My family struggles with behavior and performance of our in-home LAN and network. Can someone help me with tools and techniques to diagnose what is happening so that we can stop the box-vendor-ISP runaround?

I'm technically savvy but I'm not a wizard, guru or other maven.
I know where the wizard keeps his hat and book of spells and I'm a strong swimmer. {AKA -- "The Sorcerer's Apprentice", Fantasia, Disney}

I'll focus on web browser centric activities but other activities are affected just as well. My wife uses Windows-10, iPad and iPhone. My daughter uses MAC, iPad and iPhone as do her husband and kids. I use Linux Mint and Android. We use many different browsers as well because various sites are brain dead unless you use their preferred browser.

Our symptom: performance is chunky -- It is either acceptably fast or slow as cold treacle. Folks in the same room can have vastly different experiences. We have been unable to discover any predictable pattern to the poor performance. We have been unable to discover any specific bottleneck or throttle {hold that thought} events.

I think our LAN/net is pretty typical of a power-user home.

• ISP -- AT&T Internet into their Gateway box
• Gateway config without wifi and with "pass thru"
• My own router and mesh-capable access point downstairs
• A second compatible, mesh-capable access point upstairs
• All wire LAN ports are 1000baseT over CAT6
• All wire ports rely on 1000baseT capable "managed switches"
• All desktop computers are wired with 1000baseT NIC
• Laptops are a mix of 802.11/n and 802.11/ac
• Mobile devices are mostly 802.11/n
• A few "household" wifi enabled devices and toys are 802.11/g
• Printers are configured for wifi
• Only a small amount of "streaming video"

RE: "throttle"
There has been recent news that AT&T has been and continues to throttle the connections of their subscriber's connections. Without raising that specific concern, their techs claim all is well on thier end -- big surprise! This is a huge part of my motivation to thoroughly diagnose my LAN/net.

Thanks in advance,
~~~ 0;-Dan

Might be buffer bloat?
https://www.bufferbloat.net/projects...r_Bufferbloat/

Consider moving some of your wireless devices to wired. Use a router with QoS (quality of service) to limit or enhance the amount of bandwidth in use by each device or by specific applications. Try using a different channel for your router, less wireless congestion.

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Log into router and switches to monitor bottlenecks.

Be sure to think about things like high EMF devices close to signals or even nearby. Get a phone app to view neighbors signals maybe.
Possible that some device is being used for other peoples tasks. Be sure all mac addresses match your uses. Restrict to only your items.
Bad chatter on nic/switch port(s) or bad wiring.
Even bad home power.

1 members found this post helpful.

If you do not mind what is your download speed?
What is the make/model of your mesh router?

Are both wired and wireless devices slow? If so adjusting QoS might help or your download speed is not fast enough.

Hardly an expert but for wireless it depends on the device and the number of antennas on it and the access point. Your mesh APs might not be in the best location for full coverage.

From a bit of reading on new routers the same SSID is sometimes used for both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands and it is up to the device/router how it connects. If your all in the same room and are connected to the same AP on the same band then your bandwidth is divided between everyone. It just so happens that one device might be connected to another AP or connected to 5 versus 2.4 GHz.

As stated many wifi devices in the same room might interfere with each other and cause slow speeds.

Gawrsh, I wish I knew what to look for if I knew how to look?
I'm not trying to be sarcastic. All of my switches are "managed" and I can look at all sorts of details. The pages of numbers don't make any sense to me about what is going on.
Every home today has too much 2.4 GHz junk. I've made sure that the access points are well clear of any obvious sources.
I've checked this, and I don't have any leaches or war-chalkers.
Power and NICs all seem clean.

Thanks for the reply,
~~~ 0;-/ Dan

• Everything that can be wired uses a wire -- "servers", printers, "consoles", etc.
• Laptops can run either way, but are mostly used wireless for obvious reasons.
• phones, tablets, music players, etc are wireless

Thanks for the reply,
~~~ 0;-/ Dan

All of this is great food for thought. Let me clarify the question(s) I'm trying to answer. How can I discover is sluggish browser response is:

• in the browser
• in the workstation or device hosting the browser
• between the workstation and the local LAN/net
• between the local LAN/net and the ISP gateway
• somewhere in the world of DNS
• between the ISP gateway and the ISP mothership
• between the ISP mothership and the requested server
• at the requested server

If the sluggishness happens on multiple devices, it's probably not the device.
If it only happens on one device or one browser, then suspect those.
Use the phone's network, instead of your wireless. Does the problem persist, or go away?
If it persists, suspect the requested server.
may, or may not, be helpful. Note the times for each leg.
Can you use the 5Ghz band on your WiFi? Does that help?

As I understand it, the more devices on a wireless network, the slower the connection to each device. The router has to divide up the available bandwidth to serve multiple devices. I'm not sure I fully understand that, yet. Nor have I tried to verify it.

Great suggestions!!!
... done them all where I can -- desktops, printers, "servers"

Thanks for the reply,
~~~ 0;-Dan

DSL Reports says:

• download = 79.8 Mbits/sec
• upload = 19.4 Mbits/sec

My LAN consists of:

• ISP Gateway -- BGW210-700, DSL connection
• ASUS RT-AC3100 primary
• ASUS RT-ACv6U mesh remote

The primary complainers are mobile device user folks, although the desktop folks have the trouble from time to time. We have only one desktop gamer who uses both wire and wifi. He doesn't complain.
Two story house. The "wire closet" is centrally located but under the stairs on the lower level. The mesh node is upstairs at the far end of the space away from the primary node.
Only the "immediate family" have access to the 5ghz LAN. All visitors are banished to 2.4ghz.

Thanks for the reply,
~~~ 0;-Dan