Extremely inconsistent WI-FI speeds

[Ahwman]

Hello,

I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to solve extreme fluctuating WiFi speeds with my Orbi RBK50 set up.  I can be standing 6-8 feet from either the router or satellite which are on different floors approximately 30 feet apart and get 600-700 megs throughout and move two feet further away and see it drop down to 20-30 megs.  Furthermore, I can do a speed test and see my full ISP download speed of 117 megs and 12 up, then repeat the test and see 4-5 megs down and 4-5 up without having moved an inch.  It’s almost like a cliff in the sense of I’m either within the maximum speed threshold to useless as I can’t even stream video on my iOS devices without buffering almost as though there is no in between...  I’ve tried playing with every setting I can think of outside of changing the transmit power to no avail.  Any ideas?

Thanks!

[FURRYe38]

What FW is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?

Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?
What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
What WPA security modes are you using? Try WPA2 and AES only.

What devices do you have connected? 

What devices are you using to speed test with? 

Check wired connections with a PC as well. 

Try disabling the following and see:
MIMO, Daisy Chain, Fast Roaming, IPv6 and Set 20/40Mhz Coexistence to 40Mhz only. Save settings and reboot the router and satellite(s).
Disney Circle: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/WARNING-Firmware-2-2-1-210-is-junk/m-p/1667485/highlight/true#...

If you updated to recent FW v.210, try enabling Daisy Chain. Some have mentioned that this seems to be working in reverse order, enabling means disabled actually. Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings

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@Ahwman wrote:

Hello,

I’ve been tearing my hair out trying to solve extreme fluctuating WiFi speeds with my Orbi RBK50 set up.  I can be standing 6-8 feet from either the router or satellite which are on different floors approximately 30 feet apart and get 600-700 megs throughout and move two feet further away and see it drop down to 20-30 megs.  Furthermore, I can do a speed test and see my full ISP download speed of 117 megs and 12 up, then repeat the test and see 4-5 megs down and 4-5 up without having moved an inch.  It’s almost like a cliff in the sense of I’m either within the maximum speed threshold to useless as I can’t even stream video on my iOS devices without buffering almost as though there is no in between...  I’ve tried playing with every setting I can think of outside of changing the transmit power to no avail.  Any ideas?

Thanks!

---

[Ahwman]

What FW is currently loaded?
V2.2.1.210

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?

Arris TG862G (in bridge mode)

Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?

AP Mode

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?

5,000

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.

30-35 feet (backhaul is hard wired over gigabit Ethernet)

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.

Currently using Auto but have tried 1,6 and 11 for 2.4 ghz and 36, 48 for 5 ghz with no noticeable change

Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Yes, approximately 6 though we live on acreage so houses are fairly spread apart

What WPA security modes are you using? Try WPA2 and AES only.

Using WPA2

What devices do you have connected? 

Apprxomately 15 wireless and 12 hardwired

What devices are you using to speed test with? 

Check wired connections with a PC as well. 

iPhone X, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, hardwired PC.  Speedtest on hardwired devices always show full speeds up and down, approximately 115megs down and 12megs up.

[FURRYe38]

What are the ISP speeds UP and Down that you pay for? 

115megs down and 12megs up?

Is BeamForming and MIMO enabled under Advaced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless settings? 

---

@Ahwman wrote:

What FW is currently loaded?
V2.2.1.210

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?

Arris TG862G (in bridge mode)

Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?

AP Mode

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?

5,000

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.

30-35 feet (backhaul is hard wired over gigabit Ethernet)

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.

Currently using Auto but have tried 1,6 and 11 for 2.4 ghz and 36, 48 for 5 ghz with no noticeable change

Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Yes, approximately 6 though we live on acreage so houses are fairly spread apart

What WPA security modes are you using? Try WPA2 and AES only.

Using WPA2

What devices do you have connected? 

Apprxomately 15 wireless and 12 hardwired

What devices are you using to speed test with? 

Check wired connections with a PC as well. 

iPhone X, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, hardwired PC.  Speedtest on hardwired devices always show full speeds up and down, approximately 115megs down and 12megs up.

