Slow Upload Speeds Nest Wifi with wired backhaul

[swalsh2511]

I have Nest WiFi set up with a wired backhaul.  I have a main router, and 2 routers being used as points.  I have Cat 5e cabling set up, and have tested the speed between the jacks to ensure I am getting the appropriate speeds through the cable.  

Setup is as follows:  Fiber Modem --> Nest WiFi Router --> Netgear GS108 Unmanaged Switch --> Points in hub/spoke setup.

The speeds I am seeing when 2 feet from the point are generally as high as 400 Mbps down, but normally 50 Mbps up (rarely as high as 90 Mbps).  I have gigabit internet and it is synchronous.  Running an Internet speed test in the Home app shows speeds of approximately 830 Mbps up and down.  

2 Questions -

First, why am I not getting more than 400 down, when I can get 800 down when plugged into the Fiber Modem cable? 

Second, why does my upload speed seem to be throttled?  It seems like it might be throttled at 100, as it peaks at that, but very rarely gets near it, so if you assume some other traffic, then it makes sense that it is being throttled at 100.

At any point in time I have around 35 devices connected, but most are smart home devices that take up very little bandwidth.  I have a NAS connected to the switch, but I have turned it off for days at a time to test, and it doesn't affect the bandwidth I am seeing.

Things I have tried:

Factory reset, restarts on a regular basis, removing devices that may be using bandwidth for testing, going to just one point instead of 2, and doing this in various locations to validate wiring.

I have seen lots of issues posted here about degraded speeds over time with the M89 (I believe) update, but my situation doesn't seem to match up exactly with those scenarios.

Thanks,
Scott

[Biggbrother]

I am having a similar problem detailed here at https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Slow-Fast-Speeds-But-Wildly-Inconsistent-Minute-to-... but I am using a more traditional setup.

No remedy for it yet and it's very frustrating.

[swalsh2511]

Yeah, not sure if it is related.  Yours may be mesh related, but mine are all using wired backhaul so my mesh connectivity is always "great".

My issues are related to the speeds over that wired backhaul.

Who knows, maybe the solutions will be related 🙂 

[Biggbrother]

When you run a Speed Test within the Home app, you only receive a result of 400mbps?  Or are you getting 400mbps on a device within 5 feet of the router?

[swalsh2511]

I get 400 down, but only around 50 up when within 5 feet of the main router, and the same when near one of the 2 points.  

Home app for internet test gives me around 830 mbps both ways.

[swalsh2511]

To add to this, I just ran a test using my NAS, and the speed from Macbook --> Nest Wifi Router (set up as point, wired backhaul) --> Main Nest Wifi Router --> NAS shows I am getting 600 Mbps down, and 600 Mbps up.  The same device shows 400 down for internet speed, which is acceptable.  Could be inaccuracies of the test, overhead, etc.  BUT, it is showing 50 Mbps up, which is crazy considering I get 830 down and up at the router/modem.

[olavrb]

Try disabling all preferred activities:

• https://support.google.com/googlenest/answer/9541371?hl=en

Other than that: You are not alone:

• https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Wired-Wireless-Upload-speeds-capped-at-100mbps-ATT-...

[swalsh2511]

Yeah, I've already done that...but appreciate the response.  

At this stage, I don't even know what to think.  I tested the following scenarios with the shown results.  Each uses speedtest.net, as I have found that many of the other tests don't handle gigabit internet very well.

Wirelessly connected using an iPad Pro with the following path - iPad Pro --> Point (wired backhaul) --> Gigabit Switch --> Main WiFi Router --> Fiber Modem  - 362 Mbps down, 70 Mbps up

Wired connection through the following config, Macbook Pro --> Gigabit Ethernet Adapter --> Gigabit Switch --> Point (wired backhaul) --> Gigabit Switch --> Main WIFi Router --> Fiber Modem - 735 Mbps down, 803 Mbps up

Just as an FYI, if I test wirelessly with the iPad Pro and the same path as above to my NAS with a speed test on it, I get 521 Mbps down, and 483 Mbps up.

Either way, wireless going out to the internet is where the speeds are dropping drastically.  I realize that 70 Mbps up is fine for most applications, but moving forward, I want something that will provide what I am signed up for as the devices I add around the house will only add to the bandwidth needs.

