Two of same routers

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I have two routers (TP Link C9) except the the 2nd router has DHCP disabled and an ethernet cord (100') running into one of ports from first router. Each has similar setup but different SSID.

Primary router I get 177Mbps download speed over wireless with my Mac Book Pro. 2nd router the best it can achieve is slightly over 100Mbps however typically 60- 75Mbps. More devices hook to 2nd TP Link C9 (~13) wirelessly.

Any idea of the choke for my second router(177 Mbps vs 60-75) acting as Wireless Access Point? Is 13 wireless items a lot for it to handle?
 
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So, 1 client vs 13 clients? I believe it's all about bandwidth.

Question: you pay the interweb company for two different internet connections?

I use Asus routers, which allow for one main router and multiple node routers. Works really well.
 
Oh, quick question: I assume you are going LAN port to LAN port on both routers and NOT leveraging the WAN port on the one you are using as an AP?
 
Ethernet connected to one of 4 ethernet ports on each router. WAN port only used on primary router to Cable Modem.

Lastly speed test on ethernet is same at primary router vs 2nd router testing with same cable in different ethernet port of each one. So I "think" cable is okay between them.
 
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Yes, sounds like it may just be congestion or noise with the one in Access Point mode, assuming you have the config the exact same.
 
If you're running the Xfinity provided modem / "home gateway", log in to your Xfinity account page (not the internal modem control page, instead the one on the Xfinity server) and have them turn off all the wifi in the modem including the "public" ones.

Which band are you using? Apple devices are all 5 GHz capable and you should use that band. Do some scans to find out which channels the neighbors are using, and set your channels to avoid them.
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
I have two routers (TP Link C9) except the the 2nd router has DHCP disabled and an ethernet cord (100') running into one of ports from first router. Each has similar setup but different SSID.

Primary router I get 177Mbps download speed over wireless with my Mac Book Pro. 2nd router the best it can achieve is slightly over 100Mbps however typically 60- 75Mbps. More devices hook to 2nd TP Link C9 (~13) wirelessly.

Any idea of the choke for my second router(177 Mbps vs 60-75) acting as Wireless Access Point? Is 13 wireless items a lot for it to handle?

Could be the hardwire Ethernet is running 100Mbps, not Gigabit.

More devices can be it, especially if there is a slow one in the mix. Try the speed tests with the other devices turned off, or the WAP elsewhere.
 
Second router is not doing any routing, just acting as an access point.

Are both routers the same board revision and firmware level?

Having two SSIDs is kind of low tech. You want to setup a mesh with a single SSID. (or a single set where all SSIDs work on either.
 
If you are getting full speed while wired on the 2nd router, the wire isn't the bottleneck.

Like mentioned above, I'd suggest checking which channels you're using on the two devices, and run a scan on your area to see what else might be using those channels and pick the least congested. If it's 2.4 GHz, use only channels 1, 6 and 11. I don't remember off hand what it would be for 5ghz.
 
There a lots of free/cheap wifi analyzers for your laptop or cell phone. They will give you a good idea of signal interference. I'd shut off 2.4 if possible because it is the most crowded, and is only needed for older devices. Make sure to set the access points to less used or unused channels. You might also have an old device that forces the access point into 802.11b or g mode, limiting the signal throughput.
 
That model has access control and firewall capabilities: you have added another firewall. Have you tried to disable the firewall or any other security feature ?
 
Originally Posted by Subdued
it's strictly because of the number of associated clients.

The C9 has mesh capability. Why are you using 2 different SSIDs?


I cannot find any documentation of mesh capability. I only found a simple video on how to set it up as I did from TP-Link.

My experience with using same SSID at least in my setup is devices (iPhones) hang on for life to a poor wifi signal and handoff is quite slow. However I was not using any mesh capability.
 
Could also be the channel on the secondary one. Try forcing different channels. 1, 6, 11 for 2.4ghz and 149/153 for 5ghz
 
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Originally Posted by StevieC
Could also be the channel on the secondary one. Try forcing different channels. 1, 6, 11 for 2.4ghz and 149/153 for 5ghz


Building on this suggestion:

Once you confirm, 100%, that the settings are the same between the two units, try swapping the channels. Say Router A (WAN-facing) is on 1 and Router B (access point role) is on 6. Swap them around, see if the speed follows the channel. Quick and dirty way to see if it is noise before rolling out software to go probing.
 
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