wired speeds slow (troubleshooting)

[tigerfan_9]

(i guess this is the right thread since the eero pro is a wireless device, even though the discussion is about the wired/lan connection speed)

So i ended up purchasing 3 of the reconditioned eero pros that were on sale on amazon. i setup 2 of them with my moca network. I was getting full speed via wifi (>300mbps / i have att fiber 300) when connected to either of the eero devices but via LAN connection i am only getting ~150 mbps when connected to either one of them.

The main eero and the eero pro connected via the moca network was giving me full speed via wifi (i made sure i was connected to each one for the test) but when you plug into it then i'm only getting half speed. Same thing at a different moca node to my amazon fire tv stick, i was getting 200mbps wifi (behind the TV) and only 90-100mbps through the wired connection. It just seems like the eero pro is throttling down the download as often the upload speed test was near full speed (but this varied).

I don't have SQM turned on but band steering & local DNS caching are turned on. Eero secure "advanced security" and ad blocking are turned on.

Things i've tried:
-I thought it was my moca but the link rates were 3500-3600 so i connected directly to the gateway eero pro and had the same result
-tried various cables cat-5e same results
-tried multiple latops connected to gateway eero same result
-deleted eero pro network and setup different eero as the gateway, same result connected directly to it
-all the while my wifi tests are 300-350mbps

any suggestions? i do have my att modem/router set to IP passthrough. It is just really strange to get full speeds via wifi but not over LAN.

 

[Trip]

FYI so others can see/contribute, here's what I DM'd to tigerfan:

I searched the /r/eero subreddit and there are definitely reports of the same behavior, example:
https://www.reddit.com/r/eero/comments/flaq7o/slow_wired_transfer_speeds/
I'd wager it isn't necessarily hardware-related, because, correct me if I'm wrong, you're noticing it on all Eero units, plus you've tried multiple wired hosts and patch cables. That suggests a software/firmware bug to me. I've also noticed it's been happening right around the time of updates in a lot of the posts I've been coming across, another vote towards software/firmware.

How about cutting internet out of the picture altogether for testing, and just running a throughput test host-to-host (laptop-to-laptop) via a file transfer? Perhaps between a laptop hard-wired to one Eero unit, traversing MoCa, to a laptop off another Eero unit? If you get gigabit (or at least well beyond fast ethernet 100Mb) during that test, then that at least lets you know that the switch ports themselves are good (hardware-wise).

If the above is true, I would progress to re-testing with an internet based download. If the download is back down to the speed you were noticing, then I would package all of that knowledge up and communicate it to Eero support, and I'm sure they'll be able to do something for you.

If worse comes to worse, I would keep mind of your Amazon return window, and perhaps exchange for brand new Eero units, if you're still inclined to keep Eero and give it a second shot. If not, since you have MoCa, I would perhaps look to wire-first APs and a discrete hardwired router as an alternative way to get blanketed wifi throughout the house.

 

[tigerfan_9]

I'll give that a shot and report the results.

What's be bummer is that the wifi results have been great. The issue with my ATT modem/router (ARRIS BGW210-700) was the constant no loads, page not found, no connection & refreshes needed on wifi to navigate the internet or apps, especially with phones & tablets even though wifi speed tests were showing ~300 mbps. With the eero pro these issues are gone and I was finally getting full use of my internet speed on wifi and the switching from one node to another has been quick and seamless. Just need to get this wired issue figured out.

I had sent an email to eero this AM, waiting on a response.

 

[tigerfan_9]

FYI so others can see/contribute, here's what I DM'd to tigerfan:

How about cutting internet out of the picture altogether for testing, and just running a throughput test host-to-host (laptop-to-laptop) via a file transfer? Perhaps between a laptop hard-wired to one Eero unit, traversing MoCa, to a laptop off another Eero unit?

do you have a suggestion on the best way to test this for consistent/most reliable results?

 

[Trip]

do you have a suggestion on the best way to test this for consistent/most reliable results?

Honestly I would just make sure you're testing using two laptops and patch cords which you've confirmed (on tests with other hardware) can run gigabit transfers, then hard-wire both of them to the Eeros, confirming each links up at gigabit speed (not fast ethernet). For the first transfer, I would hard-wire the remote Eero unit via ethernet (cat5e or cat6) to the base Eero unit, and see if you can get gigabit transfer speed. Use a file that's large enough to establish some consistent throughput over time (like a Linux .iso or something several hundred MB, or larger). If that transfers at gigabit, then progress to connecting the remote Eero node up to the first via MoCa, then test again. If that transfers at gigabit, then try an internet download again, and see if that, again, transfers at the expected rate (or close to it) of your internet connection. Through all those tests, see if you can triangulate on a point of failure as far as the speed bottleneck is concerned.

EDIT: For my awful grammar.

 

[tigerfan_9]

Ok, I did some much more controlled testing last night and this AM. I found out a few things that were causing the puzzling results and uncertain diagnosis. The older work laptop i used won't get up to 300 mbps, playstation speed tests are unreliable, and the ethernet adapter i got for the fireTV caps speeds at <100mbps. The firetv adapter was causing alot of the puzzling results because i could get 200-300mbps via wifi on the firetv but only 90-100mbps via wired.

I wasn't able to do the file transfer test as suggested because i don't have any network switches and the eero only has 2 lan ports and they don't like not being connected to the internet. So when i connected the ATT modem to the first eero there is only one port to wire to the 2nd eero and i couldn't connect a computer on that end for the transfer. So I went through a much more coordinated speedtest.net test (using the mac app on my mac mini) all in one room.

For the new testing....I tested the wired connection straight from the ATT modem and it was 370mbps. I reset, rebooted, & resetup each each eero one at a time. I connected each eero to the modem and my mac mini, tested them one by one, then daisy chained with each other, then daisy chained through the gocoax adapters and alternated through each patch cord, moca adapter and eero. All tests were getting 350-370mbps. I then connected the moca adapters in the desired locations and moved my mac mini to those spots so that i used the same testing for each location as the controlled test. I was able to get 350+mbps via wifi and ethernet (moca) at each location through the mac mini. This is how i discovered that the playstation speedtesting sucks (moca location 1) and that the ethernet adapter on the firetv (moca location 2) was causing the issue on that end.

So the eero pro's & gocoax are functioning as expected with full fiber 300 (370+ mbps) at all locations via wired or wifi. I go rid of the firetv adapter and just running that on wifi since one of the eero pro will be sitting next to it via a moca adapter.

 

[Trip]

Excellent work. So it seems Eero is functioning completely as intended then? Well done.

 

[tigerfan_9]

yeah the eero pro and gocoax seem to be both working as intended. some erroneous testing data and a bad/poor Ethernet adapter for the firetv caused the anguish but all sorted now. thanks.