Mesh wifi wired backhaul direct to router or between mesh devices

muise · 17 Nov 2022 at 12:35

Hi, I'm new here so please go easy on my technical ignorance, I am hoping for some help, I have lots of questions but essentially I am trying to fix slow wifi. I have 4 Deco X20s. My first question is:

If I want to use a wired backhaul, what is the best method? Deco1 is wired to my ISP router. The second port in Deco1 is used to go to a 16 port switch. The other decos are then wired in to that switch. I could, if it is a good idea(?) wire some of the other decos directly to the ISP router too (thereby spreading the internet traffic through more ISP router ports - but I have no idea if this is good or bad.

The issue I am having is that my ISP router connection speed is 70/20 on both wired and wifi. My Deco mesh is really inconsistent, but an awful lot of the time I struggle to get 10/2. I would have thought that the deco system should be able to deliver pretty much the 70/20 that the ISP router does? (sometimes it does achieve those speeds, but not very often)

(I am upgrading my ISP next week to 300/100, so I guess any answers should consider that - is the Deco x20 system even suitable for me with the new connection, if not what would you recommend)?

Any help gratefully received. Thanks.

Orcvader · 17 Nov 2022 at 14:06

Depends what mode your Deco is in. If it's in access point mode, then it's fine to have the other nodes wired up to the router. Ideally, when in this mode you don't want to use the second ethernet port and try keep everything on the main router, so move the switch to the router. If it's in router mode, then you want to keep the switch on the main Deco node to connect the other nodes as it's basically making its own network (double NAT).

No idea on the X20 but I had weird issues trying to use the X60 as a router. It kept stalling every now and then which made streaming/gaming unusable so I got out my old Asus router, stuck the Deco into AP mode, and then speeds/latency were back to normal.

muise · 17 Nov 2022 at 14:07

Interesting, thank you. I am in router mode, but it sounds like I should consider AP mode

Firegod · 17 Nov 2022 at 14:34

Yep consider AP mode for the Deco kit to avoid running Router to Router (but you will lose some features which may have been better on the X20 than what you get on the ISP Router). Failing that, does the ISP router have an IP Passthrough feature? Enable that and then keep the Deco in Router mode.