My wifi is trash, please help me optimise my WRX-36 3-point mesh network

Installing and Using OpenWrt
1

So, no help can be given without a understanding of what i have, so i'l be as detailed as possible.

Intro:
I am having some wifi trouble, and i want to get it faster. I have a 500mbit connection, and i am getting 211mbit down maximum next to the main router, sitting around 1 till 1.5 meters away from it.
When i am using my cabled PC, i am getting the maximum speed.
I am living in a calm village with barely(but some) wifi around me.
Today i changed a setting, trying to swap the mesh mode (802.11s) from the 5ghz band to the 2.4ghz band, but it only got worse. So i need some help to fix this wifi, and to get better speeds from the routers.

Map:
First of all, a map of the situation, that shows where the WRX-36's are installed.

Speedtests:
Now, when i use a speedtest app in the garden approximately ~10 meters away from the router in the garden, i get a speed of around 13mbps. This was around 50mbps when i used 5ghz as mesh mode. (galaxy s21 ultra with wifi 6)

When i am sitting next to the main router, around 1 till 1.5meters away from it, i am getting 211mbit. (galaxy s21 ultra with wifi 6)

The purple circle that is a TV in the right side of the map, gets 35mbit down. (chromecast with google tv)

The purple circle next to the main router is a TV, that gets 101mbit down. (chromecast with google tv)

Settings:
I am using a wireguard connection(that makes 500mbit on cabled pc), with 801.11s mesh network on the 2.4ghz band. (i had it on 5ghz that had some better results)
On all 3 routers(same brand same model) i am using the same channel for 2.4ghz, or else the mesh network would not function. On the 5ghz network, i am broadcasting on a different channel on every router. On all 5ghz channels i am broadcasting on 20mhz, as the router does not allow to select other channels.
I already tried to change the country from unspecified to the US to DE, where i live, to no effect.
All router ssid's have fast roaming enabled.
All ssid's are combined into one ssid in the whole network.

Outro
I am quite sad that i "upgraded" to a mesh network, thinking i would get solid wifi speeds everywhere, but the truth is that it's quite mediocre for western/modern country standards.
Help would be very appriciated by all the experts on this forum!

2

Mesh sucks.

A rule of thumb is that using a mesh network will consume roughly 50% of your wifi bandwidth for the backhaul. With every wireless link between APs, you lose half your bandwidth by comparison to the AP closer to the router.

You have not mentioned what client device you're using. Most are 2x2 MIMO. WiFi 6 can do a maximum rate of 1200Mbps with a 2x2 MIMO client device using an 80Mhz channel width. Real world throughput is about half that. So you're at 600Mbps of real world throughput.

Now, halve this again if you're connected to an AP that's using mesh to talk to another AP before it hits the router, because your mesh is using WiFi for the backhaul and thus your AP reserves that other half for the backhaul. Now you get 300Mbps.

Now halve this again if you're using a 40Mhz channel width. And halve again if it's a 20Mhz channel width.

And that's without even considering noise floors, interference, etc.

1 Like
3

I guess a big upgrade would be to use a bigger channel width on 5ghz, but my router does not allow me to set this.

4

A big upgrade would be to use APs with a wired backhaul rather than mesh.

However, use 5Ghz for the wireless backhaul, not 2.4Ghz.

You say you cannot use anything other than 20Mhz channels on 5Ghz. This is OpenWRT right? Can you post the contents of your /etc/config/wireless - please be sure to remove all passwords before posting it and change the SSID to something random.

5

6

It doesn’t seem like you really need a «true mesh».
Remember when mesh was new in the consumer market? Netgear Orbi outclassed everything in all the reviews, simply by not being a mesh (plus it used a dedicated 5ghz 160mhz backhaul).

A true mesh has all kinds of overhead, and in my setup using 802.11s results in transfers maybe 40-45% of what I would be getting compared to wireless client bridge (aka fake bridge/repeater with relayd). I can’t remember exactly but I think I get around 70MBs between 2 r7800 when using wireless client bridge, with 802.11s it’s only 26-30MB. You gotta decide how much the warm fuzzy feeling of having a true mesh is worth to you. If you can live without a true mesh and instead have, for all intents and purposes, an identical functioning network - just with better raw performance, then maybe true configure the nodes as wireless repeaters instead.

