Very poor Wifi and Slow loading of the Hub Manager

[AGriffiths73]

Hi everyone.

I recently moved to EE from BT as part of a total move of mobiles from Vodafone, Broadband and Phone and TV from BT.

I have Full Fibre, @ 900Mbp/s and three extenders.  My first issue has been how slow the hub manager screen is to load from wired or wireless devices, but having got used to that, there are many more issues, largely the really poor Wifi speeds.

Some days on a mobile I can get really good speeds, 200-600Mbp/s, other times of the same say it's DSL levels of 4-15Mbps.

This is standing next to the extender, and being able to see that my device is connected to that extender, not the hub.  I tried to connect over powerline, so plugged the extender into a powerline adaptor, the other PLA is connected directly to the hub.  My laptop, that I can see is connected to the extender less than 60 cms away, is getting 3.5Mbps!

Devices tested are - Macbook Air 2013 with current OS, an Oppo Find X5 Pro with latest Android version, hub is Wifi 6 compatibility mode with Smart channel select enabled.  Hub firmware level is r1.34.1-R-1055417-PROD-83002.  TP Link PLAs are on current firmware.

I also cannot add any products to my account and have raised this a few times, so can't use the app to do anything - but never needed this when the service was BT delivered.

Is there anything I can do to improve this connection for Wifi devices, or just bin the super EE router and go back to the BT stuff that seemed to work better?

[JimM11]

@AGriffiths73 Which router do you have? Which extenders do you have? Model numbers on back of devices. Powerline really depends on speed, age of the powerline and some are only 100mb/s on the ethernet so you know. From the FW you posted it would look like the EE Superhub+ as that is the latest FW just recently applied, last couple of weeks. Powerline models you need to say type, tplink just does not cut it, and no idea if the ethernet backhaul that i think you are trying to achieve is possible or works but you sure wont get the speeds that you think...  If your BT stuff worked before, then that's the way to go if you were happy and had no speed issue's, the latest hub is only 50% of the way there at present as far as i am concerned. Post back more detail if you need more help. HTH

[AGriffiths73]

SH31B router, the PLAs are TP-Link TL-PA7017P 1000Mbp/s and for one room there is Cat6 external cable connected directly between a NetGear 1Gbp/s unmanaged switch that the extender is plugged in to, that routes outside for 60 metres to the room the hub is in, and is terminated as RJ45 and plugged into the hub, so no other intermediate connections.

Extenders are SW30A.  Connected to PLA via brand new, Excel 50cm CAT6 patch lead.

[JimM11]

@AGriffiths73 Testing with wireless requires all other wireless devices off, just one on so that you can get a true test. If you have any device that has an Ethernet connection for cable test that would be good also. Testing the router, about 6' away on wireless, you would expect the same speed as your switch connected smart wi-fi extender, mac book air is wi-fi 5 compatible so you should expect a good 600mb/s test from that. The powerline is all down to the cable testing, only true test is to put a ethernet laptop device on the end of the cable and test at that point. My powerline when checked with the TP-link app reports at 230mb/s but lucky if i get 30mb/s on testing, but don't need speed as ring camera and doorbell on the end of it.

Another OP has tested a single SW30A and reported back it's running at full tilt. Copy of link so you can look. Don't understand why you have a switch unless you are connecting something else when needed, If you can ethernet test, you can also just plug into the switch to make sure you are getting full speed. Link added below. Also added some smart wi-fi help links should you need them.

Smart Wifi Plus Extender doesn't have a Gigabit Ethernet port? - The EE Community  

https://ee.co.uk/help/broadband/getting-started/setting-up-smart-wifi
https://ee.co.uk/help/broadband/fix-problem/fix-problems-with-smart-wifi

[nigelapt]

I have exactly the same setup and the same issues.

Totally unreliable speed and the fix is always turn it off and on again.

I have my work PC plugged into the ethernet on the back of one of the extenders and I am getting 50 mb connection if I am lucky.  Plugged laptop directly into the hub in the hall and am getting 80mb despite hub manager showing 1gbps connection.  

[JimM11]

@nigelapt What EE Package do you have from them, the 1gbps means nothing if you have something like Essential 50, the 50mb/s is the speed that you will get, it is the speed delivered to the hub and what you were told you would get on your e-mail from EE. 

When you plug into an extender you rely totally on how good the wireless signal is between it and the router.

[nigelapt]

Thanks Jim
I am on Full Works Full Fibre Gigabit with the Smart Hub Plus, 3 extenders and hybrid connect.

I would be happy to get a constant 100MB connection but this has not proven possible. I have a laptop directly connected to the hub and the latency in the connection is shocking. The tech support engineer could not explain the reason and started me in the usual mantra of rebooting the equipment before suggesting a factory reset. I have been there twice before in the last 8 mths and it has fixed nothing. The bottom line is I am not getting the service or reliability I am paying for.

[JimM11]

@nigelapt If you Ethernet connect direct to the EE Smarthub+ router, laptop connected, make sure you have power on the laptop if not make sure that it is running full speed and not in a battery saving reduced cpu mode, then speed test what does it give you, ideally wi-fi all off, but can be compensated for if the wireless is quite in operation. Would expect that to return in the high 900's if the device ie your laptop is capable of doing so.

If you do a ping 192.168.1.254 -n 300 to your EE Router wireless/wired will give you an idea if the router gets busy and does poor response. 300 is a 5 minute test.

[nigelapt]

Thanks Jim, 

I understand wifi performance will not be at that speed.  My gripe is the inconsistency of the service.

I had all the promises under the sun that the Smart Hub Plus was fantastic and the extenders would ensure a signal throughout the house but this is ridiculous.

[JimM11]

@nigelapt Can you post a picture of your EE Smarthub+ Status screen, hide the ssid on it?