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WAX206 poor 2.4GHz performance
I'm getting very variable and poor ping times to my ESP32 and ESP8266 devices connected to the WAX206. It doesn't seem to matter how close the devices are. This is in an apartment building with lots of competing signals.
Pinging these devices from a machine connected by ethernet I get times ranging from 2.3 ms to 20 seconds, and frequently the packets are dropped completely. I've tried changing channels and various other settings but nothing is helping. The ESP32 devices show strong signal and RSSI.
I have another WAX206 that is working great on 2.4GHz, but it's in a different location with less RF competition.
This might be a hint to someone: if I change a setting on the 2.4GHz radio via the Advanced menu, the connection to the device will become unreachable briefly, then will have great ping times (~2 ms) for a few seconds before falling back to the slow and variable pings.
Is this a faulty device?
You kind of hit on your problem with the fact that you live in an apartment.
2.4ghz is much more sensitive to interference and has less available channels to use. When a device is broadcasting on 2.4ghz, the other devices on that same channel can't broadcast. You even put that the wax206 you have in an area with less interference, doesn't have an issue.
More than likely the reason it works well for a very short time when changing the channel is that most 2.4ghz routers tend to be set on auto. You'll get that brief period where the router is changing channels that its stops connecting and then works really fast for a bit as the other devices in the complex pickup that it switched. Then it drops back to longer pings as they go back to broadcasting.
Apartment complexes are horrible for 2.4ghz signals. I ran into that same issue a lot until I moved into a detached home. Even then I have some higher ping/latencies because I can still pickup quite a few 2.4ghz signals.
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simeoncran wrote:
I'm getting very variable and poor ping times to my ESP32 and ESP8266 devices connected to the WAX206.
The WAX206 is a WiFi 6 Wireless Access Point, not one of the General WiFi Routers (Non-Nighthawk and Non-Orbi) covered in this section.
While many questions about routers are generic and could be answered anywhere, some things need specialist knowledge.
You might get more help, and find earlier questions and answers specific to your device, in the appropriate section for your hardware. That's probably here:
Business Wireless - NETGEAR Communities
I will ask the Netgear moderator to move your message.
In the meantime you could visit the support pages:
Support | NETGEAR
Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware. Look at the label on the device for the model number.
Check for various troubleshooting tips.
You may have done this already. I can't tell from your message.
I mention it because Netgear stopped supplying printed manuals and CD versions some years ago and people sometimes miss the downloads.You kind of hit on your problem with the fact that you live in an apartment.
2.4ghz is much more sensitive to interference and has less available channels to use. When a device is broadcasting on 2.4ghz, the other devices on that same channel can't broadcast. You even put that the wax206 you have in an area with less interference, doesn't have an issue.
More than likely the reason it works well for a very short time when changing the channel is that most 2.4ghz routers tend to be set on auto. You'll get that brief period where the router is changing channels that its stops connecting and then works really fast for a bit as the other devices in the complex pickup that it switched. Then it drops back to longer pings as they go back to broadcasting.
Apartment complexes are horrible for 2.4ghz signals. I ran into that same issue a lot until I moved into a detached home. Even then I have some higher ping/latencies because I can still pickup quite a few 2.4ghz signals.
Thanks plemans, you prompted a bunch more research on my side and I now understand just how little capacity 2.4GHz has in these circumstances. Seems like there's no solution except to accept that these smart plugs will have 20 second latency sometimes. Sad.
20 second latency is a bit much but a lot is also going to depend on the smart plug. Some are going to be faster than others based on their coding and how they're checking on the "if its their" turn to broadcast. (simplified)
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