---

[Ahwman]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

What are the ISP speeds UP and Down that you pay for? 

115megs down and 12megs up? Yes.  I’m getting full up and down from hard wired devices so there’s no issues between the cable modem and the Orbi router.  The issue is with actual wireless throughput in different locations around my house ranging from over 700 megs when in the same room as the Orbi to less than 10 megs in different parts of my house...

Is BeamForming and MIMO enabled under Advaced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless settings? 

---

@Ahwman wrote:

What FW is currently loaded?
V2.2.1.210

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?

Arris TG862G (in bridge mode)

Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?

AP Mode

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?

5,000

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.

30-35 feet (backhaul is hard wired over gigabit Ethernet)

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.

Currently using Auto but have tried 1,6 and 11 for 2.4 ghz and 36, 48 for 5 ghz with no noticeable change

Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Yes, approximately 6 though we live on acreage so houses are fairly spread apart

What WPA security modes are you using? Try WPA2 and AES only.

Using WPA2

What devices do you have connected? 

Apprxomately 15 wireless and 12 hardwired

What devices are you using to speed test with? 

Check wired connections with a PC as well. 

iPhone X, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, hardwired PC.  Speedtest on hardwired devices always show full speeds up and down, approximately 115megs down and 12megs up.

---

---

What FW is currently loaded?
V2.2.1.210

What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?

Arris TG862G

Is the Orbi system operating in Router or AP mode?

AP Mode

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?

5,000

What is the distance between the router and satellite(s)? 30 feet is recommended in between them to begin with depending upon building materials.

30-35 feet (backhaul is hard wired over gigabit Ethernet)

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.

Currently using Auto but have tried 1,6 and 11 for 2.4 ghz and 36, 48 for 5 ghz with no noticeable change

Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?

Yes, approximately 6 though we live on acreage so houses are fairly spread apart

What WPA security modes are you using? Try WPA2 and AES only.

Using WPA2

What devices do you have connected? 

Apprxomately 15 wireless and 12 hardwired

What devices are you using to speed test with? 

Check wired connections with a PC as well. 

iPhone X, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro, hardwired PC.  Speedtest on hardwired devices always show full speeds up and down, approximately 115megs down and 12megs up.

[FURRYe38]

You shouldn't be seeing anything over 115 and 12 on any connection. Wired or wireless. Not sure how you'd be seeing 700Mb. Are you testing with the speedtest.net app or a different app on mobile devices. 

You can test the connection rate speed with wifisweetspots. This will let you know what devices are connect at with the router or satellite. This is a good tool to test signal and rates at different places around the home. 

When testing at different places around the house, are you turning OFF the wifi radio on the mobile device temporarily then back on so it will re-connect at the most closest wireless AP? If you don't then you may see a device report slow speeds at remote locations when it's still connected to the farthest distant AP. 

[Ahwman]

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@FURRYe38 wrote:

You shouldn't be seeing anything over 115 and 12 on any connection. Wired or wireless. Not sure how you'd be seeing 700Mb. Are you testing with the speedtest.net app or a different app on mobile devices. 

I should have have mentioned that I’m testing wireless throughput using WI-FI SweetSpots and testing my Internet speeds using SppedTest.

You can test the connection rate speed with wifisweetspots. This will let you know what devices are connect at with the router or satellite. This is a good tool to test signal and rates at different places around the home. 

When testing at different places around the house, are you turning OFF the wifi radio on the mobile device temporarily then back on so it will re-connect at the most closest wireless AP? If you don't then you may see a device report slow speeds at remote locations when it's still connected to the farthest distant AP. 

I’m not turning off my radio when testing.  My thought process is to use the device as I would normally, with the hope that my devices will switch over to the nearest and strongest connection as I thought that was the major benefit to a mesh system...

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[FURRYe38]

The signal handling is also done by the device. Even though some devices detect single, even at a distance, they may not disconnect and re-connect to the more closer signal. Thus giving slower speeds results. In which that case would be correct. Something the Mfr of these devices has to deal with. 

Try turning off  and on, the wifi radio on your speed test device first before going a speed test to get a more accurate test result when nearer to a wieless AP.