7

i need a mesh (or repeaters, but from what i saw a mesh works better, more streamlined) because the router at the point left on the map reaches into the guest room and basement(where there are smart devices and sometimes guests staying). The main router cannot reach either of those points. wifi is 1 bar or not there.
In the garden, further away then this map shows, there are some wifi camera's that were always super laggy, sometimes not recording anything to the cloud. And to the right of the house (lots of walls between main router) is a terrace where we like to sit in summer, and speed was always bad.
I noticed that everything improved while getting this mesh setup, but just not much.

I hope the suggestion from @dl12345 might work, but then i need to figure out how to set a 80mhz channel in luci, for now those channels are not shown in the list of channels i can select. For every channel i can select 20-160mhz, but it wont actually work (in the log it then says mismatch, which is correct)

8

I'm not entirely sure what is causing you to only be able to set 20Mhz channels on 5Ghz, so this suggestion is a bit of a stab in the dark.

Directly edit this file and change the line for radio0

option htmode 'HE20'

TO

option htmode 'VHT80'

You'll need to bounce the wifi for it to reread the file. Use /sbin/wifi for that task. See if this enables 80Mhz channels for you on 5Ghz

9

unfortunately not, here is a list of channels it allows me to set, all on the 20mhz width.

10

Could you please post the output of iw list

11 

root@MainRouter:~# iw list
        Available Antennas: TX 0xf RX 0xf
        Configured Antennas: TX 0xf RX 0xf
        Supported interface modes:
                 * managed
                 * AP
                 * monitor
                 * mesh point
        Band 1:
                Capabilities: 0x11e7
                        RX LDPC
                        HT20/HT40
                        Dynamic SM Power Save
                        RX HT20 SGI
                        RX HT40 SGI
                        TX STBC
                        RX STBC 1-stream
                        Max AMSDU length: 3839 bytes
                        DSSS/CCK HT40
                Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
                Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: No restriction (0x00)
                HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-31
                HE Iftypes: managed
                        HE MAC Capabilities (0x000b9a181040):
                                +HTC HE Supported
                                TWT Requester
                                Dynamic BA Fragementation Level: 1
                                BSR
                                Broadcast TWT
                                OM Control
                                Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 3
                                RX Control Frame to MultiBSS
                                A-MSDU in A-MPDU
                                OM Control UL MU Data Disable RX
                        HE PHY Capabilities: (0x02604c897fc3839c010c00):
                                HE40/2.4GHz
                                LDPC Coding in Payload
                                HE SU PPDU with 1x HE-LTF and 0.8us GI
                                STBC Tx <= 80MHz
                                STBC Rx <= 80MHz
                                Full Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
                                DCM Max Constellation: 1
                                DCM Max Constellation Rx: 1
                                SU Beamformer
                                SU Beamformee
                                MU Beamformer
                                Beamformee STS <= 80Mhz: 7
                                Beamformee STS > 80Mhz: 3
                                Sounding Dimensions <= 80Mhz: 3
                                Ng = 16 SU Feedback
                                Ng = 16 MU Feedback
                                Codebook Size SU Feedback
                                Codebook Size MU Feedback
                                PPE Threshold Present
                                HE SU PPDU & HE PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                Max NC: 3
                                STBC Rx > 80MHz
                                HE ER SU PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                TX 1024-QAM
                                RX 1024-QAM
                        HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        PPE Threshold 0x1b 0x1c 0xc7 0x71 0x1c 0xc7 0x71
                EHT Iftypes: managed
                        EHT MAC Capabilities (0x0000):
                        EHT PHY Capabilities: (0x0000000000000000):
                        EHT MCS/NSS: (0x):
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 0-7: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 8-9: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 10-11: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 12-13: Rx=0, Tx=0
                HE Iftypes: AP
                        HE MAC Capabilities (0x000d9a181040):
                                +HTC HE Supported
                                TWT Responder
                                Dynamic BA Fragementation Level: 1
                                BSR
                                Broadcast TWT
                                OM Control
