Issues with Mesh Wi-Fi - Packet Loss during Gaming

scrambledeggs on 12/07/2022 - 13:56

Hi brains trust, hoping someone tech-y or someone who has been through the same issue might be able to help me.

I have recently picked up a TP Link deco mesh WiFi system. I love it - the coverage across my house is now amazing. Where I used to struggle in corners, I now get WiFi on the street. The only problem is, I am getting huge packet loss which affects gaming in a really bad way. Sometimes it's every 30 seconds, sometimes it's every 5 minutes, but consistently across the board I am getting huge packet loss which causes stuttering lag in online games.

I've tried updating firmware, mucking around with TP-Link app, restarting hardware - nothing works.

My question is: is this just something you have to deal with when using mesh WiFi?
Would Google nest or another, better brand of mesh solve my problem?
Would putting my old router in front of the mesh and forcing my computer to connect to the old router only fix the issue?

*note hard wiring is not an option due to the location of the router in my house.

Thanks!
Eggs.

Computing TP-Link Wireless Router

Comments

  • scrimshaw on 12/07/2022 - 14:13
    +1

    I'm using ASUS AiMesh on Asus RT-AX88U + DSL68U with 5ghz Wifi5 as the backhaul and don't have much packet loss.

    If you're experiencing packet loss try setting the backhaul to 5ghz and tweaking the channel width to 40 Mhz.

    There's also some generic advice here. https://dongknows.com/mesh-wi-fi-system-explained/#wireless-…

    *note hard wiring is not an option due to the location of the router in my house.

    Look into EoP (Powerline adapter) if this is the case.

  • apple2016 on 12/07/2022 - 14:46
    +1

    mesh WiFi

    mesh will improve coverage but the trade off is that you will have a higher latency and will make your gaming experience worse. Changing from one brand to another is not going to improve this dramatically.

    • askbargain on 12/07/2022 - 15:19

      you will have a higher latency

      oh no 2ms

    • scrambledeggs on 12/07/2022 - 15:24

      Not fussed on higher latency if it's consistent, its the choppiness that drives me nuts

  • geek001 on 12/07/2022 - 14:56

    How certain are you that the packet loss is with the mesh system and not the internet connection itself? Just making sure you are finding the root cause of the problem.

    • scrambledeggs on 12/07/2022 - 15:23

      100% sure, previous single router had no issues with packet loss.

      • geek001 on 12/07/2022 - 15:30

        Oh ok, how far is your computer from the primary node? Or does it definitely need to connect to a secondary node to get a good connection?

        If you were not having problems with the old wifi router, maybe you can run your old wifi router and mesh network at the same time. You can then connect your computer to the old wifi router for gaming and everything else to the mesh network for coverage.

        • scrambledeggs on 12/07/2022 - 19:48

          This is a good idea, just need to figure out how to configure it. My primary PC is about 5 metres from the main node, PS5 downstairs is connected to a secondary node - will just have to put up with lag on the console I think :(

          • geek001 on 12/07/2022 - 20:35

            @scrambledeggs: I also have the TP-link mesh system, Deco M5 to be specific, my internet is connected like this: internet->router->mesh(primary). Let me know if you need help with settings. I have 3 separate wifi networks running on top of each other at home and they work fine.

            Also, if it is just gaming you are after, other people has said EOP might be an option. I used to have multiple EOP units in my house, the throughput was just too unpredictable, but for gaming it might be fine as latency wasn't an issue. Although, every few months I needed to unplug and plug in the units again when they stop talking to each other for no reason.

  • Twix on 12/07/2022 - 15:35

    You could plug in your other router (Wi-Fi off) before the Deco and configure the Deco as a Wi-Fi access point.

    Does the packet loss stop when you move a Deco node close to the PC and plug in Ethernet?

  • Hellfire on 12/07/2022 - 16:45

    I found with Mesh that sometimes you'll connect to the wrong node and the connection becomes terrible. Do you know if there is a way to force yourself to connect to a specific node?

    • scrambledeggs on 12/07/2022 - 19:49

      Not so far as I know with TP Deco Link system

  • NewbiefromVic on 12/07/2022 - 18:47

    Hi,

    Do you have 2.4 and 5Ghz both enabled? If yes, i encountered an issue previously where the connection would jump between the 2 (both same SSIDs) and caused dropouts / latency. If possible, use separate SSIDs for both and only assign legacy or new devices to the relevant spectrums

    Also check for WIFI interference on the channels. The issues could be due to WIFI adjusting to the environment because everyone is set to auto.

    Cheers

    • scrambledeggs on 12/07/2022 - 19:48

      Thanks for the suggestion, I tried turning off 5ghz entirely and it did nothing :(

      • NewbiefromVic on 13/07/2022 - 11:54

        Sorry to hear that did not help, but generally 5ghz is better for newer devices as it supports higher speed.

        There's 3 other things you can check

        • Try checking if the channel (i.e. 1,9,11 etc) is saturated. You can use programs like Wifiman and others in Play Store. If there are a lot of overlaps, then changing to a less saturated channel may help.

        • Try looking at your Access Points settings that can help to tweak (QoS, MIMO, etc.)

        • Lastly, if the above does not help, it could be because your Internet connection already has latency prior to your home network. In that case, there probably isn't much you can do, except maybe sign up for the ISP's "gamer" package - e.g. https://superloop.com/landing/gamers/

        • scrambledeggs on 13/07/2022 - 18:16

          Im certain none of these are the issue as a single router did not give me any latency issues, only once I moved to a mesh system.

  • askbargain on 12/07/2022 - 22:08
    +2

    Try plugging it directly with Ethernet to rule out a wifi issue?

  • the Unforgiven on 13/07/2022 - 19:35

    Change your DNS to use Cloudfare
    Who is your RSP?

    • scrambledeggs on 13/07/2022 - 19:51

      I'm using google DNS 8.8.8.8

      Launtel is RSP

      It is not an issue with routing or the RSP as the issue didn't exist with a single router. It's something to do with the mesh sytem.

      • the Unforgiven on 13/07/2022 - 20:02

        Try cloudfare anyway, just to change one thing. Was it google last time on a single router?

        Have you emailed the techs at TP-Link to give them something to do?

  • kuwahshi on 24/08/2023 - 18:42

    Bit of a long shot but did you ever resolve this? Loving my Deco mesh wifi besides the packet loss when gaming.

    • scrambledeggs on 24/08/2023 - 20:31
      +1

      Nope, nothing helped.

      I ended up putting my normal router in front of the mesh nodes and force anything sensitive to packet loss to connect straight to the old router, while stuff like phones and work computers connect to the mesh.

      • kuwahshi on 24/08/2023 - 21:07

        Alright thanks for the reply!

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