OT: Mesh Wifi

[daker13]

Looking to boost my family's internet with a mesh wifi system. (I know there are other things that can slow things down, and read the recent thread on the subject.) There are a couple things I can still try to speed things up, but I'm using an Apple Time Capsule/Airport Express extender, and these things have been discontinued so I think they have to go.

Have people had good luck with either the Netgear Orbi system or the Linksys mesh wifi systems? (Amazon and Google products are not an option.) Thanks.

Edit: About 2200 sq ft split level

[veloduffer]

We’ve had great success with Orbi in our 3-floor Victorian, which has a lot of solid materials like plaster walls and full wood doors as signal impediments. Our router is on the top floor (finished attic) and we had dead spots in the kitchen.

We had tried extenders but had no success. With Orbi and 1 satellite on the 2nd floor there is full coverage out to the backyard (>200 mps).


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[daker13]

We’ve had great success with Orbi in our 3-floor Victorian.. (snip)

Thanks! Do you mind telling me which one you got? I could probably get away with the little one, but might size up for peace of mind.

[tumbler]

What kind of router do you have now? For a 2200 sq ft house, you can likely get good speed (better than mesh) and adequate coverage from one of the newer single point routers. The difference between an old 802.11n for instance, and a modern 802.11ac or Wi-fi 6 router is huge.

That being said, I have been using a Google Wifi mesh system for a few years and it has been good. I do notice occasional issues with devices connecting to nodes that are further away and slower than other nodes, but 99% of the time, everything runs fine and the setup/management is the easiest of any router I have owned.

One thing to note with most mesh systems... your speed will decrease as you get further out from the initial node that is connected to your modem. If you're able to put your modem and initial node in the middle of the house, that helps a lot in reducing the likelihood that your devices will have to make extra "jumps" to get back to the main node and router, and also allows more of your devices to connect directly to the main node which will generally be the fastest one.

[msplette]

https://amplifi.com/amplifi-hd

We have enjoyed our Amplifi. Easy set up and a good app.

[martl]

Looking to boost my family's internet with a mesh wifi system. (I know there are other things that can slow things down, and read the recent thread on the subject.) There are a couple things I can still try to speed things up, but I'm using an Apple Time Capsule/Airport Express extender, and these things have been discontinued so I think they have to go.

Have people had good luck with either the Netgear Orbi system or the Linksys mesh wifi systems? (Amazon and Google products are not an option.) Thanks.

Edit: About 2200 sq ft split level

i'm not using the products you are looking at but i just set up mesh in my home. I use a fritzbox 7490 ADSL router/wifi and distribute the signal to my office and the downstairs section using a Devolo MagicLAN system which can create a mesh with the Fritzbox. The setup was quick and surprisingly straightforward using the devolo App for the samrtphone.

[Velocipede]

We have AT&T U-Verse and had been noticing some issues. But when we looked at the usage, we had 28!!!! listed items connected or could be connected at the same time. That's a ton. I didn't even know we had that many. So on Blackest Thursday night the wife and I did our usual Black Friday insanity people watching. It's a tradition now. It's fun. People are literally insane.

Anyways, back to the Mesh stuff. We went to Best Buy and spoke to a guy there and picked one up. My FIL is a computer guy and told us about getting a Mesh Network. Wife did research. We ended up with the EERO Pro 3 pack. It's been really good. No issues. But we've just taken some items off the main router and put them on the Mesh.

We looked at the others out there and my with is a nut with studying stuff online and ended up with EERO. Just so you know, my wife researched vacuum cleaners for 6 months before deciding on the one we got. She's that kind of person.

[veloduffer]

Thanks! Do you mind telling me which one you got? I could probably get away with the little one, but might size up for peace of mind.

Orbi WiFi System (RBK50) AC3000

It's an older model. We've had it for about 2.5 yrs now.

[redir]

Been using Linksys Velop for over a year now and it works great. Two in the house and one in each of the out buildings.

[ariw]

Ubiquiti Amplifi - we recommend to our customers:

https://amplifi.com/

-Ari

[floxy1]

I have the EERO and it’s been really solid. One small issue...I’m having issues I’m with getting my Wahoo to update since I started using. It’s a weird thing the way the WiFi connects through the phone (5ghz) and then to the wahoo (doesn’t support 5ghz). The eero is dual band but you can’t manually force to go 2.4ghz.

[cgolvin]

Echoing an earlier post, given your square footage mesh may be overkill. You can almost certainly cover the whole house with a new 802.11ax (aka WiFi 6) router. In addition, many vendors of these products also have a mesh solution so that if you find the coverage inadequate you can then supplement with a remote node.

My house is larger than yours, built in 1929, and the topology is problematic because of where the modem sits, but I just installed an Asus ax router and it covers the house.

Likely goes without saying but of course keep your TimeCapsule for backups, just turn off the wireless.

[eippo1]

I recently got a Meshforce network and am very happy with it. Live in a 1,300 sf 3/4 cape with the router on the 2nd floor and thick plaster walls and ceilings.

We also have crap cell service probably due to our proximity to the Fells and have to have wifi calling enabled all the time in order to bridge the signal. Calls would be dropped on the first floor back of the house and in the basement (where my bike area lives). Since installing this, we can now be anywhere in the house and not drop calls using wifi calling which is fricking huge because it got old to wander in the kitchen for something and drop or not get calls at all because I was in the basement.

The other benefit, of course, is the actual wifi which is so much better now. I have full signal at the back of the house (not even close before) as well as the basement. We also now have the option of working on a laptop in the backyard, which was one of the primary drivers of getting the mesh network.

Our setup is the main mesh point attached to the router on the middle of the second floor and a dot in the living room in the front of the house and a dot in the dining room at the back of the house.