                                Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 3
                                RX Control Frame to MultiBSS
                                A-MSDU in A-MPDU
                                OM Control UL MU Data Disable RX
                        HE PHY Capabilities: (0x02604c887fc3839c010c00):
                                HE40/2.4GHz
                                LDPC Coding in Payload
                                HE SU PPDU with 1x HE-LTF and 0.8us GI
                                STBC Tx <= 80MHz
                                STBC Rx <= 80MHz
                                Full Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
                                DCM Max Constellation Rx: 1
                                SU Beamformer
                                SU Beamformee
                                MU Beamformer
                                Beamformee STS <= 80Mhz: 7
                                Beamformee STS > 80Mhz: 3
                                Sounding Dimensions <= 80Mhz: 3
                                Ng = 16 SU Feedback
                                Ng = 16 MU Feedback
                                Codebook Size SU Feedback
                                Codebook Size MU Feedback
                                PPE Threshold Present
                                HE SU PPDU & HE PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                Max NC: 3
                                STBC Rx > 80MHz
                                HE ER SU PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                TX 1024-QAM
                                RX 1024-QAM
                        HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        PPE Threshold 0x1b 0x1c 0xc7 0x71 0x1c 0xc7 0x71
                EHT Iftypes: AP
                        EHT MAC Capabilities (0x0000):
                        EHT PHY Capabilities: (0x0000000000000000):
                        EHT MCS/NSS: (0x):
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 0-7: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 8-9: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 10-11: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 12-13: Rx=0, Tx=0
                HE Iftypes: mesh point
                        HE MAC Capabilities (0x00098a081040):
                                +HTC HE Supported
                                Dynamic BA Fragementation Level: 1
                                BSR
                                OM Control
                                Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 1
                                RX Control Frame to MultiBSS
                                A-MSDU in A-MPDU
                                OM Control UL MU Data Disable RX
                        HE PHY Capabilities: (0x02600c807d43811c000000):
                                HE40/2.4GHz
                                LDPC Coding in Payload
                                HE SU PPDU with 1x HE-LTF and 0.8us GI
                                STBC Tx <= 80MHz
                                STBC Rx <= 80MHz
                                SU Beamformer
                                SU Beamformee
                                Beamformee STS <= 80Mhz: 7
                                Beamformee STS > 80Mhz: 3
                                Sounding Dimensions <= 80Mhz: 3
                                Ng = 16 SU Feedback
                                Codebook Size SU Feedback
                                PPE Threshold Present
                                HE SU PPDU & HE PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                Max NC: 3
                        HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        PPE Threshold 0x1b 0x1c 0xc7 0x71 0x1c 0xc7 0x71
                EHT Iftypes: mesh point
                        EHT MAC Capabilities (0x0000):
                        EHT PHY Capabilities: (0x0000000000000000):
                        EHT MCS/NSS: (0x):
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 0-7: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 8-9: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 10-11: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=20 MHz, max NSS for MCS 12-13: Rx=0, Tx=0
                Frequencies:
                        * 2412 MHz [1] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2417 MHz [2] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2422 MHz [3] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2427 MHz [4] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2432 MHz [5] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2437 MHz [6] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2442 MHz [7] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2447 MHz [8] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2452 MHz [9] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2457 MHz [10] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2462 MHz [11] (20.0 dBm)
                        * 2467 MHz [12] (disabled)
                        * 2472 MHz [13] (disabled)
                        * 2484 MHz [14] (disabled)
        valid interface combinations:
                 * #{ managed } <= 1, #{ AP, mesh point } <= 16,
                   total <= 16, #channels <= 1, STA/AP BI must match, radar detect widths: { 20 MHz (no HT), 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz }

