Awful Wi-Fi Speeds
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Hello,
I have Protectli Vault FW2B, running release 2.7.0 and I have a Netgear Nightawk Wi-Fi setup with a router (MR80) and two satellites (MS80s). Within the last couple of months, my Wi-Fi speeds turn to trash every week or so, requiring me to reboot the Netgear router. Previously I'd get 400+ Mbps on speed test connected to Wi-Fi. Recently, it rarely pushes past 80 Mbps, and I end up having to reboot the device because I start getting sub 5Mpbs speeds.
Placement of the APs have never been an issue and I also recently factory reset the Netgear equipment, but it hasn't resolved the issue.
Any initial thoughts on what might cause this behavior? Interestingly, if I ethernet backhaul one of the satellites, the device I'm on now gets an IP from the Protectli, not the Netgear. I don't know if this is expected behavior, but my Wi-Fi Speed then returns to 400+ Mbps. And just for grins, I set a static IP on my phone to the same Protectli LAN segment and 400+ Mpbs speeds.
I guess my next question(s) -- Why is my PC getting an IP from the LAN segment when I backhaul the satellite (in the same room with me) with ethernet? Is this normal? I'm connected to Wi-Fi, why am I not getting an IP from the Netgear DHCP scope?
And I just generally struggle with, what's the recommended configuration in a setup like this? I understand in the default configuration I have two routers on my network which generally isn't ideal due to double NAT. But I always thought Double NAT didn't really impact wireless devices. I s that true or am I making it up? Should I put the Netgear equipment in Bridge/AP mode? In that configuration are they effectively functioning as switches?
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Are you using the WAN ports on the routers? Most people do not use the WAN port. Most setups that I have done and read about will get IPs from the parameter firewall, in this case pfSense.
Wired connections for APs will always give better performance. If you wireless backhaul you are transmitting each packet twice.
If budget permits proper APs with a single SSID will give you a better experience because you may be connecting to a weak signal from the wrong router. With my APs they will steer me to the best AP. -
@AndyRH I currently have the MR80 (Nighthawk router) connected to the Protectli via the MR80's WAN port, it is functioning as router/DHCP server, much like the Protectli will for wired clients. I have a 10 net on the Protectli & a 192.168 net on the Netgear. Sounds like putting the Netgear in bridge mode is the preferred method then,
Do you mean each AP with its own SSID? I thought the whole point of a mesh setup is when you move around the house it connects you to the AP with the best signal.
To add more context, I just set the Netgear to AP mode, and now it's getting it's DHCP from VLAN10 of the Protectli, as are the other APs and devices connected to them. On speed test, I'm back to around 80Mbps. However, I still have my phone with a static IP of the primary LAN segment on the Protectli & speed test is 400+ Mbps. Clearly it seems like a misconfiguration on the Protectli, I just don't know what it is. I suspect it has to be some routing rules between VLAN10, but it just seems like if it was routing, it wouldn't work at all.
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@rneal1973 I mean 1 ssid.
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Sounds like you have some sort of mesh functionality there with the satellite APs. I'd guess something there is deciding to take your traffic via some ridiculous route like via several satellite devices. Resetting the controller stops that for a while at least. Backhauling everything over Ethernet is almost always better than mesh if you can do it.
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@stephenw10 said in Awful Wi-Fi Speeds:
Backhauling everything over Ethernet is almost always better than mesh if you can do it.
Backhauling everything over Ethernet is
almostalways better than mesh if you can do it.Fixed that statement for you ;)
