09/08/2023, 07:57 PM
Based on how low the speeds are getting this seems to indicate either one or more nodes are not using wired backhaul or there are some "chatty" Wi-Fi devices hogging the bandwidth. To start with check that every node shows the <--> indicator in the Tenda App, which indicates it is using wired backhaul. Alternatively you can test with a wired laptop to the second Ethernet port on each node and run a speed test, which should deliver similar to plugging into your ISP router.
With the large number of devices on your Wi-Fi network, you can try a process of elimination to see if it's just down to a few culprits, e.g. disconnect or switch off roughly half of them at a time until the speed recovers. Then switch on or reconnect a few, wait a minute and retest the speed. With any ones that cause a noticeable drop in the Wi-Fi speed, you can try repositioning them or turning off the 5GHz band on the device (if it has that option).
The most likely devices to slow down your network are those that have a weak Wi-Fi signal, even if the device is idle. The weaker and noisier the Wi-Fi signal, the lower its signal encoding efficiency gets (fewer data bits per symbol) where a packet of data requires a lot more airtime to transmit than a device with a good clean signal. If the signal is very weak across multiple devices, the little data they use while idle can end take up a significant amount of airtime.
This again shows one major drawback with Tenda not offering the ability to split the 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs as otherwise one could connect their low usage devices like smart switches, bulbs, speakers, etc. to the 2.4GHz band, leaving the 5GHz for devices like TVs and set top boxes that require the higher bandwidth.
With the large number of devices on your Wi-Fi network, you can try a process of elimination to see if it's just down to a few culprits, e.g. disconnect or switch off roughly half of them at a time until the speed recovers. Then switch on or reconnect a few, wait a minute and retest the speed. With any ones that cause a noticeable drop in the Wi-Fi speed, you can try repositioning them or turning off the 5GHz band on the device (if it has that option).
The most likely devices to slow down your network are those that have a weak Wi-Fi signal, even if the device is idle. The weaker and noisier the Wi-Fi signal, the lower its signal encoding efficiency gets (fewer data bits per symbol) where a packet of data requires a lot more airtime to transmit than a device with a good clean signal. If the signal is very weak across multiple devices, the little data they use while idle can end take up a significant amount of airtime.
This again shows one major drawback with Tenda not offering the ability to split the 2.4GHz and 5GHz SSIDs as otherwise one could connect their low usage devices like smart switches, bulbs, speakers, etc. to the 2.4GHz band, leaving the 5GHz for devices like TVs and set top boxes that require the higher bandwidth.