        HT Capability overrides:
                 * MCS: ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff ff
                 * maximum A-MSDU length
                 * supported channel width
                 * short GI for 40 MHz
                 * max A-MPDU length exponent
                 * min MPDU start spacing
        max # scan plans: 1
        max scan plan interval: -1
        max scan plan iterations: 0
        Maximum associated stations in AP mode: 512
        Supported extended features:
                * [ RRM ]: RRM
                * [ SET_SCAN_DWELL ]: scan dwell setting
                * [ FILS_STA ]: STA FILS (Fast Initial Link Setup)
                * [ CQM_RSSI_LIST ]: multiple CQM_RSSI_THOLD records
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211 ]: control port over nl80211
                * [ TXQS ]: FQ-CoDel-enabled intermediate TXQs
                * [ ENABLE_FTM_RESPONDER ]: enable FTM (Fine Time Measurement) responder
                * [ STA_TX_PWR ]: TX power control per station
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_NO_PREAUTH ]: disable pre-auth over nl80211 control port support
                * [ SCAN_FREQ_KHZ ]: scan on kHz frequency support
                * [ CONTROL_PORT_OVER_NL80211_TX_STATUS ]: tx status for nl80211 control port support
                * [ BSS_COLOR ]: BSS coloring support
Wiphy phy0
        wiphy index: 0
        max # scan SSIDs: 16
        max scan IEs length: 142 bytes
        max # sched scan SSIDs: 0
        max # match sets: 0
        Retry short limit: 7
        Retry long limit: 4
        Coverage class: 0 (up to 0m)
        Device supports AP-side u-APSD.
        Available Antennas: TX 0xf0 RX 0xf0
        Configured Antennas: TX 0xf0 RX 0xf0
        Supported interface modes:
                 * managed
                 * AP
                 * monitor
                 * mesh point
        Band 2:
                Capabilities: 0x19ef
                        RX LDPC
                        HT20/HT40
                        SM Power Save disabled
                        RX HT20 SGI
                        RX HT40 SGI
                        TX STBC
                        RX STBC 1-stream
                        Max AMSDU length: 7935 bytes
                        DSSS/CCK HT40
                Maximum RX AMPDU length 65535 bytes (exponent: 0x003)
                Minimum RX AMPDU time spacing: No restriction (0x00)
                HT TX/RX MCS rate indexes supported: 0-31
                VHT Capabilities (0x739b79fa):
                        Max MPDU length: 11454
                        Supported Channel Width: (reserved)
                        RX LDPC
                        short GI (80 MHz)
                        short GI (160/80+80 MHz)
                        TX STBC
                        SU Beamformer
                        SU Beamformee
                        MU Beamformer
                        MU Beamformee
                        RX antenna pattern consistency
                        TX antenna pattern consistency
                VHT RX MCS set:
                        1 streams: MCS 0-9
                        2 streams: MCS 0-9
                        3 streams: MCS 0-9
                        4 streams: MCS 0-9
                        5 streams: not supported
                        6 streams: not supported
                        7 streams: not supported
                        8 streams: not supported
                VHT RX highest supported: 0 Mbps
                VHT TX MCS set:
                        1 streams: MCS 0-9
                        2 streams: MCS 0-9
                        3 streams: MCS 0-9
                        4 streams: MCS 0-9
                        5 streams: not supported
                        6 streams: not supported
                        7 streams: not supported
                        8 streams: not supported
                VHT TX highest supported: 0 Mbps
                VHT extended NSS: supported
                HE Iftypes: managed
                        HE MAC Capabilities (0x000b9a181040):
                                +HTC HE Supported
                                TWT Requester
                                Dynamic BA Fragementation Level: 1
                                BSR
                                Broadcast TWT
                                OM Control
                                Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 3
                                RX Control Frame to MultiBSS
                                A-MSDU in A-MPDU
                                OM Control UL MU Data Disable RX
                        HE PHY Capabilities: (0x1c604c897fdb839c010c00):
                                HE40/HE80/5GHz
                                HE160/5GHz
                                HE160/HE80+80/5GHz
                                LDPC Coding in Payload
                                HE SU PPDU with 1x HE-LTF and 0.8us GI
                                STBC Tx <= 80MHz
                                STBC Rx <= 80MHz
                                Full Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
                                DCM Max Constellation: 1
                                DCM Max Constellation Rx: 1
                                SU Beamformer
                                SU Beamformee
