Problem with the home Wi-Fi setup involving both older and newer gadgets on the same mesh network.
Problem with the home Wi-Fi setup involving both older and newer gadgets on the same mesh network.
Hi there, I'm using a Tplink mesh system called Deco M4. The main router connects to my ISP's network, and Wi-Fi is active without bridge mode enabled. The problem is that all the mesh nodes are Deco M4, which can't support older devices that only work on 2.4GHz. Even my Wi-Fi5 gadgets sometimes struggle with connections. Only my Samsung S22 smartphone with Wi-Fi6 seems to work well. I'm considering switching to different networking gear but don't know what would suit me better. My current speed is 200 Mb, and I live in a two-story home with an outdoor living area that also needs internet. There are concrete walls in some parts. Any advice or solutions would be greatly appreciated.
Your ISP router operates in route mode with Wi-Fi and DHCP services. The Deco router functions in router mode and also provides DHCP. Would you relocate the ISP router to a bridge interface and disable Wi-Fi since you're currently experiencing double NAT? Are the Wi-Fi channels identical across both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands? Are you configured with 20 MHz, 40 MHz, or 80 MHz channels? Can you measure bandwidth using Ethernet on the Deco M4? Are you utilizing Speedtest.net for bandwidth testing? Consider switching DNS servers away from your ISP to point to 1.1.1.1 and 8.8.8.8.
I can operate in bridge mode. I’ll try again later. Concerning the SSID, I’m not entirely sure what it refers to, and my mesh system settings limit how much I can manage. I checked bandwidth through the Ethernet port earlier—it worked fine. Yes, I use speedtest.net to monitor speeds; it’s consistent on my S22 but not always on older devices, as you mentioned. Before adjusting DNS, I’d like to understand the security implications.
I don't own those gadgets; mine are laptops and smartphones. Appreciate that!
The SSID represents the Wi-Fi network name. Are there several networks available? It seems new features often add them one by one, and it probably picks them automatically. The ISP DNS is unreliable. 1.1.1.1 is managed by Cloudflare and 8.8.8.8 by Google. Technically you could retain the ISP DNS, but switching to another would be better. Or use one ISP DNS with a secondary, making 1.1.1.1 the primary.