are actually slower than using the WiFi connection on my mesh device, which runs at around 180Mbps.

ED E

Soarer wrote: »

No they’re not. Wish they were.

Still don’t know why they’re dropping so much compared to the router.
It’s literally half the speed of the router network when I’m standing next to the second Deco!

Are there any other solutions available?
I’m assuming the only way for me to use the backhaul is with homeplugs?

What devices are you using?


Lots of radio ads at the minute for 1G FTTH but its kinda silly. If you bought an articulated lorry chances are you wouldnt have anywhere to park it, this is the artic of broadband packages.


XB1 is a 7yo console. 650 is probably good all things considered.

Soarer

Yeah, the Xbox is doing well. And like I said, it's the only result that's somewhere close to what I'd expect.

Devices being used...
Couple of phones.
iPod.
Couple of tablets.
Couple of firesticks.
TV.
3no. Echo dots.
3no. Nests.

I'm using the iPhone 8 for the speed tests.

ED E

Results are exactly as expected. Even if an iPhone had the ability to download at 900Mb what would it do with it? A full system upgrade is all of 4GB!


Your expectations are the problem here, not the performance. You've jet fuel but no jet. I'd suggest you downgrade to 150Mb.

Soarer

Fair enough.
Eir's 1gb offer is pretty cheap at the minute, so I may as well hold onto that.

Doesn't explain why the Decos are half the speed of the router though.

I've the two networks coming from the router renamed as 2.4 and 5.
If I rename them the same, will each device automatically choose the correct network, and I can do without the Deco?

MBSnr

Soarer wrote: »

Fair enough.
Doesn't explain why the Decos are half the speed of the router though.

As Ed says the fast FTTH connections such as 1Gb start to show the limitations of wireless devices in a home setup. My iphone can connect at 500Mbps but unless you are right next to the access point it is usually less or it'll roll over to 2.4GHz and run at 180Mbps or so tops. My Android phone mostly likes to connect on 2.4GHz and not 5GHz as such tops out at about 120Mbps. I've a 500Mbps internet connection and *only* the wired devices get the true value from it (those with a 1Gb LAN NIC of course - both my Android boxes have 100Mbps LAN NICs in them).

Did you watch the video? With wired Deco's he gets 500Mbps on each. With wifi connected Deco's he gets 250Mbps on the 2nd one (one wireless hop to master) and 125Mbps on the 3rd (two wireless hops to master). This is expected due to location and wireless overhead - it has to use radio channels to transmit and even if those Deco's have a dedicated backhaul channel it'll never match wired in a practical user setup.

The only way is to have wired connections to your Deco's.

alec76

There is no dedicated wireless backhaul on Deco, so that is normal.
You have 867 mbit capacity on 5 GHz , you have to establish links between main router and satellites, that's take most of bandwidth of 867 mbits, and the rest have to be shared with devices themselves.
You have to wire satellites or buy more advanced equipment.( Ubiquiti or similar)
I have Netgear Orbi RBK53, wireless backhaul (dedicated), I get over 500mbits on each satellite wireless ( local traffic obviously, as I only at 300mbit eir package)

Gonzo

Soarer wrote: »

Yeah, the Xbox is doing well. And like I said, it's the only result that's somewhere close to what I'd expect.

Devices being used...
Couple of phones.
iPod.
Couple of tablets.
Couple of firesticks.
TV.
3no. Echo dots.
3no. Nests.

I'm using the iPhone 8 for the speed tests.

even 150 FTTH is overkill for what your using your connection for. Anything from 50 to 100 meg is more than adequate for the above devices.

500/1000 FTTH plans are really only worth paying for if you plan to make full use of those speeds such as downloading games regularly, streaming to multiple devices with several members in the family, video streaming on youtube/twitch, editing/uploading large video files, other work related stuff involving large file transfers.

Watching Netflix on the phone or posting to Instagram on the tablet does not need this sort of power or expense.

Grnsj

Soarer wrote: »

No they’re not. Wish they were.

Still don’t know why they’re dropping so much compared to the router.
It’s literally half the speed of the router network when I’m standing next to the second Deco!

Are there any other solutions available?
I’m assuming the only way for me to use the backhaul is with homeplugs?

All my advice has been posted by others. Cable the Decos, upgrade to a mesh system with dedicated wireless backhaul (e.g Orbi) or live with 150Mb. I would not advise powerline.

Shefwedfan

https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058072654

Have a look, large thread on them

Shefwedfan

TO explain better. You have these types of MEsh

Dual Band: decent but not really an option if you want high performance.
Tri-Band: better solution, has a seperate backhaul wifi which provide internode communication
Powerline: Mesh wifi which uses the electricity cables for internode communications
Ethernet Backhaul: Best option but need to run wires etc.

I have tested everything but the ethernet as I dont want to run cables. In the end the Tri-band was very good and would be excellent for a two storey house.

The powerline works for me because I have bungalow and block walls. I bought the Tp-link Deco M9

ED E

Soarer wrote: »

Doesn't explain why the Decos are half the speed of the router though.

Sounds like the decos use one SSID for both bands. Your devices are hopping onto the 2.4 would be my bet. If you force the clients onto a 5Ghz AP then they see the associated speed bump.

Soarer

Shefwedfan wrote: »

TO explain better. You have these types of MEsh

Dual Band: decent but not really an option if you want high performance.
Tri-Band: better solution, has a seperate backhaul wifi which provide internode communication
Powerline: Mesh wifi which uses the electricity cables for internode communications
Ethernet Backhaul: Best option but need to run wires etc.

I have tested everything but the ethernet as I dont want to run cables. In the end the Tri-band was very good and would be excellent for a two storey house.

The powerline works for me because I have bungalow and block walls. I bought the Tp-link Deco M9

That’s excellent ‘fan. Will look into the M9.

ED E wrote: »

Sounds like the decos use one SSID for both bands. Your devices are hopping onto the 2.4 would be my bet. If you force the clients onto a 5Ghz AP then they see the associated speed bump.

That’s exactly what’s happening I’d say.
Don’t know how I’d force them to choose the 5GHz, but I guess if I turned off the 2.4, they’d not have a choice.

ED E

Split them, ie:

Deco01-2.4
Deco01-5

Then your clients can select which one to use. Things like the echos Id keep on 2.4 as they have very low bw requirements.