                                MU Beamformer
                                Beamformee STS <= 80Mhz: 7
                                Beamformee STS > 80Mhz: 3
                                Sounding Dimensions <= 80Mhz: 3
                                Sounding Dimensions > 80Mhz: 3
                                Ng = 16 SU Feedback
                                Ng = 16 MU Feedback
                                Codebook Size SU Feedback
                                Codebook Size MU Feedback
                                PPE Threshold Present
                                HE SU PPDU & HE PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                Max NC: 3
                                STBC Rx > 80MHz
                                HE ER SU PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                TX 1024-QAM
                                RX 1024-QAM
                        HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE RX MCS and NSS set 160 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: not supported
                                4 streams: not supported
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE TX MCS and NSS set 160 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: not supported
                                4 streams: not supported
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                EHT Iftypes: managed
                        EHT MAC Capabilities (0x0000):
                        EHT PHY Capabilities: (0x0000000000000000):
                        EHT MCS/NSS: (0x):
                        EHT bw <= 80 MHz, max NSS for MCS 8-9: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw <= 80 MHz, max NSS for MCS 10-11: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw <= 80 MHz, max NSS for MCS 12-13: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=160 MHz, max NSS for MCS 8-9: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=160 MHz, max NSS for MCS 10-11: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=160 MHz, max NSS for MCS 12-13: Rx=0, Tx=0
                HE Iftypes: AP
                        HE MAC Capabilities (0x000d9a181040):
                                +HTC HE Supported
                                TWT Responder
                                Dynamic BA Fragementation Level: 1
                                BSR
                                Broadcast TWT
                                OM Control
                                Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 3
                                RX Control Frame to MultiBSS
                                A-MSDU in A-MPDU
                                OM Control UL MU Data Disable RX
                        HE PHY Capabilities: (0x1c604c887fdb839c010c00):
                                HE40/HE80/5GHz
                                HE160/5GHz
                                HE160/HE80+80/5GHz
                                LDPC Coding in Payload
                                HE SU PPDU with 1x HE-LTF and 0.8us GI
                                STBC Tx <= 80MHz
                                STBC Rx <= 80MHz
                                Full Bandwidth UL MU-MIMO
                                DCM Max Constellation Rx: 1
                                SU Beamformer
                                SU Beamformee
                                MU Beamformer
                                Beamformee STS <= 80Mhz: 7
                                Beamformee STS > 80Mhz: 3
                                Sounding Dimensions <= 80Mhz: 3
                                Sounding Dimensions > 80Mhz: 3
                                Ng = 16 SU Feedback
                                Ng = 16 MU Feedback
                                Codebook Size SU Feedback
                                Codebook Size MU Feedback
                                PPE Threshold Present
                                HE SU PPDU & HE PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                Max NC: 3
                                STBC Rx > 80MHz
                                HE ER SU PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                TX 1024-QAM
                                RX 1024-QAM
                        HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE RX MCS and NSS set 160 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: not supported
                                4 streams: not supported
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE TX MCS and NSS set 160 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: not supported
                                4 streams: not supported
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                EHT Iftypes: AP
                        EHT MAC Capabilities (0x0000):
                        EHT PHY Capabilities: (0x0000000000000000):
                        EHT MCS/NSS: (0x):
                        EHT bw <= 80 MHz, max NSS for MCS 8-9: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw <= 80 MHz, max NSS for MCS 10-11: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw <= 80 MHz, max NSS for MCS 12-13: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=160 MHz, max NSS for MCS 8-9: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=160 MHz, max NSS for MCS 10-11: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=160 MHz, max NSS for MCS 12-13: Rx=0, Tx=0
