WiFI6 Router Speeds Vary Tremendously During the Day
QuickNap
Newbie

I have a Verizon WiFi 6 router with two extenders (large house).   I have gigabit service and the speed of the service to the house is always reliably fast.   I am working home these days and work in a small pool house in our backyard and I have one of the extenders in the house window about 30 feet away from the pool house.   

Most times of the day the performance is fine (and I use Speedtest to check on it), and the download numbers are in the 200-300mps range and the upload speeds are in the 100-200mps range.   But at various times during the day, and for reasons that I cannot explain, the speed drops to as low as 8mps download and 0.5mps upload speeds.  It usually just lasts a few minutes but could go on for an hour or so before jumping right back up to its normal speeds.  Other times the drop isn't as dramatic but still noticeable as it goes down to 80-100mps down and 30-50mps up.  

The router-extender and my PC are in the exact same position all day so it's not a question of being moved around.   I've checked with my wife and she's not doing any big activity online during those times and has the TVs off (we use Hulu, Firestick, etc--no cable).   We live in a community of 1-acre houses so there's not likely to be a lot of other close-by wifi bandwidth consuming devices out there.  

Does anyone have any suggestions or insights as to what might cause this very large variance and what I can do about it?   It ruins my business video calls whenever it happens. 

Thanks in advance for your response. 

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Re: WiFI6 Router Speeds Vary Tremendously During the Day
gs0b
Community Leader
Community Leader

Do you have a wired device available for speed tests?  If so, have it run a speed test when you experience this issue.  That will identify if the issue is WiFi or network related.

My guess is it's WiFi related.  There could be something in the area that periodically interferes with the WiFi signal.  For example, a failing microwave oven can mess with 2.4GHz WiFi.  If the speed test above shows the problem is limited to WiFi, try changing channels.

You can also try moving the laptop closer to the extender to see if performance changes.  Again, this will help determine if the problem is WiFi or not.

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Re: WiFI6 Router Speeds Vary Tremendously During the Day
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Are you sure the device is negotiating 802.11ax with G3100?

The performance is NOT fine when it only pulls around 200-300Mbps down. I am using a five-year old G1100 as an access point. I am getting 400Mbps+ down on 802.11ac Wave 2 2x2 MIMO from a different floor. I am also using an eight-year old WCB3000N, I am pulling 175Mbps+ down on 802.11n 5GHz.

For 802.11ax WiFi, I am expecting at least 650Mbps+ on 2x2 MIMO, otherwise, it misses the point of upgrading to the so called "WiFi 6" (I like differentiating standards with numbers and letters to avoid confusion.) You can buy meshable Aruba Instant On AP11 for less than $100 and get around 600Mbps+ on 802.11ac Wave 2. Or, Cisco 145AC with 4 ethernet ports.

I am not saying G3100 is not good. I think the actual performance should be much better than what you are getting.

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Re: WiFI6 Router Speeds Vary Tremendously During the Day
QuickNap
Newbie

Thanks for your reply--sorry, it's taken me awhile to get back to you.  I have done that test and it is definitely wifi-related because the wired connection is always fine at almost 1G down.  And if I do wifi in the main house it's always fine too.  It's only when I'm in the pool house out back, which is about 40 feet from the wifi extender in the window, that I get this big drop.  

It still varies at irregular intervals but it is mostly fine.  But when it's bad, it's VERY bad. Sometimes in the morning, mostly in the middle of the day, and occasionally on a weekend.  Could weather be involved somehow? 

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Re: WiFI6 Router Speeds Vary Tremendously During the Day
Cang_Household
Community Leader
Community Leader

Ok. Are you getting a strong signal when the speed is dropped?

Do you have the Self-Organizing Network turned on the G3100? Is your wireless device capable of access points steering?

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