I’ve been using wireless networking gear since the days when 802.11b was the standard. Over the years, I’ve looked for ways to boost wireless range by playing with wireless router positions, frequencies and network extenders. But over the last few years, there have been three major developments. Wireless networks have become faster, they’re easier to set up and range has been improved with easy-to-setup mesh networks.
The problem
My home/office internet connection was recently boosted to 500Mbps as a result of changes made by NBNCo. I switched service provider a couple of weeks when Exetel offered the speed increase before the official shift by NBNCo. But last week I noticed something. The Mac in my office was not getting anything like the full 500Mbps on its wireless connection. I repeated the Speedtest.net several times to confirm it wasn’t a one-off glitch or issue with my service provider.
My Mac was connected by Wi-Fi to one of the wireless nodes in my mesh network. That network is comprised of four DLink COVR-1870 mesh network nodes. One, the primary node, is connected to the NBN HFC box in my wife’s office with the other three nodes wirelessly connected to that primary node.
I expected some speed to be dropped but almost 90% seemed excessive so I started digging.
My wife’s PC, a three year old HP laptop has a wired connection to the primary node. A speed test on that machine revealed that it was getting the full 500Mbps and then some. That confirmed that the service provider was not the issue.
So I started investigating and experimenting.
Experimenting with network set up
When I first moved into my home, I ran ethernet connections using Cat6 cabling between the two offices. That allowed me to connect my office Mac to the primary node with a cabled connection.
Voila! A 500Mbps connection was achieved.
That got me investigating what was going on in more detail. When I looked at my wireless network configuration I discovered that the node in my office was not connecting directly to the closest node, in my wife’s office, but a node that’s much further away.
Interestingly, the Studio node is even further away but the lounge node seemed to be broadcasting most strongly to the other nodes.
So, I turned the Lounge node off and re-ran a Speedtest to see what was happening.
After the Lounge node had been off for a few minutes I restarted it. All three nodes now connect to the primary in a more logical (to me given the distances involved) way.
The PC in my office, when connected only via Wi-Fi was now much faster. I was still nowhere near the 500Mbps I could achieve with a wired connection but it was a lot better as it was connecting directly to the primary node and not hopping from the Lounge node.
Speed test continued to show that my Mac could still connect to the closer node at around 95Mbps.
Further tests
For a final set of testing, I used my iPhone. I conducted speed tests about a metre away from each node. Between tests, I turned Wi-Fi on the iPhone off so it would force a reconnection to the network at the closest node.
I achieved the fastest connection of about 180Mbps when closest to the primary node. Connection to Lounge node, which is several metres away, was just under 100Mbps. Connection to the Office node, which is closest to the primary node was about 60Mbps while the Studio node was slowest at about 54Mbps. Most of those results aren’t surprising although the Office and Studio results being so close was unexpected.
This is where how my house is built might be a factor. There is a solid brick wall between the primary node and the Lounge node. But there are no other obstacles. However, between the Office and primary node, the wall is made of timber over a steel frame (the house is steel-framed). This building materials could be a factor. The gap between the Studio and primary node, while about 10 metres is unencumbered by the steel frame as there is a window where, presumable, the signal can pass more easily that through a timer and steel-framed wall.
Cables matter
We rarely give what cables we use a second through but they will make a difference. If you look closely at your ethernet cables, you’ll notice some text printed on the side. You’ll see the cables labeled as either CAT5, CAT5e, CAT6 or, if they’re really new, CAT8.
- CAT 5 max speed: 100Mbps
- CAT 5e max speed: 1000Mbps (1Gbps)
- CAT 6 max speed: 10Gbps
- CAT 8: 40Mbps
What that means is that of you now have a 500Mbps internet connection, you old CAT5 cable will be throttling your internal network.
You’ll need at least CAT5e ethernet cable between your NBN modem and your router or primary node in a mesh network.
Lessons learned
With everyone on a 100Mbps NBN plan now automatically upgraded to 500Mbps there may be an expectation that all your devices will automatically get much better connection speeds. But that speed boost may not amount to any noticeable benefit if your network isn’t optimised to get the full benefit.
- A wired connection, while less flexible, will almost certainly outperform a Wi-Fi connection. If you have a computer or other device that can be connected by ethernet and you want the best possible performance, cable it.
- The order in which nodes in mesh network connect to each other may depend on the order in which they are powered on. Different mesh networks will handle the node-to-node connections in different ways. Take the time to understand how your specific gear works as it can make a difference. In my case, enabling the furthest node last doubled wireless network speed.
- Building materials can impact network performance.
- Use Speedtest.net on different devices and in different locations in your home or office to determine if there’s an underperforming node. You may be able to reposition it to a better performing area. Sometimes, even a small shift can make a big difference.
With thousands of Internet users in Australia about to get a massive internet speed boost, the full benefit might not be immediately seen unless your network is ready for it. In my case, if I had stuck with a 100Mbps connection, I would likely have accepted the losses as acceptable over wireless connections.
But with a 500Mbps connection, it was obvious my network was underperforming.
Anthony is the founder of Australian Apple News. He is a long-time Apple user and former editor of Australian Macworld. He has contributed to many technology magazines and newspapers as well as appearing regularly on radio and occasionally on TV.