Wifi mesh systems

tobdom

Shefwedfan wrote: »

How is the Deco going for you?

Great! Very happy with them. Haven't really had to think about them, which is exactly what you want. They have definitely made a significant improvement to WiFi coverage & speed throughout the house. Would (and have) happily reccomend them, especially after the recent firmware/app update.

Clareman

Fair bit of marketing guff going on here

https://9to5google.com/2020/06/16/google-nest-wifi-update/

GhostyMcGhost

Shefwedfan wrote: »

How is the Deco going for you?

I have 2 pack deco M7 And very happy with it, loving the app, very easy on the eye and easy to manage. Have 2 small boys but will 100% using parental controls when they’re older!!

I might upgrade to a new set that supports WiFi 6 in future. When doing virgin speed test I was getting almost full 500Mb on my phone .... now it tops out in the 200’s ... other than that, I don’t have intermittent WiFi drops like I did connected to VM router

Plus one big advantage that I might switch providers and shouldn’t take much effort

Double C

I setup the Deco P9 in my house about a month ago and it's giving great coverage all over the house and in the garage and garden as well. I've noticed a few things though, like images on done deal/adverts, my Gmail inbox, new podcasts, my Twitter feed etc all take ages to load. If I turn the WiFi off it all loads using mobile data straight away. Has anyone else encountered this? It's very annoying!

JohnK

Double C wrote: »

I've noticed a few things though, like images on done deal/adverts, my Gmail inbox, new podcasts, my Twitter feed etc all take ages to load. If I turn the WiFi off it all loads using mobile data straight away. Has anyone else encountered this? It's very annoying!

Are you with Virgin by any chance? I've a new Nest router and oddly enough I've noticed something similar.

beauf

If your on Virgin might be best in bridge mode.

Double C

JohnK wrote: »

Are you with Virgin by any chance? I've a new Nest router and oddly enough I've noticed something similar.

No I've Siro through Digiweb. I've the WiFi turned off on the Fritz box

Clareman

Double C wrote: »

I setup the Deco P9 in my house about a month ago and it's giving great coverage all over the house and in the garage and garden as well. I've noticed a few things though, like images on done deal/adverts, my Gmail inbox, new podcasts, my Twitter feed etc all take ages to load. If I turn the WiFi off it all loads using mobile data straight away. Has anyone else encountered this? It's very annoying!

I've SIRO with a Fritzbox with the Nest Wifi and I did notice a DNS conflict from time to time so I've all teh devices set to the same DNS and don't have that issue anymore

bk

Clareman wrote: »

Fair bit of marketing guff going on here

https://9to5google.com/2020/06/16/google-nest-wifi-update/

That is actually very interesting and beneficial! The bit about the home automation communication now working locally on Google Home devices, rather then needing to go out to the cloud.

Clareman

bk wrote: »

That is actually very interesting and beneficial! The bit about the home automation communication now working locally on Google Home devices, rather then needing to go out to the cloud.

That bit is beneficial alright, that wasn't in the the original release notes

caddy16

Hi folks, I've a TP-Link Deco M5 up & running well in the house.

When house was being built CAT6 was brought to the telecom's box but not needed as fibre line was brought directly into house. I was thinking of extending this CAT6 out to garage and putting an external extender to cover garage & garden.

Would the below be the best option or is there a way I can incorporate something into my existing mesh network?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-Waterproof-Installation-Controller-EAP110-Outdoor/dp/B01N4EGN6H/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=outside+wifi+booster&qid=1592812306&sr=8-3

Gooey Looey

caddy16 wrote: »

Hi folks, I've a TP-Link Deco M5 up & running well in the house.

When house was being built CAT6 was brought to the telecom's box but not needed as fibre line was brought directly into house. I was thinking of extending this CAT6 out to garage and putting an external extender to cover garage & garden.

