Google Wifi speeds drop at night

[Paulmurphy79]

Eir gigabit fiber - Google wifi router plugged into Eir router and 2 other nest devices placed around the house.

In the evening about 8ish the speeds I get, only one room away from the main google router, are poor. (TV room is about 10-15 feet away from room router is in)

During the day when in the TV room I would get about 200-300mb (connecting to the google router) ( I use a speed test app on my phone)

in the evening this drops down to about 20-30mb but if I test the speeds with an ethernet cable to the main Eir rourter the speeds are as expected at about 900mb so no issue with the service coming into the house. The problem seems to be the Google wifi router.

Has anybody experienced this before or have any suggestions?

I have run the test numerous times and all the same,

Good speeds during the day but massive drop to about 10% in the evening with no new devices joining the network.

[MichaelP]

Hello @Paulmurphy79 

Was your Google WiFi system manufactured for use in the U.S. by chance?

If so, is it possible you have a sound bar with a wireless subwoofer and/or wireless surround speakers in the TV room (or, if you're in an apartment or condo, that a neighbor has such a system) that is only turned on in the evening? These systems (and things like wireless gaming headsets) use part of the 5GHz spectrum in a way that interferes with the 5GHz Google/Nest WiFi spectrum used by U.S. Google/Nest WiFi units.

If it was not a unit made for use in the U.S., then I'd still be looking at some kind of interference or congestion in the 5GHz band. It would just be more likely to be WiFi traffic (e.g., streaming video to a device with a poor WiFi implementation could end up using a lot of the 5GHz channel capacity).

[Paulmurphy79]

Thanks for the feedback.

The router was bought from the google EU store. 

I don't have a sound bar or woofer so that' a dead end.

I am living on my own so in the evening when the speed drops there is no additional traffic in the house.

Also the neighbours are too far away to impact any wifi traffic. 

The main issue is the speeds drop roughly the same time every evening. 

I think I will do some regular speed test to show the good and the bad

[MichaelP]

That is puzzling. It still feels like a wireless interference/congestion problem, since a wired speed test shows normal speeds during this time period. So, that's where I would still be focused (trying to identify any wireless gear in the area).

[Jeff]

Hi, Paulmurphy79.

Sorry about the issues you're seeing with speed drops. MichaelP came in and mentioned the first thing I was going to suggest and check for sources of interference. I had the exact same issue where I would try to watch shows in the late evening in my room and things would suddenly start to buffer. Turned out to my soundbar and wireless subwoofer. Moving the point across the room solved the issue for me. Even if you can't pinpoint a specific device that could be guilty, could you try moving your wireless point to a different spot within the room to see if it has any impact?

Thanks,

- Jeff

[Paulmurphy79]

Interference isn't an issue as no other wireless / B.Tooth devices in the main room. The speeds drop appears to be the same time every evening without any new devices in the house or anything else being switched on. 

Its all very confusing and annoying. May have to get ride of the google devices and change to another brand for a consistent service. 

[Jeff]

Hey, Paulmurphy79.

I didn't mean to leave you hanging on this, I'm just trying to find other instances of where this was happening or see if I can recreate it and share some additional insights. Are you still seeing the problem just as it was?

Thanks,

- Jeff

[Paulmurphy79]

Hi Jeff

Issue still happening every evening around the same time. Speeds drop massively on the Google wifi network

[Jeff]

Thanks for the added info, Paulmurphy79.

This might be an odd suggestion, but something worth checking if timing is fairly consistent. Do you happen to have any wireless devices (soundbars, wireless subwoofers, etc.) that are placed near your WiFi point or router? It sounds a bit crazy, but we've seen users chase issues around for weeks only to find out that when they sat down to watch a show in the evening that the communication between their TV and sound system was causing signal interference. Simply moving the point to a different spot in the room to create some space worked things out.

I don't know that you're having that issue, but take a look to see if any devices you use in the evenings could be running some signal interference for you.

Thanks,

- Jeff

[Paulmurphy79]

No additional devices are switched on in the evening. The setup in both rooms is the same morning & evening. 

Also no bluetooth devices in the main TV room where the drop is speed is noticed. 

[Jeff]

Hi Paulmurphy79,

Sorry for the long gap between replies here. I wanted to give you an update that a new firmware release was going to be released soon. I'm hoping that it will improve your situation with the update. As it's been a while now, I did want to see if you were still seeing the same speed drops in the evenings as before.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi again Paulmurphy79,

I just wanted to touch base to see if you saw my update about the new firmware release coming and to see if you had any questions about that. If so, just let me know.

Thanks,

Jeff

[Jeff]

Hi everyone,

Just one quick final check in here since activity has slowed down. We'll be locking the thread in the next 24 hours, but if you still need help, I would be happy to keep it open. If there's more we can do, just let me know.

Thanks,
Jeff