I’ve had an older Google Wi-Fi mesh setup for years and it was basically invisible in the best way. Maybe one reboot a year, no real drama.
Over the last couple months it has become awful. Teams calls freeze for a few seconds, streaming randomly drops, and sometimes devices say they’re connected but nothing loads.
Fiber itself seems fine when I test close to the main unit. The problem is that all the mesh points are wireless, and the main router is in a stone basement because that’s where the ISP gear comes in.
I’m trying to figure out if one puck is dying, if the placement finally caught up with me, or if I should just replace the whole thing.
Before replacing everything, unplug one mesh point at a time and test for a day.One half-dead node can make the whole mesh feel cursed. It may still show online but drag the backhaul down or cause devices to cling to the wrong point.
Main router in a stone basement is a brutal starting point for a wireless mesh. Your other pucks are probably spending half their life trying to “phone home” through rock. If you can temporarily run a long Ethernet cable upstairs and move the main unit to a more central spot, test that before buying anything. Ugly cable for one afternoon. Useful truth forever.
This is where I’d map it instead of guessing. Use NetSpot and measure signals between the mesh points. First take a baseline measurement as-is, then one by one turn off or move the pucks and repeat the test. Compare the results: you’ll immediately see where the drop happens — between nodes, because of the basement link, or due to overlap/interference. After that you can decide whether it’s just a placement issue or if you actually need to replace the hardware.
@Critical-Tailor-17 Thanks, I’ll try it, hope it helps.