Mixed wired and wireless backhaul makes all points use wireless

[akalati]

I've had a 3-puck setup for a long time with the 2 points connected to the Main router/point via wired ethernet (cat5 runs to a dumb switch with one of the switch's ports connected to the Main's network port). I have a location with poor wifi connectivity (devices to the pucks) and not cat5 run, so I decided to add another puck there, assuming that it will be wireless while the other 2 will remain wired. But once I do that, all 3 pucks are wireless and my speeds suffer considerably even for devices connected to the 2 wired pucks. If I kill the new wireless puck, the other pucks switch to wired and speeds go back to normal.

Are there any innovations with mixed backhaul setups like this? ChatGPT seems to think that if I kill the new puck and add it to my Home anew, this time when it's wired, that it will preserve the other 2 wired pucks as wired, but I haven't been able to get it to work.

Any ideas, suggestions, tricks are greatly appreciated!

[MichaelP]

Hello @akalati 

I don't think I'd trust ChatGPT to give detailed advice on stuff like this. It may be right more often than not, but it won't always be right.

That said, the behavior you describe isn't something I've heard of before. Building mixed wired/wireless systems does present some challenges. Basically, you want all of the wireless nodes to be close enough to the primary / router unit to get a strong 5GHz connection directly, since the wired nodes can't act as "base stations" for more distant wireless-only nodes. Then, you can connect wired nodes (through inexpensive, unmanaged switches like you have) and place them just about anywhere.

So, I don't know for sure what is causing your issues, but is it possible the new wireless node isn't close enough to the primary to get a strong 5GHz connection for itself directly? If it's only close enough to one of the existing wired nodes, that could cause some really strange behavior due to the spanning tree protocol that is used to detect and resolve loops in the topology.

You shouldn't need to reset any nodes to experiment with changes, by the way – a restart might occasionally be helpful, but in general, the system should figure out the topology within a few seconds of any change.

[akalati]

Hey @MichaelP thx much for the quick reply... "...is it possible the new wireless node isn't close enough to the primary to get a strong 5GHz connection for itself directly?" I don't think so, but assuming that it is, will that cause the results that I saw, namely that the other 2 Points switched to wireless?

[MichaelP]

To be sure, I would disconnect all of your wired units so the new wireless-only unit is the only secondary connected. Then, I'd run a mesh test and see what quality that new unit gets for a connection. You want it to be close enough to the primary to get a "great" rating on that test.

Could this cause the problem you're seeing? As I said, I've never seen this particular problem, but it's the only thing that occurs to me.

[akalati]

I was thinking to do that, but setup the new Point with a wired connection, before adding the existing 2 Points to wired, and then wireless the new one.

[MichaelP]

You don't need to reset anything for this test – just unplug the wired points from power long enough to run a mesh test on the system while the only point connected is the wireless one. You can then power the wired points back on again. Should only take a few minutes.

[akalati]

Trying your recommendation but it's just totally weird. I unplugged the 2 wired secondaries from power. Placed the new wireless one right next to the primary and added it, confirm that it is wireless and accessible ( I could control the light ). While the two wired secondaries are still powered down, running a mesh test fails. And the wired secondaries are still showing as a great connection, and when I go into the setup for them they look like they are online but now they are listed as wireless despite the fact that they should not be visible on the network. The app even thinks that I could change the light and it looks like it changes it but when I swipe close the app and go back the light status has remained where it was. I restarted the network a few times and no difference.

Despite all of this, when I powered up the wired points, they stayed wired while the new one stayed wireless!! I moved the wireless to the intended (more distant) location, and all stayed the same and OK. Then, connecting a PC to the wireless puck via the CAT5 cable that comes with the puck (flat white cable) caused the picks to all be wireless again!?!

So for now, I kept the wireless point detached from the PC via CAT5 cable and I'm just connecting wirelessly.

None of this makes sense to me, and I'm a techie.

[MichaelP]

You're right – none of that makes sense. Running a mesh test shouldn't fail as long as the secondary is close enough to the primary. It can have trouble if it's too close, though – it should be at least three feet away. Also, watch out for sound bars that support wireless surround speakers or wireless subwoofers. They almost always cause interference nearby.

When you have the wireless secondary placed where you want it, is it no more than one or two rooms away from the primary (assuming typical wood-framed construction – only one room for concrete or plaster)? You should run a mesh test when it's placed where you want it to be (and do so while the wired units are powered off).

But, it's also puzzling that the app doesn't accurately reflect what is currently connected. I assume you have "Nest Wifi cloud services" enabled under "Privacy settings", right?

[akalati]

Yes "Nest Wifi cloud services" enabled.