[mlv555]

Similar issue here. I have Verizon Fios Gig Nest wifi main router, with another nest wifi and 2 google wifi points. All hard wired. When I was using just google wifi and consistently got around 200Mbps up and down. I thought nest Wifi would be better with my Gigablit UP and DOWN. My download speeds are slightly better with wifi (around 300 Mbps) but the upload speed (wired or wifi) is horrific. Around 20Mbps. Should be 1 Gig. I had much better upload performance with just the older Google wifi network. I have disabled performance and even tried turning off cloud services. When I do speed tests at main router I always get around 875MBPS download  but the upload flucuates between 800ish MBPs and 20MBps. It is totally random. I test is normal the next the upload is throttled. I unplugged the nest network and used my verizon router, I consistently get 850Mbps down and up. It most certainly is a nest (GOOGLE) issue. I wish they would acknowledge and fix it!! So frustrating that the older product actually works better overall. 

[swalsh2511]

When you say main router, you are talking about a device connected to the main router, correct?  Meaning you are not talking about the internet test in the Home app?

Nothing has changed on my end.  I get that the second wifi point in the string (meaning main routner --> point --> device) may only deliver half over wifi even though I thought it might be better with a wired backhaul, but I wouldn't expect uploads to be so abysmal.

[mlv555]

Hi swalsh2511, 

Sorry for the confusion. I have a direct connection to my fios box. It gives me 1 IP. I connect the main nest router to that port (or when I tested my Verizon router). I did a test from the app and a direct connection to the Nest router. Same results. Good download,  sometimes good upload but mostly abysmal (per your quote). When I tested with Verizon router I got great speeds on both. Even the wifi was better on both. I can handle 300 down if the upload was the same. I have attached 2 pics of Google Home Wifi speed test. 

was the same.  . Wh

[swalsh2511]

That's interesting...seems like the only difference in our results.  When I do the Internet test the same way, I get around 850 up and down.  It is only when I connect to Wifi that I get the slow speeds, in particular up.

[Jeff]

Hi, swalsh2511.

I wanted to jump in real fast and make you aware of a firmware update that is starting to roll out to WiFi devices now. It might take a little while to show up on your network, but it could land any day now. The update is designed to improve network stability and performance, so if you're still seeing issues after the update, please let me know and we can keep looking for causes.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hey, swalsh2511.
Just to give you a bit more info, the update version for both Google WiFi and Nest WiFi will be 14150.43.80. If you are seeing a different version number when you check in Google Home, you have yet to receive the updated firmware. Let me know if you have any questions about that.
Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hey, swalsh2511.

I know we're waiting on the firmware release, but it's been a while since we last heard from you. Are you still seeing these issues? Have you see the update? If you're still looking for help on this, just let me know.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hi, swalsh2511.

I just wanted to check in once more to see if you were still looking for input on this as it's been a while since I've heard from you. Hopefully that update has landed for you and all is working well, but if you're still looking for help, please let me know.

Thanks.

[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.

[mlv555]

Hi. I am still seeing the issue of slow upload speed but have not received the newest software update. Is there a way to force it? 

[mlv555]

Got the update last night, uploads are still conistantly way to low. Just did test and my download shows 859 while upload is 36. I have ATT Fiber gigabit. When I tested with my Orbi System I consistanly got approx 800/800 up and down.

I do have another question, why is my wifi upload/download speed so slow compared to my wired? All of my pucks are hard wired. My wifi speeds comes in around  250 download best upload has been 187 (better than prior to the update)

[Jeff]

Hi, everyone.

I wanted to check in as it's been a while and the firmware rollout is definitely complete. If you have not performed a full network restart lately, it would be a good idea to do so in order to ensure that all settings have been properly applied. Once you go through that restart, let me know if you are seeing the same speed issues and we'll go over a few more troubleshooting steps.

Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hey, everyone.
It looks like we've slowed down here again. We'll be closing up the thread unless anyone else has any input or needs anything else. If so, just let me know and we can keep this open a bit longer.
Thanks.

[Jeff]

Hi, everyone.
As we haven't had any activity here recently I'm going to go ahead and close the thread. If you have more to add, feel free to start a new discussion.
Thanks

[mik25]

Hi all
i have a similar issue and I have the latest firmware version mentioned above. I only get slower upload speeds on my wired (pc) device that is connected directly to the router via a cat6 ethernet cable.  I have att fiber gigabit. Nest speed test is consistently great at 904 down/850 up. Wifi devices are getting around 500 down/up. But my PC that is hardwired is getting +900 down/100-200 up. More of an annoyance than anything.