Hi,
Hoping for some troubleshooting advice or guidance to improve speeds using wired connectivity from a Mesh Pro Router.
Setup
- Root Router (1) in a central location, unenclosed, connected to modem via 2.5 ethernet port
- Satellite Router (2) in main bedroom, connected via Wireless 6ghz backhaul
- Satellite Router (3) in metal shop, connected to Satellite Router (2) via Wireless 5ghz backhaul
- Distance between Root (1) & Satellite (2) is maybe 35 feet with one interior wall (drywall, no insulation)
- Distance between Satellite (2) & Satellite (3) is maybe 30-35 feet, with two exterior wall assemblies,
one being metal siding of my shop/home office
Issue
- WiFi connectivity in the house is rock solid, ranging from 500-800mbps down with low latency.
- WiFi connectivity in the shop is poor. Speeds of 80-90 down with high latency.
Attempts to resolve
Using a spare set of powerline ethernet adapters (, I’ve tried the following setups:
- Connect one powerline adapter to Root Router via 1gbps port, the second directly to PC in shop/office, this netted a modest improvement with low latency, speeds up to 110 down and consistent
- Connect one powerline adapter to Satellite Router (2) via 2.5 port, second adapter to Satellite Router (3), but the app says its still in Wireless Backhaul even after a restart of all three routers - no improvement
- Connect one adapter to Satellite Router (2) via 2.5 port, second adapter to PC in shop/office, speeds are VERY slow, 20 down at most with poor latency again
Questions
- Is it possible to have wired backhaul between two satellite routers?
- Aside from blaming the powerline adapters, is there a reason the wired speed from a satellite router in the house would be significantly worse than from the root router?
I know use of a powerline ethernet adapter introduces many points of degradation and fully expect slower speeds in the shop using this method. I’ll eventually run a Cat6 cable between the house & shop to improve things considerably. However, I need to verify I can run a cable from a satellite router vs. the root router as the run distance & difficult vary significantly between their locations.
This is not going to be a complete run down of your entire post. Just those things that I notice with a quick review.
Answer for this question: Is it possible to have wired backhaul between two satellite routers?
Yes, I can do that now, but I use ASUS mesh routers. Don’t know if you can with Wyze. But you might need the fastest unmanaged switch you can find and put it on the root router feeding the other two router nodes.
However, what I would try, is connect the shop to the root via Ethernet, and use WiFi to bedroom. I suspect this will improve Shop but would not drastically upset bedroom speed.
You measured upload/download in house. And upload/download in shop. Are you using the same connected device? Is it a laptop for both test? Because have you checked the NIC/Wireless NIC in the computer in shop for its capability? I ask because you didn’t say.
I’ve used 75 and 100 foot lengths of Ethernet Cat 5, Cat 6 and Cat 6e between routers and devices in my home and garage many times. Don’t let that 30-35 distance 'tween router 2 & 3 give you pause. If possible, I would put my energy toward running wire to shop and don’t mess with all this other.
Reminder to anyone reading this:)
Furthermore, wire is cheap compared to labor. When running wire, NEVER run just one. Run 2+ and not always just between point A & B, when there’s a Point C. Run between A to C, A to B, and B to C, more than one each. Handy for testing and future proofing. Document your runs, label your wire. Try to use different colors to simplify.
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Thank you for the response, Sam. Agree on your sentiments for wiring the house and doing it with a future proof mindset. I switched to the setup you recommended and it seems to be providing the most consistent experience thus far, so I’ll stick with it until I’m ready to wire up the house.
Still curious if anyone else has experienced slow wired connections to a satellite Wyze Mesh (pro or otherwise) router.
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In the Router UI, when you click on the name of the Root Router, then click on “Root Router”, what are the RSSI values for your two satellites when on wireless?
I have the same setup with one Sattelite in my garage on full wireless 5Ghz backhaul and another in the house, also wireless. I also tried Powerline Adapters with horrific results. Absolutely dismal. They were returned the same day. Too many circuit jumps.
Here is what I found… I improved the RSSI on the sattelite by a whopping 13 points doing this. The signal from the routers is apparently emanating from mostly the top of the routers. I set both up on their sides and pointed the tops of each in the direction of the other.
Next, when you are testing your speeds, make sure the phone or computer is in fact connected to the Sattelite and not still to the root half way across the property. I found that when testing my speeds that my phone did not like to switch access points. If I toggled off my WiFi and then back on, it would grab the Sattelite which was closer. I was able to confirm this by looking at the Settings Properties in my Android for my WiFi network.
When connected to the Root, the security shows as WPA/WPA2/WPA3-Personal
But when connected to the Sattelite, it shows as WPA2/WPA3-Personal
I confirmed this with my second Sattelite that is indoors.
It was hard to confirm this thru the router because the reporting data on how my phone was connected was incorrect. Many times it showed my phone as offline or with stale reporting data that took forever to refresh.
@SlabSlayer, switching wifi on and off on the phone to force it to connect to a closer node. THAT is clever. I never thought of that. As you know there’s a void in the 'mode a device to a specific node environment". That’s a super clever way to get that to work.
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Thanks. But it shouldn’t have to be that way. I am not sure if it is the phone or if it is the router that is causing the AP node affinity. I also have cams that get locked into the root when a sattelite is closer, even after I power cycle the cam. I have 8 Wyze plugs two feet from the root. Half of them connect to the indoor Sattelite AP on the other side of the house.
Usually a network reboot is what gets them back to where they should be, until they don’t again. But that reboot is painfully slow.
You are correct. The ability to direct devices to specific AP’s is sorely needed. Right now I would settle for just a list in the router UI telling me which devices are connected to which node instead of being forced to do USA - Frontier level research just to determine where devices are connected.
I did activate the 802.11r Fast Switching, which may have helped this, but doing so results in a handful of my legacy devices from another ecosystem being offline so I keep it disabled.
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