                HE Iftypes: mesh point
                        HE MAC Capabilities (0x00098a081040):
                                +HTC HE Supported
                                Dynamic BA Fragementation Level: 1
                                BSR
                                OM Control
                                Maximum A-MPDU Length Exponent: 1
                                RX Control Frame to MultiBSS
                                A-MSDU in A-MPDU
                                OM Control UL MU Data Disable RX
                        HE PHY Capabilities: (0x1c600c807d5b811c000000):
                                HE40/HE80/5GHz
                                HE160/5GHz
                                HE160/HE80+80/5GHz
                                LDPC Coding in Payload
                                HE SU PPDU with 1x HE-LTF and 0.8us GI
                                STBC Tx <= 80MHz
                                STBC Rx <= 80MHz
                                SU Beamformer
                                SU Beamformee
                                Beamformee STS <= 80Mhz: 7
                                Beamformee STS > 80Mhz: 3
                                Sounding Dimensions <= 80Mhz: 3
                                Sounding Dimensions > 80Mhz: 3
                                Ng = 16 SU Feedback
                                Codebook Size SU Feedback
                                PPE Threshold Present
                                HE SU PPDU & HE PPDU 4x HE-LTF 0.8us GI
                                Max NC: 3
                        HE RX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE TX MCS and NSS set <= 80 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: MCS 0-11
                                4 streams: MCS 0-11
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE RX MCS and NSS set 160 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: not supported
                                4 streams: not supported
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                        HE TX MCS and NSS set 160 MHz
                                1 streams: MCS 0-11
                                2 streams: MCS 0-11
                                3 streams: not supported
                                4 streams: not supported
                                5 streams: not supported
                                6 streams: not supported
                                7 streams: not supported
                                8 streams: not supported
                EHT Iftypes: mesh point
                        EHT MAC Capabilities (0x0000):
                        EHT PHY Capabilities: (0x0000000000000000):
                        EHT MCS/NSS: (0x):
                        EHT bw <= 80 MHz, max NSS for MCS 8-9: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw <= 80 MHz, max NSS for MCS 10-11: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw <= 80 MHz, max NSS for MCS 12-13: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=160 MHz, max NSS for MCS 8-9: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=160 MHz, max NSS for MCS 10-11: Rx=0, Tx=0
                        EHT bw=160 MHz, max NSS for MCS 12-13: Rx=0, Tx=0
                Frequencies:
                        * 5180 MHz [36] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 5200 MHz [40] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 5220 MHz [44] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 5240 MHz [48] (23.0 dBm)
                        * 5260 MHz [52] (23.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5280 MHz [56] (23.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5300 MHz [60] (23.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5320 MHz [64] (23.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5500 MHz [100] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5520 MHz [104] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5540 MHz [108] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5560 MHz [112] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5580 MHz [116] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5600 MHz [120] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5620 MHz [124] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5640 MHz [128] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5660 MHz [132] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5680 MHz [136] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5700 MHz [140] (24.0 dBm) (radar detection)
                        * 5720 MHz [144] (disabled)
                        * 5745 MHz [149] (disabled)
                        * 5765 MHz [153] (disabled)
                        * 5785 MHz [157] (disabled)
                        * 5805 MHz [161] (disabled)
                        * 5825 MHz [165] (disabled)
                        * 5845 MHz [169] (disabled)
                        * 5865 MHz [173] (disabled)
                        * 5885 MHz [177] (disabled)
        valid interface combinations:
                 * #{ managed } <= 1, #{ AP, mesh point } <= 16,
                   total <= 16, #channels <= 1, STA/AP BI must match, radar detect widths: { 20 MHz (no HT), 20 MHz, 40 MHz, 80 MHz, 80+80 MHz, 160 MHz }

