In the middle of a little rehash of an old theater and adding some house audio (Sonos) and have run into a little issue.

Whenever a WAP is connected to the existing network, it runs at about 500kbps. Yes, 500. Upload speed is around 2mb.

I have tried two different WAPs (one client provided ASUS unit and the other a brand new Airport Express) in two different locations with the same result. Equipment connected to the newly added Luxul network switches at each location behave perfectly.

It is a AT&T Uverse gateway, they have internet and tv service (including a wireless receiver).
The gateway has a built in WAP and if you connect to it wirelessly you see their 15mb speed they are paying for.
Client had mentioned that this has been an ongoing issue long before we started the project. The gateway has been replaced at some point too.

Cabling was tested and reterminated just to be proactive. Like I said, the hardwired gear works fine, it is just the wireless that is jenky.

The only unusual thing is this home has is a VPN set up by the homeowners IT department. It is fed directly off the existing gateway and consists of a Cisco VPN piece. I couldn't get the model number off it due to the office being locked. The VPN has been in place since move in (several years ago) and the equipment was transferred from his previous home where they experienced no such issue.

Kinda ran out of time today but next trip I was thinking of disconnecting the VPN setup to see if it has any bearing on this.
Ideas? IT has always been my weak spot. I mean, I can setup a basic network but when it comes to VPNs, multiple VLANs etc, is where I sorta get lost.

Sounds like you may have 3 routers in the network with various features turned off in each router to make that router perform a specific, limited function.

In this scenario just one incorrect setting in any of the devices can cause a problem. I didn't do a deep dive on the cisco but most of their telework or virtual office use a vpn router as the hardware.

In this case, either the cisco or the uverse will likely have routing disabled. If the uverse is in bridge mode, the cisco is doing the routing and the uverse is a modem.

So many variables.

I would find out which device is the router, then I would put a true wap behind that. Not an express or some other router....a wap only device of your liking.

This will remove at least some of the complexity from your portion of the implementation.

Hope this helps.

I believe the Cisco would have the routing disabled or be on its own Vlan or something. I was under the impression you cannot disable the routing functions on a uverse gateway, especially when there is tv service in the mix.

Perhaps I should clarify, the addition of the access point(s) doesn't degrade the performance of the hardwired network devices or the wireless radio in the uverse gateway. The issue is strictly the performance of the added wireless parts. All streaming devices are hardwired, wireless is just for wireless only devices (Computers, Ipads, phones). All hardwired items function fine regardless of the presence of the WAP or not.

I had no plans of adding two, the one client provided was for the theater as it is a floor down and on the opposite side of the house from the gateway. Theater is being controlled via Crestron with an MLX3. That works fine, but the Ipad has issue getting reliable wireless from the single access point (yay for the crap wireless radios in IOS devices).

I had planned on using the client provided Asus part. It exhibited this problem both in the theater and at two other verified functional network jacks in the house. Ditto for the Airport Express.
Airport express is a truck stock part, we have quite a few out in the field so I carry a spare just in case. Not something I would rely on for heavy lifting but to allow an Ipad to talk to a Crestron processor in a single room environment, it should (and has on many other jobs) work just fine. Also works just fine here at my house.

I tried creating a wireless network, extending one, used the same SSID as the gateway, different SSID, changed the broadcast channels etc, all to no avail.

The way the network is setup, the Uverse gateway is at the headend, one port coming out of the gateway to the office where the Cisco VPN device lives, another port goes to a 4 port switch and two others go to various network locations in the house. When I have more time I will try bypassing the 4 port switch and verify that I have a direct connection to the gateway.

Theater isn't finished yet and the added wireless devices were pulled before I left out of fear of their network crashing over the weekend. Nice people, but I don't want to have to pay them a visit on sat or sun.

Is the place large enough that one WiFi device isn't enough? If you can use only one, do that. Why do they want to use an Airport Express, because they have it and don't want it to go to waste? Screw that- it's bad thinking and it's likely that this is the cause of the problems. How is the Airport set up- to act as a wireless repeater? if so, is it hard-wired to the ATT router? That will tank a wireless system. Unplug the Airport and see if the speed improves. Use one WAP, if possible. Hard-wire as much as possible and only use WiFi fro laptops and phones. If you're using a Sonos Bridge, that's connecting to other Sonos pieces, right?

Ummm... What?

Ummm... What?

Agreed.

While Airport Express is not the worlds greatest WAP solution, I would guess I have well over 100 in service (including the one sitting next to me on my desk). Never had one just spontaneously crash a network.

As far as covering an entire house with one WAP. This house is small in comparison to what I usually deal with (it is about 3,500 sqft, 3 stories). The uverse gateway does a pretty decent job with the top two floors but doesn't go down to the basement very well.

Most of my are 3-4x that square footage. I have never found a single WAP that will cover a 10,000+sqft house.

Lemme know where I can find those, would make my life a whole lot easier.

Try a different AP that can sniff the area for interference.
Ubiquiti Pico M2HP or similiar.

I like the en genius, but i am sticking with a EAP600 for ceiling AP from now on. Too little money difference between the two.