Would the below be the best option or is there a way I can incorporate something into my existing mesh network?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wireless-Waterproof-Installation-Controller-EAP110-Outdoor/dp/B01N4EGN6H/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=outside+wifi+booster&qid=1592812306&sr=8-3

If you already have mesh it would be mad to add an access point unless that access point also can be set to do mesh. Can it? I'm not sure

oppiuy

For the Huawei q2 2 which is better the base and 2 satelittes of the 3 pack

GinSoaked

Gooey Looey wrote: »

If you already have mesh it would be mad to add an access point unless that access point also can be set to do mesh. Can it? I'm not sure

Your mad to use a so called mesh when you can hard wire AP's. If it has the same SSID(s) and access levels as the "mesh" any mobile client device will roam because its the client device that ultimately decides which AP it connects to.

degsie

GinSoaked wrote: »

Your mad to use a so called mesh when you can hard wire AP's. If it has the same SSID(s) and access levels as the "mesh" any mobile client device will roam because its the client device that ultimately decides which AP it connects to.

Not 100% accurate, some devices will aggressively hang on for life to the same AP even though there is closer AP in the vicinity. Mesh systems do the heavy listing by handing off between mesh devices seamlessly.

Gooey Looey

GinSoaked wrote: »

Your mad to use a so called mesh when you can hard wire AP's. If it has the same SSID(s) and access levels as the "mesh" any mobile client device will roam because its the client device that ultimately decides which AP it connects to.

Yes normally agreed, but they already have a mesh setup in the house. Would be daft to add an AP to it when they can extend the existing mesh

caddy16

Gooey Looey wrote: »

Yes normally agreed, but they already have a mesh setup in the house. Would be daft to add an AP to it when they can extend the existing mesh

Thanks. How do I extend existing mesh outdoors?

Limited IT knowledge here so advice appreciated.

GerardKeating

oppiuy wrote: »

For the Huawei q2 2 which is better the base and 2 satelittes of the 3 pack

I have the 3 pack and am quite happy with it.

One advantace of the "3 pack" is that the units have the option for wired connection, either over the powerline or wired ethernet.

Gooey Looey

caddy16 wrote: »

Thanks. How do I extend existing mesh outdoors?

Limited IT knowledge here so advice appreciated.

If you can't run a cable buy another unit or two to extend it. I know nothing about TP link devices so can't advice which one. They should be sold singly, or there may be an AP that's compatible to set in mesh mode. Someone else will have to advise

oppiuy

Thanks, i've pulled the trigger on that and hopefully all goes well. Its a new house so will have nothing to compare it 2. Currently using a Three B525 router in an old cottage until we move. Its working good for the TV wifi and working from home. We have no mobile signal in the house but ok broadband which is strange.

In the new house , the router will be in the Attic and when tested so far we have wifi on the second floor but that's it.The new system should give wifi all round. I've also gone and order the Poynting 4G-XPOL-A0001 attenna. Ill use this inside the attic and see how we go as i don't really want to be wall mounting stuff outside( the wife would kill me) I let ye know how it all goes and if the Antennae makes any real difference to overall speeds

GinSoaked

degsie wrote: »

Not 100% accurate, some devices will aggressively hang on for life to the same AP even though there is closer AP in the vicinity. Mesh systems do the heavy listing by handing off between mesh devices seamlessly.

As I said how long goes it take to turn the WiFi on a mobile device on and off?

I've tested a setup with 5 TP-Link EAP 220's and the roaming is fine you can wander around on facetime and not even notice the handover. I have had devices aggressively lock on to one AP and guess what fixed the problem - rebooting the connecting device or toggling the WiFi on and off. Once restarted the device roamed again - device problem not an AP problem.

I have been searching the web for more information on the magical or should I say mythical handing off between mesh devices and so far haven't found it.

grogi

GinSoaked wrote: »

As I said how long goes it take to turn the WiFi on a mobile device on and off?

I've tested a setup with 5 TP-Link EAP 220's and the roaming is fine you can wander around on facetime and not even notice the handover. I have had devices aggressively lock on to one AP and guess what fixed the problem - rebooting the connecting device or toggling the WiFi on and off. Once restarted the device roamed again - device problem not an AP problem.

