Deco x20 or Fios extender?

Smokey9

 

We have fios and the main router is unfortunately in the basement. Two years ago I purchased a deco x20 3-pack whole home mesh system to use with it. It worked fine for a while, but every so often speed drops and things just stop working. I have to manually reset the mesh system and then everything works.

Two days ago, I thought, “I wonder if this is wired correctly?” So I began to research and play around with settings on the mesh system. Can I ask you to tell me if I’m doing something wrong here?

I have the Verizon Fios router going to a deco x20. That deco x20 has a switch that also goes into it. In the switch I have four of our Ethernet jack cables from the home go through to it. In two of the four Ethernet ports in the house, I have two other deco x20s. I have the deco set up in access point mode. What happens to me sometimes is my PS5 (set to Wifi) starts out with 500mbps and then drops and stays at 97 or 109mbps. I can’t get it back up unless I reset it again.

We have the 1gig plan and the $400 newer router. Today we called Verizon to ask for help and they said they’ll ship an extender to us. If I get that extender, how would I use the mesh system? Would it be needed anymore? The mesh system is setup as a separate network, not sure how all of that works with the extender from Verizon. Should I have this mesh system run as a router? We have a 3K sq. ft. home and three levels.

I’ve attached an image, hope that helps explain things too.

smith6612

The two things I would check here would be the backhaul status between the various Deco devices, as well as the wireless bands the client devices are using.

Speeds maxing around 100Mbps can suggest a clean 2.4Ghz WiFi connection. Perhaps your Deco units are switching to 5Ghz DFS channels, and the devices seeing slow speeds don't prefer or, don't support the usage of DFS 5Ghz channels.

If the units are falling out of wired backhaul node for some reason and defaulting back to wireless backhaul, I would question whether something is going on with the Ethernet cabling first. A lot of mesh systems I know of, even in AP mode, will still keep their wireless backhaul active and quickly switch to it if there is a fault on the Ethernet side of things . Whether they switch back is questionable.

As for the Verizon router, it only needs to be in place if you're using Fios TV, or if your Internet connection is delivered over Coax (speeds 75Mbps and lower only). Otherwise, your Deco can be connected directly to the ONT via Ethernet. Just to rule out some funny business with the CR1000A and the Deco. The Deco will need to be put into router mode.

Alternatively, on some plans (Gigabit notably) Verizon may be able to offer you one of their extenders without a charge. They connect to the CR1000A using Coax for the backhaul.