RBK852 is giving me high latency/delays during video conference (coming from Google Wi-Fi)

• ISP is Comcast Business, using an ARRIS SB6141 as the modem
• Both of the graphs are wireless.  When connected via ethernet using a 100ft wire into a switch, the graph is pretty much a straight line pinned to the bottom.
• In the graphs, the placement of the routers and laptop are in the exact same place. I made sure that the laptop was connected to router (not satellites) which has one wall and "full cabinet" in-between. Can't be more than 12 ft. House is from the 50's, thin wood walls. But also, i tried this with direct line of sight to the router and again with a satellite. I got the same graph.
• When it comes to settings, they are all default. Coexistence and WMM enabled, CTS/RTS is 64, Preamble on auto, transmit at 100%.
• 2.4Ghz channel is on Auto, 5GHz channel is on 48 (I don't think 5GHz has an auto option, right?)
  • ➡️ I'll experiment with the channels (I'll see if I can mimic the Google Wi-Fi settings too). I definitely see other SSIDs, so I have neighbors with Wi-Fi. I need to find a good/simple Mac Wi-Fi monitor/analyzer tool to better understand which channels are crowded.

What get's me, however, is the predictability of the graph... every 45sec or so there is a bump/build-up in latency. It doesn't feel like random noise/congestion/connection-quality. And why everything else is better with Orbi, except this VC issue. That's why I was hoping for a "oh, yeah, that graph shows that you should [do this thing]" type of solution. One thing that I wish I could test with Orbi is setting a "priority device" like I can do with Google Wi-Fi, it may have helped in troubleshooting.

Google Wi-Fi also has explicit toggles to prioritize video conferencing and gaming.  I'm guessing WMM is similar? But its a bit opaque about what it actually does.

Additional info if it helps: I have about 50 devices connected. A lot of IoT. Nest/Ring cams. Good mix of 2.4 and 5GHz.

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FarmerBob1 wrote:

 

First, your Arris SB6141 Cable Modem is not only a bit dated, but has the Intel PUMA 5 Broadband Modem Chipset. Of which the PUMA 5 - 7 chip families were/are plagued with performance issues that causes(d) severe latency.

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Although this modem may be outdated, I struggle to understand how:

• The same MacBook.
• Running the same Google Meet diagnostics

Will show such a dramatic difference in latency between the Google WiFi and Netgear WiFi when they are both connected to the same modem.  I would think if the modem cannot handle the traffic, then it cannot handle the traffic for any router that is connected to it.

When the laptop is connected to the router using Ethernet cable, then there is almost zero latency.  The only difference appears to be the WiFi connection between router and Macbook.

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FarmerBob1 wrote:

Your Arris SB6141 Cable Modem  is not only a bit dated, but has the Intel PUMA 5 Broadband Modem Chipset.

 

Although I haven't used Google Meetings, but Zoom and Skype and they have been perfect. Also your testing being through a browser introduces "overhead" that doesn't help in accurate readings.

 

From what it sounds like you have "Some Traffic", Obstructions and are kinda pushing things to an extreme with the "100' wire" and trying to stretch things out. I use nothing less than Cat7 anymore and try to keep things within a logical range.

 

I would recommend trying this, along with what FURRYe38 has posted, and see what happens:

• Advanced > Setup > Wireless: Turn on the AX Settings. And maybe turn them off to see what that does.
• Advanced > Advanced > Wireless Settings: Turn Off "Coexistence"; Leave WMM on; Change RTS/CTS to 2347 (or try 2346) for both 2.4 & 5.
• And for the time being treating VoIP and VCs like "Needy Spoiled Brats" that appeasing would be much easier than ignoring.

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Thanks for all the info and suggestions!

• I didn't know about the problems with the SB6141... I've been meaning to upgrade it, but my bandwidth hasn't "needed" me to yet.  Maybe you gave me just the excuse to do so anyway 😉
• Regarding the testing in the browser (and probably goes for the old modem too)... the thing is, all other factors being the same, when I use the Orbi, I'm getting strange round-trip/latency issues - when I go back to Google Wi-Fi, they are gone. That's the frustrating part. As I mentioned in my original post, everything else seems fantastic (3x speed improvements, 2-3x better ping, better coverage, etc)... I would have expected VC latency to have improved as well. ( I'm literally just taking the ethernet cables out from Google Wi-Fi and putting them into Orbi - and vice versa - well, and also making sure to power off the system I'm not using).
• ❓Question: I'm assuming that it's fine to connect the first LAN port from Orbi to my bigger switch, correct?
• Also I probably exaggerated the length of those ethernet runs. Looking at the diagram, there are ethernet cables going up the inner walls of the rooms on the right side and make their way across the room to then go down to the "network area" in the garage (where the router is). Anything plugged into ethernet is totally performing fine for my needs 😉
• What I didn't include in my OP was the experimentation I did with Coexistence, WMM, RTS/CTS. Things I actually did try changing (all independently):
  • Turned Coexistence Off
  • Turned off WMM for the 2.4GHz band (I didn't need some of my IP Cameras to get priority)
  • Tried 32, 512, 2347 for RTS/CTS
  • I tested after each (meaning, I looked at the graph) - nothing really changed.  For some of the tests, I noticed the graph wasn't as "smooth", but there was still a consistent wave of latency.

Still, I'm going to try various amounts of futzing and see what happens.