New eero router and now worse pings

I know when you read this people are going to laugh but to me it's a problem.

I have a Billion 8800NL that I have had for years. It's been fine on my BT FTTC connection (45/10). I decided to get an Eero 6 system to improve Wi-fi coverage (few deadspots) and it's now great. I can get connection in the garden now which was not a thing before.

The only downside has been pings. So when I was using the 8800NL as both a modem and router, I could ping bbc.co.uk in 16-17ms (I'm in Scotland so it seems decent numbers). Maybe at worst 18ms. Sometimes I had weird peaks to mid 20ms but it was still relatively ok.

This is what I am seeing now after putting the 8800NL into bridge mode and having the Eero handle everything: https://i.imgur.com/UxHbNEM.png

All testing done on wired and similar results on different PCs. 19ms is now the norm (if not 20ms). What could account for this? I've also done testing around midnight and still the numbers persist. My eero app has an option to input a uplink vlan tag (1-4094) along with the PPPoE credentials but I doublt this will do anything since I already get internet.

In reply to a post by gameinn:

What could account for this?

You have a much more complex WiFi setup with a mesh than with a single router/access point. If the machine you are testing from is in range of the 'base' eero with its wired link to the internet, or if the machine is behind a satellite eero... either way the best way to get low and consistent pings is an Ethernet cable.

Both tests were conducted directly connected to both units via ethernet ("All testing done on wired"). I know Wi-fi ping testing is basically useless.

In reply to a post by gameinn:

I know Wi-fi ping testing is basically useless.

Then perhaps the Eero is not optimised for ICMP ECHO support. One option is perhaps to return the Eero, keep your Billion as your router and modem, and buy a WiFi mesh that connects to the Billion and doesn't attempt to be a router such as the BT Wholehome offerings.

Before I got the eero I did actually try the BT wholehome offering (even the premium version) and although coverage was ok, roaming was weird. Devices would constantly switch from 2.4 Ghz to 5Ghz and when they did they would simply not get an internet connection unless you switched the disc off and on again. I've not had this with the eero so far anyway.

Since it wasn't too expensive I've bought a BT Business Smart Hub 2 which I can put into modem mode. Maybe it's some weird issue with the Billion modem mode (it is super old). Plus at £25 I'll also have a backup modem/router combo for future and I'll get new splitters and stuff to rule out bad cabling.

Edited by gameinn (Sun 15-Jan-23 18:11:05)

In reply to a post by gameinn:

Before I got the eero I did actually try the BT wholehome offering (even the premium version) and although coverage was ok, roaming was weird. Devices would constantly switch from 2.4 Ghz to 5Ghz and when they did they would simply not get an internet connection unless you switched the disc off and on again. I've not had this with the eero so far anyway.

Odd that your devices didn't get a connection as switching between the two bands dynamically is one of the reasons for mesh, increases range and keeps devices connected where 5 GHz (for throughput) struggles. UK homes are built differently to US homes (where many meshes are designed).

Since it wasn't too expensive I've bought a BT Business Smart Hub 2 which I can put into modem mode. Maybe it's some weird issue with the Billion modem mode (it is super old). Plus at £25 I'll also have a backup modem/router combo for future and I'll get new splitters and stuff to rule out bad cabling.

Worth a try.... I guess the Eero can't be put into a "wifi only" mode... I ruled them out a while ago (older model) as they wanted to be the router, and I only wanted mesh access points on the existing network.

Yeah it was a weird issue. It didn't happen often but it happened enough that I couldn't keep it sort of thing. Regardless the eero is doing better in coverage.

The eero does have its own bridging mode that basically makes them glorified access points but as I'm sure you can relate to my situation, a £200 modern wifi 6 router (3 pack) with a quad core processor should not be inferior to a 10+ year old Billion in routing performance.

I also just tested something. In tracert test I'm getting 1-2ms values on the first hop which is worrying. Shouldn't this always show <1ms?

https://i.imgur.com/kRaIkkZ.png

Does this make any real difference?

You’ve added a device between your PC and router that seems to be adding 1-2ms when doing some quick tests.

I don’t see any real impact from it though.

I know it's very insignificant but understanding why it's happening would also be interesting you know.

Right now I was able to ping bbc.co.uk at 16-17ms but 10 minutes later I'm back at 18-19ms... maybe it's just some weird congestion problem.

Edited by gameinn (Mon 16-Jan-23 00:18:54)

Unless you are a gamer there is no point in trying to sort or worry about it.

If you take the Billion out of the equation and let the Eero handle routing too it improve things?


Not sure that mixing 10+ year old hardware with new hardware is going to help much.

I'm sure you've gone down the route of making sure you have the last version of the firmware installed?

https://support.billion.uk.com/index.php?/Knowledgeb...

In reply to a post by broadband66:

Unless you are a gamer there is no point in trying to sort or worry about it.

With a user name like the OP’s I suspect they are a gamer

Don't use wifi for gaming though if you are at all worried about pings.

I am seeing similar with an Eero 6E.

I have FTTP (Openreach, giganet). I use two configs
a) Eero performing routing + wifi. ethernet connected to switched ethernet through house
b) Fritzbox 7530 performing routing + ethernet around house. Eeero bridged for wifi - no other eeros connected

It's hard to be totally sure, since just reconnecting a pppoe session might result in a different path, but the tests I've done so far suggest, that routing with the eero adds about 1-3.5ms. So was was 4-5ms before, comes 6-8ms

It's a fine detail, but it does frustrate me... The eero is new and shiny. Much more ram. CPU power is similar (2x1 GHZ, but about 30% faster clock for clock) vs 4 *750 Ghz on fritz. Eero apparently as a 12 core accelerator for mesg, would assume other offload. The fritz has sufficient, but no idea what.

Edited by planetf1 (Tue 05-Sep-23 22:52:26)

I've done multiple back to back tests at various times of day, and have concluded this is definately a thing....

Local lan pings are about 200-300 usec higher
pings to well known sites are 1-2ms higher
Both have more jitter - substantially more

Though it likely makes little difference, combined with other annoyances (pppoe mtu, reboot for change, lack of logs) I am pretty sure my permanent config is now eero for wifi only. It is deficient as a router.