MR70 MS Teams / ZOOM performance issue very choppy

Nighthawk MR70 in Access Point Mode

V1.0.3.34_2.0.58

MacBook Pro M1 - approx 5-7 feet away
ChromeBook (HP) - approx 20 ft away - but not concerned with that at this time

Speedtest direct wired (968u / 38d)

Speedtest wifi (735u / 39d) = acceptable to me

Just me using the network

Replacing TP-LINK DECO S4 with Mr70 because dont like TP-Link

Issue:
I initially had issues with marrying up IOT devices (wifi bulbs, plus, Alexa, etc) as they would quit communicating. I could power cycle and get them to work for a little longer.
Fixed by disabling "Enable 20/40 mhz coexistence"

Everything seemed to be good until I got on Teams and Zoom

5-10 second pauses
audio going silent

disconnects

people asking me to repeat

I tried adjusting channels on the router

I tried the 2ghz mode and 5 ghz connections

I enabled/disabled (in advance screen)
Enable Fast roaming (default off)

Enable Implicit Beam Forwarding (default on)
Enable Enable MU-MIMO (default off)

Enable AX (default on)

I adjust CTS/RTS Threshould from (2347 default) to 1500 to 700 to 300 to 256
*It seemed to get better between 300-700. I heard people cut off for a second every few seconds and when I talked, they said same thing ...but it didnt drop off like before

I found a hidden page "WiFi_HiddenPage.htm" and disabled

2.4 ghz Frameburst and 5ghz Frameburst (both on by default)

But this did not help

I tethered a TP-link wireless router via a network cabe from back of port on MR70 to TP-LINK

I could see the TP Wireless router in my WIFI list

I connected to it and there is no problem, however I cannot see what TP-LINKS settings are

I do have 2 networks in my home, one for IOT things and one for my cell and computers

So I do have another MR70 which I plugged in and same issue (although I have not went through and tried all of the combinations as above) but same results

11 Replies

michaelkenward
Guru - Experienced User
Jan 30, 2025
atari8000 wrote:

I do have 2 networks in my home, one for IOT things and one for my cell and computers

So I do have another MR70 which I plugged in and same issue (although I have not went through and tried all of the combinations as above) but same results

Two separate Internet subscriptions? Or two MR70s on one modem/gateway/ONT?

Just another user with time on their hands.
- atari8000
  Aspirant
  Jan 30, 2025
  cable modem (147.xxx.xxx.xxx)
  PFSENSE on mini PC with 5 ports
  port 0 - cable modem
  port 1 - 192.168.1.x - serving MR 70 (wireless name AREA1)
  port 2 - 192.168.2.x - service MR 70 (wireless name AREA2)
  --MR 70 on port 2 has an ethernet cable from it to TP-LINK Deco s4 also in access point mode
  ----TP-LINK (wireless name AREA-TP and AREA-TP-GUEST) also using 192.168.2.x
  
  DHCP - I assign all IP addresses based on MAC address
  
  Update:
  I did get choppy ZOOM on TP-LInk, but not as severe.
  I found a zillion articles that teams/zoom totally clobber MESH networks
  But I found (but didn't save) a reference that someone using TP-LINK did not have choppyness on TP-LINK guest, which I did not test yet with teams/zoom
  
  I enabled GUEST on Netgear and connected to it
  I found I could ping anything on its subnet (research show netgear in AP mode has this issue)
  I then connected to AREA-TP-GUEST, and I did get same IP address but I could not ping anything on the subnet
  So I am wondering if teams/zoom is, for whatever reason, is doing some full network sweep and saturating the network (which makes some sense that CTS/RTS reduced to a lower number helps...but I don't know for certain).
  If the saturation theory is true, then the contained TP link guest, which cannot ping anything on the subnet) wont flood.
  
  This would stink because I would need to either keep TP-LINK for my work connection or watch episodes of McGyver and find the one where he sets up one IP Address to a subnet of /32 and has ability to get to gateway/dns and the internet
  - michaelkenward
    Guru - Experienced User
    Jan 30, 2025
    atari8000 wrote:
    
    cable modem (147.xxx.xxx.xxx)
    PFSENSE on mini PC with 5 ports
    
    port 0 - cable modem
    
    port 1 - 192.168.1.x - serving MR 70 (wireless name AREA1)
    
    port 2 - 192.168.2.x - service MR 70 (wireless name AREA2)
    
    --MR 70 on port 2 has an ethernet cable from it to TP-LINK Deco s4 also in access point mode
    
    ----TP-LINK (wireless name AREA-TP and AREA-TP-GUEST) also using 192.168.2.x
    
    Looks like complex mishmash. Two routers on one modem? An invitation to trouble.
    
    Two routers on your network can cause headaches. For example, you can end up with local problems with addresses on your network. Among other things, the other router can misdirect traffic to addresses that the Netgear router usually handles, such as routerlogin.net or the usual default IP address for a router, 192.168.1.1.
    
    This explains some of the other drawbacks.
    
    What is Double NAT? | Answer | NETGEAR Support
    
    It is often easier to use just one router and then to set up the second router as a wifi access point (AP) with a wired connection to the main router. Netgear advises this, as does just about every site you will visit.
    
    How do I change my NETGEAR router to AP mode? | Answer | NETGEAR Support
    
    But that has its own drawbacks:
    
    Disabled Features on the Router when set to AP Mode | Answer | NETGEAR Support
    
    If it is just a separate wifi network that you want, one for IoT and the other for "cell and computers", then you could see if putting the second MR70 into AP mode would work.
    
    There are alternatives, but that is best left until we have a clearer idea of the ultimate goal on this network.
    
    Just another user with time on their hands.

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MR70 MS Teams / ZOOM performance issue very choppy