
Top reasons your WiFi is slow - armgitaar
http://blog.metageek.net/2018/05/why-in-tarnation-is-my-wifi-so-slow-part-3-top-10-reasons-why-your-wifi-has-low-throughput/
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noodlesUK
I radically improved my home wifi by installing UniFi kit. It’s a huge step up
to have multiple high quality APs distributed throughout the house rather than
just one AP trying to blast ever higher power. It also means that I can use
much more of the available spectrum and there’s far less interference.
Enterprise-class wifi is just so much better than the stuff aimed at consumers
(especially the gamer market like the nighthawk router series).

Edit:

For the most part though when I speak to people who aren’t your typical HN
crowd, they complain about slow WiFi when they mean that their internet is
slow. The WiFi is usually way faster than their internet connection so it
doesn’t really matter at all. The other big factor is latency, and basically
nothing in a home network is adding an appreciable amount of latency to their
connection. It’s only when you are dealing with FTTP that things like good
WiFi tend to matter.

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tracker1
A lot of SOHO kits also have multiple antennas per band allowing for more
devices without sharing a connection. Usually worth it.

Also, I've seen #4 (interference) happen a lot, cutting the channel width
tends to lead to much more stable (though slightly slower max) connections...
Much improved streaming consistency.

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watersb
In my apartment building, hundreds of wifi devices sharing the same radio
channels.

Currently, my network runs on an ancient Apple "Airport Extreme" base AP.

Upstream is an 80 Mbps internet connection.

Would upgrading to enterprise kit make any difference?

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tbyehl
In my experience, in a crowded single-AP situation, the most bleeding-edge
grotesque looking Netgear Nighthawk you can afford will probably do better
than spending the same money on SMB/Enterprise gear. Ubiquiti UAP-AC-HD / UAP-
AC-SHD reportedly do well in crowded space but I've no experience with those
models.

Disable 2.4GHz if you can. Use separate 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs to force
everything 5GHz-capable to that band. Use the smallest channel width. Use the
lowest transmit power and highest receive sensitivity that gets the coverage
you need.

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tazard
I have an issue I haven't been able to diagnose. The further the distance from
my router, the slower the internet speeds, but not proportionate to the
strength. If I move 20 feet away, my signal is still quite strong, but my
speeds drop from 150mbps to 60mbs, another 10 feet and it's down to about
15mbs. Luckily I live in a very small apartment. If anyone has any ideas, it
would be appreciated!

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Nextgrid
You could be either dropping off the 5Ghz band and onto the 2.4Ghz one (5Ghz
has much less penetration and so it dies off way before 2.4Ghz does), or just
getting closer to a source of interference.

~~~
tazard
Hmm, thanks that makes sense. Gives me something to look into anyways.

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efiecho
By using OpenBSD as an AP I have never been able to get speeds above 10 Mbps
even with excellent signal strength. Just by booting Linux on the same AP I
can connect with 150 Mbps, but I like the OpenBSD way of doing things so much,
that I choose the slower speed instead.

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tracker1
I find #4 is really a frequent improvement... just cutting the channel width
to half the router's default leads to much more stable and better performing
connections.

