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grocerjack's avatar
grocerjack
On our wavelength
2 months ago
Solved

Speed issues and discrepancies

Hi

I have a Hub 5 in modem mode, using a 3 unit TP

-Link Deco M5 mesh. Nothing has changed oin the mesh, nothing at all, it's all up to date firmware wise and the Deco App says everything is fine and reports download speeds of around 550Mb/s, upload at 107Mb/s . However Speedtest and Traffic Monitor apps are showing 20Mb/s download and 25Mb/s upload. Virgin deny any area issues and say they have checked there side to the hub.I have checked outside the house all the way to the hub and I've checked my Gb Ethernet switch....all good. So either my Deco app is lying or VM are because there are huge discrepancies here. Our experience is not good and VM say it's the Mesh at fault and have offered me wi-fi pods. Very kind but the work is switching back to the hub as a router and subsequent device faffing isn't very appealing. 

I've logged onto the hub but am unsure what I'm looking at or what would indicate issues. I've attched a screenshot of the Network logs etc if any experts can see any issues. Any help, hints , tips, advice is HUGELY appreciated, thank you.

 

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    2 months ago

    A defective network cable would typically result in a 1000 Mb/s connection de-rating to a  100Mb/s connection. That would not explain seeing 20 - 25 Mb/s which is in the range for an 802.11n  Wi-Fi 4 connection. 

    Given the VM Hub works normally in Router mode, I'd have instantly concluded the issue was with the TP-Link  Mesh router and how my Wi-Fi devices were connecting to it. 

10 Replies

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  • legacy1's avatar
    legacy1
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    Wouldn't put it past VM to do something to make the router mode show good

    are you testing by wire to your router?

    connect a PC to the hub in modem mode (reboot needed unless you copy the MAC from your router to PC) and see what you get.

    • grocerjack's avatar
      grocerjack
      On our wavelength
      2 months ago

      I connected my Mac to the hub in modem mode.....but didn't run Speedtest ...schoolboy erro so will try now. Thanks 

      • grocerjack's avatar
        grocerjack
        On our wavelength
        2 months ago

        So, 939Mb/s down, 105Mb/s upload. So the issue must between the mesh router and the hub in my logic. It drops to 20Mb/s the minute I unplug the direct connection to the Hub and run over the wifi. Thank you.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    20 to 25Mb/s suggests use of a Wi-Fi device on the 2.4GHz band.

  • jbrennand's avatar
    jbrennand
    Very Insightful Person
    2 months ago

    As legacy1 suggests - can you run a speedtest as per this old post of mine ...

    ____________________________________________________

    If you think that you have a BB speed problem, then to check the speeds coming in to your Hub properly, and whether they match what you should be getting, You cannot rely on wifi tests, - only speeds "TO" the Hub and out on ethernet are usually guaranteed. 
    So, can you test speeds directly like this.   If you expect >100Mbps then....   Connect a 1GB enabled computer/laptop (check network card is set to 1GB) , with up to date drivers, via a NEW and working Cat5e/6a ethernet cable, directly to the Hub which you have put into “modem mode” (https://www.virginmedia.com/help/virgin-media-hub-modem-mode ).  

    Or go into the Hub settings and turn off/disable the wifi and also disconnect all ethernet cables from the Hub, except your one device.  This ensures that NO other devices are connected 
    Test  speeds at https://speedtest.samknows.com/ - or   https://www.speedtest.net/ -  try on 2 different browsers - as Chrome sometimes gives odd results.  

    If they are still low – boot your device into Windows  safe+networking mode - to disable any potentially interfering software - and try again.
    There are many posts on here (I have a list of ~30!) where QoS software, anti-virus,  unknown/flaky software, old network card drivers, corrupted browsers, bad cables or other connected devices are limiting speeds on tests.
    Report back what that gets.  

  • grocerjack's avatar
    grocerjack
    On our wavelength
    2 months ago

    Connecting my Macbook directly to the hub, switching off its wifi, then running speedtest gives 939Mb/s down, 105Mb/s up....so leading me to conclude the issue is between the Mesh router and the hub.It's a direct connection so maybe the cat 6 has degraded or the last TP-Link Deo f/w upgrade has buggered things up. I can switch the hub back to router mode, and set the Deco's as pure access points and see if that resolves anything, but maybe just try the cable first. Thank you

    • legacy1's avatar
      legacy1
      Alessandro Volta
      2 months ago

      But you get a new IP so still up in the air as to the cause

      It would be best to get a router as your main point to the hub then these Mesh. 

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    2 months ago

    A defective network cable would typically result in a 1000 Mb/s connection de-rating to a  100Mb/s connection. That would not explain seeing 20 - 25 Mb/s which is in the range for an 802.11n  Wi-Fi 4 connection. 

    Given the VM Hub works normally in Router mode, I'd have instantly concluded the issue was with the TP-Link  Mesh router and how my Wi-Fi devices were connecting to it. 

    • grocerjack's avatar
      grocerjack
      On our wavelength
      2 months ago

      Yes, in the end by working through it bit by bit it was obvious that Mesh 1 (router) had an issue. I reset the mesh points to factory settings, mademone of the other nodes Mesh 1 and rebuilt the network.....everything is now back to expected speed. Thank you,