I have been searching the web for more information on the magical or should I say mythical handing off between mesh devices and so far haven't found it.

Well, that's not really fair... EAP is not entirely consumer grade AP and can be centrally managed from a controller. I would be very surprised if it doesn't coordinate roaming, at least with dropping clients with very low RSSI.. That's an attempt to grab some of that 'enterprise but not there yet' market Ubiquity is famous for.

GinSoaked

grogi wrote: »

Well, that's not really fair... EAP is not entirely consumer grade AP and can be centrally managed from a controller. I would be very surprised if it doesn't coordinate roaming, at least with dropping clients with very low RSSI.. That's an attempt to grab some of that 'enterprise but not there yet' market Ubiquity is famous for.

Its part of the same group of products that prompted Gooey Looey's comment "it would be mad to add an access point" so perfectly fair.

I didn't bother with the controller software in that setup as the AP's were added at different times. The controller software doesn't handle any form of "handover protocol" that I know of. The only really active the thing the AP's do is pick their own channels to reduce interference. While roaming is seamless I can't find any technical reference that states there is any special system other than same SSID's and access security on each AP.

Having used a lot of both TP-Link and Ubiquiti products I'd go as far as to say the TP-Link are a direct copy of the Ubiquiti.

Gooey Looey

GinSoaked wrote: »

As I said how long goes it take to turn the WiFi on a mobile device on and off?

I've tested a setup with 5 TP-Link EAP 220's and the roaming is fine you can wander around on facetime and not even notice the handover. I have had devices aggressively lock on to one AP and guess what fixed the problem - rebooting the connecting device or toggling the WiFi on and off. Once restarted the device roamed again - device problem not an AP problem.

I have been searching the web for more information on the magical or should I say mythical handing off between mesh devices and so far haven't found it.

The difference is with mesh the mesh nodes all appear with the same Mac address so in effect there is no roaming, your client device will always be connected to the nearest and strongest node. There is no drop and reconnect by the client device like on an Ap. It's seamless roaming. APs will never be completely seamless and some clients are poorly coded and make poor roaming decisions.

degsie

GinSoaked wrote: »

As I said how long goes it take to turn the WiFi on a mobile device on and off?

Is this a serious solution to roaming issues? Who wants to have the hassle for a mobile device force a re-negotiation if it won't relinquish the connection to a weak wifi signal.

grogi

Gooey Looey wrote: »

The difference is with mesh the mesh nodes all appear with the same Mac address so in effect there is no roaming

Lol... BSSID is different.

GinSoaked

degsie wrote: »

Is this a serious solution to roaming issues? Who wants to have the hassle for a mobile device force a re-negotiation if it won't relinquish the connection to a weak wifi signal.

Perfectly serious because the number of times it actually happens in minimal.

I've seen it happen so won't deny it but there is normally an underlying issue either device or user related. I've seen laptops that haven't been rebooted in days stick to one network, probably a windows/driver related and tablets that have so many apps running they don't have enough resources for hardly anything to work, user related. The last time I looked at the problem for someone the reason there was no roaming (my phone only connects in the office and not in the kitchen) was because one of the AP's was fried.

Gooey Looey

grogi wrote: »

Lol... BSSID is different.

I'm confused, why would you use mesh with different SSID?

grogi

Gooey Looey wrote: »

I'm confused, why would you use mesh with different SSID?

You're confused because BSSID is not SSID... BSSID is a unique identifier of the AP, even if they are part of the same WLAN.

oppiuy

So the Huawei 3 pack arrived today. I tested in the old cottage we are currently living in. Considering the cabling is ancient i cant belive the difference so far.. before today, we prob average 7mbs in the best area but since thse went in its 23 average in throughout the cottage. Thwy are connected via powerline and the main unit is using an extenstion lead first.. will test out the neq house later. Cat6 cables not readu to go but should gwt a good indication from powerline