Network slowed down!

[ShepsCrook]

So I think I'm bogging down my network at this time or I've got some massive interference. I've got 2 Ubiquiti UAP-AC Gen1 Square Access Points. Both are connected to an 8 port gigabit switch via Cat 6 cables with a run of Cat 6 going to my primary 24 port managed gigabit switch. (I know the daisy chain is not ideal, however it's what I can do at the moment until it cools off outside where I will be centralizing the network equipment to a 24 port PoE Gigabit switch.

Any ideas? Or am I way off on this?

2.4ghz 450Mbps channel is my general network:
3x Nest Cameras
2x Nest Thermostats
1x Nest Protect
1-4 Cell phones (1-2 all day, another 2 at night)
1-3 laptops (regularly 2 connected in the evenings)
Raspberry Pi 3 (currently disconnected)
1-3 tablets (usually at max 1 connected)

5ghz 1350Mbps channel:
1 Laptop


Updated information:
I hardwired 2 computers that were on the wireless (which helped a little).

 

[scottatwittenberg]

There is a 5GHz band steering option on the Unifi APs. You should be able to get 867Mbps on the 5GHz channel.
Ubiquiti Networks - UniFi AC (Model comparison at the bottom)
They also have an airtime fairness option you can test out to see if it helps.

What router are you using? You may need to do some tweaking in there as well.

 

[Nate7311]

Sounds like an WPA2 setup issue. Try changing the Encryption to AES instead of TKIP. That should enable the higher rates.

 

[ShepsCrook]

Sounds like an WPA2 setup issue. Try changing the Encryption to AES instead of TKIP. That should enable the higher rates.

So I've had AES instead of TKIP.

There is a 5GHz band steering option on the Unifi APs. You should be able to get 867Mbps on the 5GHz channel.
Ubiquiti Networks - UniFi AC (Model comparison at the bottom)
They also have an airtime fairness option you can test out to see if it helps.

What router are you using? You may need to do some tweaking in there as well.

My UAP-AC models are the square "First Gen" models which don't have those features, or at least the band steering option.

 

[Nate7311]

They do, but you need to use a newer version of the software first and then upgrade the FW. You'll find that those have dismal 5Ghz range and performance though...

 

[ShepsCrook]

They do, but you need to use a newer version of the software first and then upgrade the FW. You'll find that those have dismal 5Ghz range and performance though...

At the moment, those features are disabled for me. I'll be trying some more things tomorrow. Right now I do not see quite the range I did with the Netgear R6300 when using the Unifi UAP-AC devices. Tomorrow I'm going to try to turn the R6300 off and try adding everything to the UAC-APs.

 

[ShepsCrook]

They do, but you need to use a newer version of the software first and then upgrade the FW. You'll find that those have dismal 5Ghz range and performance though...

I've been looking into these features, and everything that I read says that Gen1 cannot do Bandsteering or the airtime fairness. I've got the 5.0.7 software and the latest firmware.

 

[Nate7311]

Ahh. There we go then. I went through 3 1st Gen AC units myself before getting one that was operational, and now it's sitting on a shelf collecting dust. So I only halfheartedly followed the updates. My apologies for the misinformation about the features. The lack of bandwidth steering was always my biggest complaint about the UAP-Pro and 1st Gen AC gear. I had assumed that the software brought that to the 1st Gen ACs as well.

 

[ShepsCrook]

Ahh. There we go then. I went through 3 1st Gen AC units myself before getting one that was operational, and now it's sitting on a shelf collecting dust. So I only halfheartedly followed the updates. My apologies for the misinformation about the features.

Apparently there was a point in time where they did have a firmware which enabled it, however it was problematic and therefore they disabled it for gen1 devices. I guess I'm debating now if I should continue with Unifi AP's and trying to add 1-2 more in the house, or just get an Asus Tri-Band home router (to use as an AP).

 

[Nate7311]

Personally I'd sell them and look at some OpenMesh gear. I've had great luck with the MR1750 (similar specs to the AC Pro). But cloud managed and more feature rich.

 

[ShepsCrook]

Personally I'd sell them and look at some OpenMesh gear. I've had great luck with the MR1750 (similar specs to the AC Pro). But cloud managed and more feature rich.

I've thought about it, but I'm not quite sure I want cloud access.

Right now I've set up my two UAP-AC units and I've got a Raspberry Pi2 running the controller software. My speeds are still horrible. My connections fluctuate terribly. One minute I'll have a 370Mbps connection, and then it's down to 26Mbps. The phone in the same location is anywhere from 5Mbps to 26Mbps. The first floor AP is about 25 - 30ft from me, and that's what I'm seeing. There are some walls in the way, but nothing major. I did do a scan with the AP's and they are seeing around 40+ SSID's in the area. I'm not in an apartment complex, I'm in a neighborhood and it's not very crowded.

 

[rma]

those 40+ SSID's will interfere with your system, unfortunately

 

[ShepsCrook]

Yeah, I'm trying to wire more things at this point. And placing AP's in more prime locations for users.

 

[ShepsCrook]

SOLVED: After all that time, I was reading up on the LG V10 and wifi issues. And someone suggested turning off the VoLTE option on the phone to resolve some wifi issues they were having. So I started to do that on 2/3 phones. The last user who's phone wasn't turned off noticed their wifi speeds got hugely better. Then I slowly started to enable VoLTE back on the first 2 phones. Strangely enough, all phones and devices have 0 issues with the network. I had restarted the phones previously so I'm a little shocked that this resolved the issue, but it must have been one of the 2 phones was flooding the wifi network and causing the problems. *Shrugs* either way, it forced me to hardwire some devices, and change out my wireless to the Unifi AC AP's, so not a horrible outcome.