Virgin Media Community

[Fragility]

So I'm a fairly new VM customer, got the line installed around about .. 3-weeks ago and have been having a few issues with getting decent speeds around the house and good Wifi coverage. I was able to get around about .. 150-200Mbps in my office but other rooms such as the kids rooms just weren't really getting good and reliable speeds, i.e. under 100mb and sometimes it was that bad, even a smart TV couldn't play Youtube videos, so obviously a fix needed to be found. 

So I opted in for the TP-Link M5 Mesh Routers and they've not really been performing to the level that I'd want them too. 

Downstairs, next to the router, the main M5 mesh hub gets the full speeds of around about 534 down / 36 up which is fine. 

I did speedtests via: Speedtest.net / fast.com and Google speed test and they all came back with similar results of around about 400mb - 500mb when next to and connected to the main M5 hub. 

So I thought great, I then placed the second hub upstairs in the office and this is where the problems started. I wasn't getting the speeds that I thought I would be getting and my house isn't a big house by any stretch of the imagination. I did a few speedtests and I thought to myself, okay, it's a expensive kit, at-least in the low 300's, but nope, I average anywhere from 150 - 200/210 down, which is what I was already getting on my normal Wifi anyway, so that didn't really help. 

I then installed the third hub and nothing really improved. 

I've currently got the M5 in router mode because this is what (I've experienced) the best level of performance. I've not got the Virgin Modem/router in Modem mode because I don't want to use them that way. I want to use the router as is and then use the M5 as extenders more than anything with a little more control and if I were to change the M5's to AP mode then it seems that the performance suffers?

I'm at a total loss really, I just don't know what I can do to try and get the performance of the M5 Mesh to be somewhat acceptable. I know that 200mb on mesh routers may be acceptable to some people but when I'm paying for 600mb and I'm getting 540 downstairs next to the router, I thought that some of that would carry over upstairs considering that it's supposed to be a pretty decent kit.

One thing that I have tried and it does seem to work oddly enough was removing the dish in the office. When I remove it from the network, i.e. unplugging it, the speeds do increase. Why? I have no idea, so for example:

•  3 dishes connected. Office download speed via: speedtest.net is 145-160 Mbps down (based on 3 speed tests)
•  2 dishes connected. office download speed via: speedtest.net (same server) is  230 - 251 Mbps down (based on 3 speed tests)

So I'm not entirely sure why this bumps up performance a little bit, but it does? which is weird. I would be happy if the M5 could get me 300 - 350 Mbps in the office but 200/250 just isn't really worth the upgrade for me because I was getting that on 5Ghz anyway. I think the only improvement that I have noticed thus far is that the speeds on the M5 mesh seem to be a.) more consistent and b.) more stable but apart from that, not much has changed.

Any help on this matter would be greatly appreciated.

[sophist · Accepted solution]

The M5 is a dual-band mesh, so doesn't have a dedicated radio to backhaul traffic between mesh points. I'd say that your real-world experience is broadly in line with what you should expect.  You could improve this by wiring the M5's into a switch at which point you'd get the same experience from each of the units as you do from the main one currently connected to the hub. Alternatively, you'll need a tri-band system (the M9, for example) that should improve things, though by how much is not really quantifiable. 

As for why it worsens when you add another unit - you're adding more devices that cause congestion in the airwaves - really, you want to use the smallest number of mesh to effectively cover an area.. any more than that and you're potentially introducing unnecessary interference. 

[jb66]

M5 is a low to mid range mesh system, you have to spend big if your expecting 300+ throughput through the house over wifi.

[Fragility]

I guess I could add the option of hardwiring one of the mesh units, but this would just cause more wiring throughout the house and buying another switch (not that they're expensive) just a little bit of aggravation trying to get the cables around the house to look neat and tidy, I suppose.

Thank you the advice, I may just have to go hardwired and see what I can do really!

[Fragility]

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@jb66 wrote:

M5 is a low to mid range mesh system, you have to spend big if your expecting 300+ throughput through the house over wifi.

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Definitely is starting to seem that way! Thanks man.

[Adduxi]

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@Fragility wrote:

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@jb66 wrote:

M5 is a low to mid range mesh system, you have to spend big if your expecting 300+ throughput through the house over wifi.

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Definitely is starting to seem that way! Thanks man.

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If you are thinking of changing, think about PoE Access Points.  If you own your house, you can run a cable externally from the Hub into the roofspace and have them ceiling (or wall ) mounted.  PoE removes the need for power sockets at the Access Point, but needs a PoE switch to power.  Max length of each Cat 6 cable is 100 metres, so lots of scope for planning routes.  Someting like Unifi AC Lite/Pro's or TP-Link EAP 225's   It may be a bit more expensive, but decent wifi is not cheap to get right.