[slowpoke]

WiFi 6 products are only starting to be released this year. According to this article (https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/21/18232026/wi-fi-6-speed-explained-router-wifi-how-does-work), it's more helpful in households where you have multiple devices or in an apartment where the wifi spectrum is congested.

For your home, I think any wifi router / mesh network released in the past 2-3 years would improve your reception. The Time Capsule + Airport Extreme setup you have is ~7 years old.

Check The Wirecutter for reviews if you haven't already:

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-mesh-networking-kits/ (their top pick here is an Eero, which I understand you'd like to avoid)

https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-wi-fi-router/

[cgolvin]

WiFi 6 products are only starting to be released this year. According to this article (https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/21/18232026/wi-fi-6-speed-explained-router-wifi-how-does-work), it's more helpful in households where you have multiple devices or in an apartment where the wifi spectrum is congested.

For your home, I think any wifi router / mesh network released in the past 2-3 years would improve your reception. The Time Capsule + Airport Extreme setup you have is ~7 years old.

It's important to distinguish between WiFi6 in the router vs in client devices. The Verge article is correct that few client devices support WiFi6 today, but WiFi6 routers are widely available and deliver range and speed benefits even with older client devices.

If you're going to buy a new router it would be silly to choose .ac, which will be the technology present in the majority of <2 year old routers.

[C40_guy]

Looking to boost my family's internet with a mesh wifi system. (I know there are other things that can slow things down, and read the recent thread on the subject.) There are a couple things I can still try to speed things up, but I'm using an Apple Time Capsule/Airport Express extender, and these things have been discontinued so I think they have to go.

Edit: About 2200 sq ft split level

I run an Airport Extreme on each level of my house and I have great coverage everywhere. They're rock solid, just set and forget, and available on eBay for $100 or so.

I have a separate small business router that provides DHCP, firewall, intrusion detection, etc., so I don't worry about the Apples not having the latest in security... They are set up as access points only.

Not sure you need more than another AE for your house... Put one at one end of the house at one level, the other at the other end on the second level. You'll have great coverage for $100 and you won't have to learn any new technologies.

Yea, in a couple of years we'll probably have to replace these with something different. I'm okay with that. :)

[ariw]

My company installs and configures the business version of the Ubiquiti products, which are great, but overkill for the home. This is why I recommend their Amplifi solution often, it has a lot of the raw technology that is in the enterprise stuff, but is simple to install and run at home, even for a non-technical person.

A couple of things:

1) Any of the mesh systems is better than multiple disparate access points, because they know how to handle devices moving from unit to unit and help you fine-tune coverage easily with their apps. I have setup the Linksys Velop and it worked quite well also. This is true even with the same network name and password on all of the access points.

2) WiFi 6 is future-proofing if you buy it now. It won't help much with Internet because almost any of the WiFi 5 (802.11ac) is far faster than your Internet connection likely is. If you buy new phones, laptops, tablets, they are just starting to come with WiFi 6. It will help with a busy, i.e. lots of devices, network with a crowded spectrum. In an apartment building with a ton of WiFi networks, this might help, in other situations, not so much. In other words, don't break your budget to buy it, but it will lengthen the useful life of the equipment.

-Ari

[C40_guy]

1) Any of the mesh systems is better than multiple disparate access points, because they know how to handle devices moving from unit to unit and help you fine-tune coverage easily with their apps.

I don't know what other people are doing with their devices...I'm not running up and down stairs while on zoom calls...at least not yet!

I tend to be stationary when I'm on my laptop, so nimble device handoffs don't seem to offer much value (to me.)

And all of my network heavy lifting is done via wired connections!

[slowpoke]

It's important to distinguish between WiFi6 in the router vs in client devices. The Verge article is correct that few client devices support WiFi6 today, but WiFi6 routers are widely available and deliver range and speed benefits even with older client devices.

If you're going to buy a new router it would be silly to choose .ac, which will be the technology present in the majority of <2 year old routers.

You're correct.

However we also need to evaluate cost and use case. WiFi 6 adoption is brand new and the routers are in the $300 range.

We just moved to a new apartment and needed a new router, and picked up a TP-Link Archer A20 (802.11ac) for ~$155. Reason being, our new apartment's small and we don't foresee ourselves hooking up more than our laptops and phones. And in a few years WiFi 6E routers will drop in price.

[Brusselsprouts]

Set up a Nest Wifi mesh recently at home (2 routers + 3 access points). Super easy to set up and often ranks as one of the fastest systems. You can also do speedtests remotely when plugged into Google Home (also a good system if you want to access all your smart home devices).

Depending on your home layout, as other posters mention you may be able to get good enough coverage with a traditional router + extender set up.

[daker13]

Thanks for all the informed replies, very helpful.

I have a related question... My router could certainly be more centrally located in my long (rather than tall) house. I am pretty ignorant about this stuff, but coaxial cable runs through the basement to the modem, which is at one end of my house. There is at least one 'hub' in the basement with different coaxial cables running to it.

Shouldn't I be able to buy some coaxial cable myself and (perhaps using this hub) run cable to a more centrally-located spot for the modem?

[cgolvin]

You're correct.

However we also need to evaluate cost and use case. WiFi 6 adoption is brand new and the routers are in the $300 range.

We just moved to a new apartment and needed a new router, and picked up a TP-Link Archer A20 (802.11ac) for ~$155. Reason being, our new apartment's small and we don't foresee ourselves hooking up more than our laptops and phones. And in a few years WiFi 6E routers will drop in price.


Fair — your needs differ from the OP’s given your space and hence your calculus makes sense.

WRT cost, in his case, even at its current price a WiFi router will still be cheaper or on par with the cost of multiple mesh nodes, I think.