Weak signal at satellite Deco units

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.

Weak signal at satellite Deco units

This thread has been locked for further replies. You can start a new thread to share your ideas or ask questions.
Weak signal at satellite Deco units
Weak signal at satellite Deco units
2024-03-24 19:58:39
Model: Deco PX50  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version: 1.2.2 Build 20231226 Rel. 74361

Hi,

 

I have recently installed three Deco PX50 units at home.  The main unit is upstairs and connected to a router and running in AP mode (wifi is switched off on the router).  The two satellite units are downstairs - one in the lounge and one in the garden office.  The lounge unit is connected to the main upstairs unit via PLC and wifi and the garden office unit is connected to the lounge unit, also using PLC and wifi.

 

The app is saying that both satellite units have weak signal.  The lounge unit is fine - we have a smart TV connected to using ethernet and no issues with that at all.  However, the garden office unit struggles - video calls are buffering and we have drop outs.

 

Would adding more units to the network improve the stability?  I am presuming that as the signal is weak in the lounge unit, then the garden office unit is going to be weaker still - would adding another unit improve this signal?

 

As the satellites are connected to the main unit using PLC, why would the signal be so weak?

 

Any help appreciated,

 

  0      
  0      
#1
Options
6 Reply
Re:Weak signal at satellite Deco units
2024-03-26 11:04:37

  @cornelieus 

Hi, welcome to the community.

I don't think adding more units might help improve the weak signal.

 

The signal status on the Deco APP is only used to measure the Wireless Backhaul strength.

 

How much internet speed are you able to get from the Garden office PX50? How about the speed from Lounge Deco?

Did you also have a similar issue(-video calls are buffering and we have dropouts) if the computer is connected to the garden office via an Ethernet cable?

Is there any chance that you could connect the Garden office via an Ethernet port to the Lounge Deco?

Thank you very much and best regards.

 

 

  0  
  0  
#2
Options
Re:Weak signal at satellite Deco units
2024-03-26 11:55:24

  @David-TP Thanks for your help with this.  It is much appreciated.

 

That's good to know about the signal strength, it makes things a bit clearer.

 

The Deco app is reporting between 70kbps and 130kbps download speeds in the lounge.  This is similar to the garden office.

 

The laptop is permanently connected to the garden office PX50 using an ethernet cable, so I am getting buffering and dropouts whilst tethered.  I never run the laptop on wifi.

 

Unfortunately, I can't run an ethernet cable from the lounge PX50 into the garden office - there is no easy way to get the cable over to the office.

 

Thanks again for your help.

  0  
  0  
#3
Options
Re:Weak signal at satellite Deco units
2024-03-27 06:00:29

  @cornelieus 

Hi, Thanks for the update.

While the APP speed rate is more used for reference and most of the time, it is less than the real internet bandwidth. 

Have you tried to run a speed test via Oakla APP on the laptop to see how much the speed is?

It is also suggested to set the laptop to "High priority" to see whether it helped with the steaming service.

Please also temporarily turn off "Fast Roaming" and "Beamforming" under Deco APP>More>Advanced.

 

Best regards.

 

  0  
  0  
#4
Options
Re:Weak signal at satellite Deco units
2024-03-27 07:21:25

  @David-TP Thanks for the update.

 

Using the Ookla app...

 

Garden office:

 

Test 1 Ethernet connection to the PX50 - Ping: 12ms / Download 27.11 Mbps / Upload 41.87 Mbps

Test 2 Ethernet connection to the PX50 - Ping: 10ms / Download 7.17 Mbps / Upload 63.27 Mbps

Test 3 Ethernet connection to the PX50 - Ping: 10ms / Download 42.84 Mbps / Upload 14.07 Mbps

 

Test 1 Wireless connection to the PX50 - Ping: 11ms / Download 10.91 Mbps / Upload 48.97 Mbps

Test 2 Wireless connection to the PX50 - Ping: 10ms / Download 31.12 Mbps / Upload 46.06 Mbps

Test 3 Wireless connection to the PX50 - Ping: 12ms / Download 19.46 Mbps / Upload 54.32 Mbps

 

Lounge:

 

Test 1 Wireless connection to the PX50 - Ping: 9ms / Download 99.96 Mbps / Upload 96.46 Mbps

Test 2 Wireless connection to the PX50 - Ping: 10ms / Download 126.05.11 Mbps / Upload 94.97 Mbps

Test 3 Wireless connection to the PX50 - Ping: 9ms / Download 127.12 Mbps / Upload 96.79 Mbps

 

So the speeds in the office are a lot worse than the lounge.

 

I will set the laptop to high priority and see what that does.  I have also switched off Beamforming.

 

Many thanks.

  0  
  0  
#5
Options
Re:Weak signal at satellite Deco units
2024-03-28 08:10:56

  Hi @David-TP,

 

I have tried a further test this morning, by forcing the office PX50 to connect directly the main PX50, rather than the lounge.

 

Test 1 Ethernet connection to the PX50 - Ping: 6ms / Download 23.07 Mbps / Upload 50.33 Mbps

Test 2 Ethernet connection to the PX50 - Ping: 6ms / Download 22.57 Mbps / Upload 48.69 Mbps

Test 3 Ethernet connection to the PX50 - Ping: 7ms / Download 19.82 Mbps / Upload 42.11 Mbps

 

No great improvement.

 

Thanks.

  0  
  0  
#6
Options
Re:Weak signal at satellite Deco units
2024-04-08 07:10:52

Hi @David-TP,

 

I have tried all the suggestions you have made below and monitored the speed using Ookla and this has made no improvement.

 

The "Office" satellite node is continually showing as disconnected within the Deco app before coming back.  In real life, this is also happening and it will drop out - the LED will go to red for 5 minutes that come back on.  The speeds on that node are very poor, which looks to be the cause of the buffering.

 

If I move the "Office" node into the house, then it works fine, good speeds and no dropping out.  This shows that the node itself is fine.

 

I have tried to force the "Office" node to connect to the main node, rather than the nearest satellite, but that hasn't improved performance.

 

Is there anything else I can do?  I was expecting much more from this solution as the PLC capability looked to be the best way to get internet connectivity into the office, but it is currently unusable.

 

Thanks

 

 

 

 

  0  
  0  
#7
Options