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Forum Discussion
RB970 Slow IoT network
Hi,
I've been trying to diagnose issues with some of my devices - specifically Nest cameras.
I set my IoT network to 2.4Ghz.
When I connect an iphone 14 to the normal SSID I get around 280Mbit/s. When connecting the same device to the IoT network, I get around 1.5Mbit/s.
I get the iphone is connecting to 5Ghz on the normal SSID, but I assume 2,4Ghz would still be getting me much higher than i currently am.
Is anyone else experiencing this ?
7 Replies
Since most IoT devices are not high performing devices, I don't think the IoT network is tuned for higher speeds like the main WLAN.
I didn't think the "IoT Network" was an actually network and uses the same radio as the regular 2.4Ghz network. I thought the only difference was the SSID and what band the network identifies itself as.
Dilby wrote:
I didn't think the "IoT Network" was an actually network and uses the same radio as the regular 2.4Ghz network. I thought the only difference was the SSID and what band the network identifies itself as.
Correct. There is one 2.4G radio, which broadcasts the primary, guest, and IoT SSIDs. All on the same WiFi channel.
Dilby wrote:
When I connect an iphone 14 to the normal SSID I get around 280Mbit/s. When connecting the same device to the IoT network, I get around 1.5Mbit/s.
While 2.4G network speeds are dramatically lower than 5G speeds, this result is not expected.
As a test, I compared Ookla Speed Test on a Samsung tablet connected to an RBR750.
- Connected at 5G, the Speed Test reported over 300Mbps (which is the maximum supplied by my Spectrum ISP connection).
- Connected at 2.4G to the IoT WiFi, the results were consistently between 30 and 45Mbps. The Samsung tablet reported connection speeds inconsistently, from 70 to 130 Mbps. (this is obviously to the router, not to the internet).
A speed of 1.5Mbps indicates "something is wrong". What is wrong is anybody's guess at this point:
- Bug in the 970 product?
- Problem with the iPhone?
- Too much traffic on the 2.4G channel, which is shared with all WiFi SSIDs (primary, guest, IoT... and perhaps neighbor systems).
It might be useful to replicate the experiment with some other devices.
Just as an "aside", the IoT network is Netgear's solution to the incessant demand from users (since 2016) to be able to at least temporarily disable the 5G WiFi so that devices which are difficult to connect can be set up. Whereas the primary and guest WiFi use the same SSID on both 2.4G and 5G and cannot turn off either, the IoT SSID can be changed at will.
For example, 5G could disabled on IoT, a device could be connected with the smartphone connected to the remaining 2.4G channel, and then 5G could be enabled again on the IoT SSID. During that brief period, any devices connected to the IoT at 5G would lose connection, but they will regain connection once the router turns it back on again.
If the Nest cameras support both 2.4G and 5G WiFi, enabling 5G on the IoT network will allow them to connect at 5G.
If you have Nest cameras which do not support 5G, it would be interesting to connect them to the primary SSID and see how they perform.
I believe outdoor Nest cameras in the UK are limited to connect to 2.4GHz only, however will try and connect them to the main network and see the results.
Note: The only reason I'm using the IoT network is so I could use the same SSID as my old wifi system without having to reconnect my 40+ IoT devices that are a pain to physically access. + I didn't like my old SSID name 🙂