Deleted some info in there to stay below character limit.

12

The command is reporting that the 5Ghz radio is capable of 80Mhz and 160Mhz channel widths

                VHT Capabilities (0x739b79fa):
                        Max MPDU length: 11454
                        Supported Channel Width: (reserved)
                        RX LDPC
                        short GI (80 MHz)
                        short GI (160/80+80 MHz)
                        TX STBC
                        SU Beamformer
                        SU Beamformee
                        MU Beamformer
                        MU Beamformee
                        RX antenna pattern consistency
                        TX antenna pattern consistency

I unfortunately don't have a radio in my OpenWRT router anymore as I ripped it out and I'm using a bunch of Ubiquiti NanoHD APs with OEM firmware, so I can't go and play with the radio settings to work out what you should be setting.

Normally, one selects one of the 20Mhz channels as the centre channel and specifies the width of the channel. So for example, if you select channel 40 and then specify an 80Mhz width, it will occupy channels 36, 40, 44 and 48.

Maybe someone else here with a radio in their router can help out?

13

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

I have a simple 4 node mesh using TP-Link C7 v2 that runs at 200Mbps on 5Ghz and serves clients on both 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz. It is rock solid. Yes that 200Mbps is max link speed so I actually get 175Mbps throughput divided by 2 for 5Ghz clients - but I only have a 150Mbps internet connection and I don't need to hit top speed. 87Mbps is enough for all of my wireless needs and it also doesn't saturate the WAN.

WRX-36 mesh:

2T2R on 802.11ax 5Ghz / 80Mhz channel width, would yield 2400Mbps link speed or 1200Mbps throughput. That is enough to support the mesh and clients especially considering it is using wifi 6 (if the CPU can keep up).

Running the mesh and client networks on it would halve that to 600Mbps - this would still allow client devices to hit 500-600Mbps if they had 2T2R and could connect via 802.11ax.

What she should do is review the link speeds reported in LuCI (main page or wireless page) to verify the nodes are receiving adequate signal strength to maintain a 2400Mbps link and reposition as necessary and/or turn up the transmit power to get there.

I think one of the problems could be if she has client devices that are 802.11ac only - they would dumb down the mesh to 802.11ac instead of ax possibly which would take it down to 866Mhz link speed (2T2R) or 400Mbps max (350Mbps throughput divided by half to serve the mesh and clients = 175Mbps) which is what I believe she is seeing.

Solution 1: Upgrade all wireless client devices that use 5Ghz to 802.11ax.

Or....

Solution 2: Force all wireless clients to use 2.4Ghz wifi 6 2T2R should yield 1200Mbps max link speed or 600Mbps or 1T1R = 300Mbps.

Or...

Solution 3: The older clients that are using wifi 4 and 5 are slowing down your network as it has to drop out of wifi 6 to serve them. Get a few extra routers to plug into the mesh nodes to serve wifi 5 802.11ac clients on 5Ghz and wifi 4 2.4Ghz 802.11bgn. Either as dumb AP or as routers depending on your requirements.

Thanks have a nice day!

1 Like
14

If you only need moderate wifi speeds then it's fine, but the OPs expectation was to be able to max out wifi speeds. Wired backhaul beats mesh hands-down every time.

15

i have many wifi devices, probably over 25, and quite some are for smart home, so i cannot just upgrade them.
I fixed the issue, by using channel 40 and selecting 80mhz width, on the mesh network.
I don't know what my phone is grabbing, 2.4ghz(that i now spread again over different channels) or 5ghz, but my tv in the bedroom(room to the right of the map) is now having 50mbps which is acceptable, the tv in the living room has 175mbps, at the edge of our garden im getting 120mbps and next to my computer, finally a steady powerful 500mbit!

Although i dont know why this not worked before, weird...

Anyway i thank you all for the help and telling me to head back to a 5ghz mesh.

Wifi is certainly working good enough now thanks to the switch to 80ghz.

2 Likes
16

Glad to hear it's all sorted out now.

So, your speeds changed thus:

Bedroom TV: 35Mbps --> 50Mbps
Living room TV: 101Mbps --> 175Mbps
Garden: 13Mbps --> 120Mbps
Next to the router: 211Mbps --> 500Mbps

That's a good outcome.

2 Likes
17

I'm still not going to give up my mesh.

18

Lol. Nobody suggested you do. It's convenient if you don't need to maximise throughput

1 Like
19

That's what I'm saying, use the nodes as normal repeaters.. in all practicality it's going to work out the same, although you getting at best 211mb from the main router probably means you're not getting the full bandwidth in the first place.

edit: didn't hit reload and responded after you solved your main issue

20

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