I am using multiple XBee Series 2 nodes in my home automation setup, however, I seem to be seeing unusual delays in packet delivery (around 1 or 2s). I have a single coordinator module and multiple routers in the network.
I was wondering, how well does the mesh protocol work? If multiple of the routers are in close proximity, does it actually slow the mesh down? (by close proximity I mean between 3-5m). My rationale was to use router firmware for all my devices as they are not power-constrained and I thought it would be better to have routers - is that the case?
Shall I have the router firmware only on the nodes that really need to be used as routers and flash the rest as end devices even if they are plugged into the wall?
Lastly, the delay has slightly increased when I enabled encryption.
UPDATE
System details:
Room 1 - Xbee coordinator conncted to Raspberry PI via 56700 link
Room 1 - Xbee router used for direct actuation
Room 2 - Xbee router used to communicate with arduino @ 9600 link
(commands fit into a single packet)
I am not using any broadcasts, all of the routers are AT and have DH/DL set to communicate with the coordinator and the coordinator using API mode to communicate to the main controlling software.
Lastly, is there any time needed for the mesh to initialise? Or is it done ad-hoc? Is that information stored on Xbee reboot?