Tenda Nova Mesh 3 with BT Fibre - Video Conferencing Issue

[nickpwatts]

Hi. I have BT fibre to the property and recently I purchased a Tenda Nova Mesh 3 set of 3 nodes. My intention was to remove the Homehub and replace with one of the nodes instead with the modem connection into the house connecting to that node. To set this up requires PPPoE which I setup fine with the BT logion details.

All aspects of the WIFI work fine, speed is good, streaming fine etc. However, on working at home using Microsoft Teams, while everything has seemed fine to me, people on my conference calls have informed me that while sound is OK, the video is terrible. It is very jerky and then eventually just freezes permanently.

I removed the Mesh system and used the Homehub again and it was all fine again. Then I plugged the primary Node into the Homehub and set up the Mesh system again, this time because it was plugged into the Hub, it set it up as DHCP. This seems to work fine as well with none of the issues I was experiencing in Teams as before.

Has anyone else had this issue or does anyone know why my Teams video is not working on PPPoE without the Hub but OK on DHCP with the hub? This seems to be the only thing I've found that's suffering but I haven't tried any other video conferencing platforms like Skype, Zoom etc.

I ideally want to do away with the Homehub but can't manage with these Teams issues!

[licquorice]

PPP is very resource hungry and some devices struggle to cope if they don't have sufficient processing power. I guess the Tenda can't cope with video as well as PPP  

[Keith_Beddoe]

@nickpwatts 

I use the Tenda Nova MW3 in access point mode (bridged) connected to my TP Link router. I am only on ADSL so speed is not an issue. The MW3 is mainly used for providing Wi-Fi access to birdbox and CCTV cameras which communicate with my main PC which is wired directly to the router. I am only using three nodes at the moment, as that gives good coverage without too much overlap, which can cause issues with some devices.

Bear in mind that the MW3 is only a 100Mb device so may struggle if you connect a number of high bandwidth devices. The MW6 is a higher bandwidth system.

Have you tried connecting your computer to one of the Ethernet ports on the MW3?

[nickpwatts]

Thanks for the reply. So I'm guessing it's more of a video upload issue with regards to processing? As other people's video is fine for me, as is video streaming etc. Might need to try a better Mesh system at some point in the future.

[nickpwatts]

@Keith_Beddoe thanks for the reply.

Yes, I have one of the nodes in the same room so used an ethernet cable but had the same issue. The app says that signal is all excellent. Usually all I've got connected is my laptop when I'm working, other things like phone and Google speakers are connected but not doing anything. It sounds like the MW3 isn't perhaps good enough ☹️ frustrating as I have no problems with anything else.

[Keith_Beddoe]

The bottleneck is the fact that the main node connection is only 100mbs, so everything has to pass over that. Its not a problem for me, as I only have a 12mb broadband connection, which is more that adequate for the wife and I. Uploading files can take a while, but the TP link allows me to control bandwidth and priority, so file uploads can run in the background without affecting Internet usage.

If you are on FTTP, then you do need a faster system if you have a connection greater that 100mbs.

[licquorice]

You can always make a direct PPPoE Ethernet connection to the ONT from your laptop and bypass the Tenda when making video calls.

[nickpwatts]

@licquorice @Keith_Beddoe thanks for the help guys. All makes sense. With all my testing, with the router back in (under the stairs where the ONT is) and WiFi turned off and the Nova setup as DHCP, it seems OK. Think I'll stick with this setup until I decide to upgrade the Mesh.

[nickpwatts]

My mistake, it's actually the Nova MW-6 I've got but I think it'll still be the same cause.

[Keith_Beddoe]

That has gigabit ports, so there should not be any backhaul connection issue, but the node links are wireless. Perhaps a powerline adapter pair just to connect the work PC to the home hub, may be the answer?