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Slow wifi speeds and ethernet ports in house not working

dandaman1
Community Member
I am brand new to networking and find it really interesting, but also very confusing. First of all, I have a Google Nest Wifi (one wan & lan port) with two wireless access points (doesn't support ethernet; plugs into wall. Here are some pictures: https://superuser.com/questions/1790922/slow-wifi-speeds-and-ethernet-ports-in-house-not-working
I don't think I have a modem, I just have a white cable that plugs into the WAN port of my router. All those hanging cables (cat 5e?), I think, are connected to the ethernet ports in walls throughout my house. Those ports aren't currently working and I think this is why. I only need a few working though; my priority is the one in my room.

Internet speed right next to my router (in basement): 340mbps; 14ms ping Speed across basement next to stairs: 136mbps; 97ms ping Speed next to the point upstairs from basement (D's Office): 77mbps; 16ms ping Speed next to the point upstairs (top floor) from previous point (P's Office): 44mbps; 19ms ping Speed in my bedroom (top floor; other side of floor from top floor point: 10mbps; 10ms ping

Google Home's wifi speed test: 847mbps download; 748mbps upload

Mesh test: D's Office's point: Good connection P's Office's point: Weak connection

I am want to start hardwiring devices as well. I think I may be able to purchase a managed 8-port 1gb ethernet switch from Amazon to plug in the cables (ones in basement that were just hanging there) and connect that switch to the lan port on my router in the basement. In my bedroom (currently has 10mbps wireless), I have a single ethernet port, but a bunch of devices that I want to hardwire. I am planning on buying a 5-port ethernet switch (unmanaged) a plugging a cable from the wall to the switch. Then I can plug all my devices (desktop, NAS, etc.) into that.

If possible, it would be nice to move my router upstairs to the ground floor of the house (center floor) and have a point in the basement and one on the top floor. Although, I tried this and it didn't seem to work. I plugged the router into a random Ethernet port and it didn't receive any internet connection (even with the router in the basement, the ports still don't work). Although I haven't tried a powerline adapter (I think they're bad?) or extending the white cable plugged into the wan port a floor up as that would cause issues with activating the Ethernet ports in my house.

For the NAS, I am planning on buying a Synology one. Synology 4 bay NAS DiskStation DS418 (Diskless) or Synology 4-Bay DiskStation DS923+ (Diskless), though I don't know which one would suit me best. I want to use it to store terabytes of files from all the devices in my house as well as hosting VM's and Docker containers (AdGuard & Home Assistant). I am aware I need fast internet speeds for this and plan to hard wire this. It will be kept in my bedroom upstairs, plugged into the 5-port Ethernet switch.

My problem is that I am paying for 1 Gigabit internet speeds, but not taking advantage of it. Based on everything I wrote, how can I change my current setup to optimize my internet speeds (wireless and hardwired) and activate the Ethernet ports around my house in order to hardwire a NAS?

12 REPLIES 12

olavrb
Platinum Product Expert
Platinum Product Expert

About the switch: Don't buy managed switches, they usually don't work well with Nest Wifi. Buy unmanaged switches only, and make sure they don't have loop detection/prevention features, such as STP (spanning tree protocol). I use and recommend Netgear GS108 and GS105, but TP-Link have similar switches in SG-TL105/8. But really, any unmanaged switch with no loop detection/prevention should work just fine.

I'd also look into wired backhaul, as in having the other Nest Wifi units wired back to the primary one through ethernet. Would require you to buy either Google Wifi 1st gen units, or Nest Wifi router units, as they have ethernet ports and supports being wired secondaries to your existing Nest Wifi router.

Here's an example diagram on how to wire it up with wired backhaul:

And here's a diagram without wired backhaul:


I don't work for Google.

LovelyM
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hello everyone, 

Thanks for sharing this information here, @olavrb

@dandaman1, I'm checking in to see if you've tried the steps above. I'd be glad to hear from you, so please tell me if you are still having issues.

Best,
Lovely

Thank you @olavrb! I was actually specifically looking to how to move my router from the basement upstairs while also having the switch with all the ethernet cables (in basement) to increase wireless speeds.

LovelyM
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey dandaman1,

We appreciate the update. Let us know if you have additional questions or concerns so we can further assist.

Cheers, 
Lovely

LovelyM
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi dandaman1, 

I know it has been a while, but I want to ensure that everything is covered on your end. Please inform me if you still need a helping hand.

Regards,
Lovely

I still would like help

LovelyM
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey dandaman1,

Please let me know if you are still having slow internet speed even after moving your Google Nest Wifi router to the basement. It would help a lot if you could share the changes made to your network and how it is performing now.

Many thanks,
Lovely

I still have slow internet and still need help.

LovelyM
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hello dandaman1, 

We'll be happy to look further into this issue that you're having, so please fill out this form and we'll get back to you over email. Let me know once you're done.

Best,
Lovely

Alex_S
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hi there,
 

We haven’t received your form. Kindly fill it out so we can continue with the next step.


Kind regards, 
Alex

Alex_S
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there,

 

Do you still need help with your device? If so, kindly fill out this form.

 

Regards,
Alex

Alex_S
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hello,
 

We haven't heard from you in a while, so we'll be locking this thread if there is no update within 24 hours. If you need assistance or want to discuss topics, feel free to start a new thread.
 

Warmly,
Alex