Home Wi-fi - underwhelmed after upgrade

[Cl4rkyPH]

I recently upgraded our home broadband service from an already relatively impressive 150mbps (BT Fibre 150) to 500mbps (BT Fibre 500).

The 150mbps service was always very good, most up-to-date devices were receiving speeds of over 100mbps, iPhones, PS4 Pro (wired connection), and a couple of laptops all comfortably downloading at 100mbps+.

Essentially I’ve just been greedy and upgraded it to 500mbps... ‘cos I can and it was only a couple of quid extra a month.

The 500mbps upgrade has gone live today and I’ve checked the speeds on the BT Hub, and the Hub is consistently receiving at 496mbps (which is fine)... but all the other devices on the network are getting no where near it, and seem to be around the usual 100-150mbps mark.

Am I missing the fact that there is an obvious bottleneck somewhere? Are all my devices only capable of up to 150mbps? Or is there something wrong with the service?

Bear in mind that the hub is receiving download speeds of 496mbps which is fine...

I’m not majorly bothered if my devices can’t use it, as I’ve got 14 days to cancel.

If it helps, I’m using a small BT Disk (mesh system) set up with the Hub downstairs and the Disk upstairs.

The Hub goes through the walls fine but just thought I’d put the extra disk upstairs as it was free of charge so thought I might as well use it.

I wouldn’t think that the mesh system would slow things down but thought I’d mention it anyway.

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

[fat80b]

How are you connecting the mesh kit to the router?

Presumably if you plug a laptop in to the router directly, you can also get 500?

and if you connect to the Wi-Fi on the router, you get the same?

If so, I'd be looking at the Wi-Fi access points and how they are connected

[The_Jackal]

What you pay for is 500mb to the box and anything WIRED to it.
Once you start transferring any connection over wifi, you are limited by how fast the wifi connection is. This will be based on how fast it is transmitted, how fast the receiving devices can receive, how far away you are and what is inbetween.
All it takes is one part of that link to be limited to 150Mb, and it doesnt matter how fast the router is connected.
Wifi is a very inefficient way of data transfer, so what ever is quoted is always a very hopeful estimate.

So first check if you wifi router is rated to transmit at 500mb, then check if it is set to and then whether the devices can receive at those speeds.

[FA57 VWT]

Good post here, might explain the slower disc speeds - https://community.bt.com/t5/BT-Devices/Maximum-wif...

[Cl4rkyPH]

fat80b said:

How are you connecting the mesh kit to the router?

Presumably if you plug a laptop in to the router directly, you can also get 500?

and if you connect to the Wi-Fi on the router, you get the same?

If so, I'd be looking at the Wi-Fi access points and how they are connected

Thanks for the reply.

The Disk is connected to the Hub wirelessly and just plugged into a power socket upstairs, but the download speeds are still 150mb when right by the Hub.

With the laptop plugged directly into the Hub and with the Wi-fi adapter disconnected on the laptop, it does indeed reach approx 500mbps, it’s just the wireless speeds that are naff.

[Cl4rkyPH]

The_Jackal said:

What you pay for is 500mb to the box and anything WIRED to it.
Once you start transferring any connection over wifi, you are limited by how fast the wifi connection is. This will be based on how fast it is transmitted, how fast the receiving devices can receive, how far away you are and what is inbetween.
All it takes is one part of that link to be limited to 150Mb, and it doesnt matter how fast the router is connected.
Wifi is a very inefficient way of data transfer, so what ever is quoted is always a very hopeful estimate.

So first check if you wifi router is rated to transmit at 500mb, then check if it is set to and then whether the devices can receive at those speeds.

Thanks for this. This is along the lines I was thinking but was still hoping to be getting a bit closer to 500mbps... perhaps over 250mbps or something? Not still down at 150mbps.

[Cl4rkyPH]

FA57 VWT said:

Good post here, might explain the slower disc speeds - https://community.bt.com/t5/BT-Devices/Maximum-wif...

Hmmm... maybe the disc is bottlenecking? Maybe I’ll turn it off.

My other half has just tried a test on her iPhone, and has reached 350mbps! She is about 10 feet away from the hub, through a wall.

All is not lost!

[Mr E]

What are the capabilities of the device you’re testing?

[Cl4rkyPH]

Mr E said:

What are the capabilities of the device you’re testing?

Most are 802.11ac so should be capable of over 400mbps... right?

[Mr E]

Cl4rkyPH said:

Most are 802.11ac so should be capable of over 400mbps... right?

What bandwidth, how many antennas?

This is basically witchcraft to be honest.

I’d suggest your mesh access points are limiting your speed with the repeat of the data flow. But I’d need a layer 2 pcap to be sure.

[megaphone]

Are you connecting to 5GHz or 2.4ghz, you need to be on 5Ghz for fast speeds.

Switch off all the mesh stuff, switch off 2.4ghz at the router and then test.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 21st October 18:34

[Cl4rkyPH]

megaphone said:

Are you connecting to 5GHz or 2.4ghz, you need to be on 5Ghz for fast speeds.

Switch off all the mesh stuff, switch off 2.4ghz at the router and then test.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 21st October 18:34

Thanks for that. Is switching off 2.4GHz going to cause a long term problem with devices that only run on 2.4GHz? Or do they still somehow work?

I have a couple of smart devices that aren’t 5GHz compatible that’s all.

[seveb]

megaphone said:

Are you connecting to 5GHz or 2.4ghz, you need to be on 5Ghz for fast speeds.

Switch off all the mesh stuff, switch off 2.4ghz at the router and then test.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 21st October 18:34

This.

Don't use mesh systems - they are for fixing wifi performance issues by using a big hammer and duct tape, you ought to get more access points and wire them all individually back to the router using cat 5e. Only use 5GHz and don't have anything on your wifi network that doesn't use AC. Don't forget that wifi is just wireless (radio), so for example if you have an older n device on the same channel as a later ac device, you'll be limiting the ac device as the n device will be talking slower and wireless can have only one talker at a time. https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/23765-ubiq... is a cheap and fast access point.

But the more pressing question is could you tell the difference between 150 and 500 given the vast majority of people, even couples working from home and streaming 4k at the same time, will have spare capacity on a 50meg link. And many data centres still use 1gig links to customer racks with many business customers, so 500meg is a lot of bandwidth.

[TEKNOPUG]

5g is typically 300-350mbps. 2.4g would expect half the speed but I imagine you will have a lot more devices connecting at 2.4g, so speeds may well be 50mbps or less.

You'll only get consistent 500mbps from wired connections.

[megaphone]

Cl4rkyPH said:

megaphone said:

Are you connecting to 5GHz or 2.4ghz, you need to be on 5Ghz for fast speeds.

Switch off all the mesh stuff, switch off 2.4ghz at the router and then test.

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 21st October 18:34

Thanks for that. Is switching off 2.4GHz going to cause a long term problem with devices that only run on 2.4GHz? Or do they still somehow work?

I have a couple of smart devices that aren’t 5GHz compatible that’s all.

I was suggesting this as a test, so you can see what speeds are achievable. You could always run two separate SSID, one for 5Ghz and one for 2.4Ghz, connect the older devices to the 2.4ghz SSID.

Although......not sure how the mesh works, it may need both frequencies. As above, mesh is a compromise, it will slow down networks, but it is easy to set-up if you can't wire a house. Also as above, these speeds are nice on paper, but in the real world when are you ever going to need it?

Edited by megaphone on Wednesday 21st October 23:48

[thebraketester]

Run iperf and check the speeds of your internal network.

[camel_landy]

Not all mesh systems are the same... The main problem is they are usually designed with 2x radios and will share the same radio for the clients and their backhaul between repeaters.

I installed the Netgear Orbi and get the full bandwidth anywhere in in my place, even with multiple users. The main difference is that 3rd radio, which it uses as a dedicated backhaul between the satellites. It makes a HUGE difference.

M

[Cl4rkyPH]

Hi all, just to update... I turned the mesh/discs off and the speeds are over 300/400 on Wi-fi now which I’m happy with.

Thanks again!

[CharlesElliott]

Most mesh systems use the WiFi for backhaul as well as serving clients, so every mesh halves the speed......

[camel_landy]

Thanks for the update... It sounds like the mesh system was grabbing the bandwidth for itself.

CharlesElliott said:

Most mesh systems use the WiFi for backhaul as well as serving clients, so every mesh halves the speed......

Indeed, so if you get a mesh system, get one with a dedicated backhaul radio.

M