What are mesh networks and are they a good investment

carlowplayer

Have crappy Sky broadand WiFi in a rural area in a two floor,ten room average sized home that has concrete walls with speeds of at least 7-10Mbps with the WiFi working primarily in only two rooms the first being the study downstairs where the router is kept and is the only room it can be plugged in.The second room where it can work is a guest bedroom right above the study on the second floor.Most if not all of the rest of the house has spotty signals with it coming and going here and there.You can connect to the internet and it may work for a while but it will take ages to load pages and especially longer to load YouTube videos but after a while you’ll be disconnected.Ive made inquiries into different internet providers and due to our location from masts we would get pretty much the same speeds as Sky roughly 7-10Mbps.Ive been looking for ways to boost the strength and range of the signal we have and have come across the concept of mesh networks.Am not tech savvy but I get the concept that are to placed in key parts of your home to allow them to extend signals from routers to all parts of the home.I do have some questions about them and how they work and are set up.

1.Firstly what exactly do they do they do?Do they just extend the signal across the home or do they create their own extra WiFi signal and spread it across the home or do they amplify the signal coming from the router by boosting its strength.Is there any loss in signal strength and speed from the router to each mesh network node and thus to all parts of the house?Ive read that they provide speeds of up to different speeds such as 4-6 Gigabits via WiFi 6/Wifi 5 and I’m wondering do they that themselves by radiating this WiFi or do they need to be plugged into devices using Ethernet cables and if so can they be plugged directly into laptops and smart phones or just the phone line or into my router to increase speeds to these levels.So does this mean that the mesh networks are capable of generating and providing higher speeds than a traditional router themselves.If not do they amplify existing signals by making them more powerful up to these 4-6 gigabit speeds..If they don’t do either of this is their any technology available that does this.What does WiFi 6 or WiFi 5 mean and what does tri band mean?One model I observed has speeds of Tri-Band (1147+1733+2402 Mbps.Furthermore I’ve seen come with a satillite extender or add on satillite what is this satillite extender mean and what does it do?

2.Secondly I’ve read stories that some models don’t work with Sky Q and Sky broadband.What is the best model to get for Sky broadband.Whats the best model in general three I’ve noticed that could work for Sky and also in general are  Linksys WHW0303 Velop Tri-Band Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi System,the 4.4 

NETGEAR Orbi Mesh WiFi System (RBK753),the NETGEAR Orbi Whole Home WiFi 6 System with DOCSIS 3.1 Built-in Cable Modem (CBK752),the TP-Link Deco X20 & Deco X90 and Linksys MX10 Velop.Do you have to buy specific models for sky etc or are all mesh networks the same.

3.Thirdly what’s the general cost range of them and the best models,Are they easy to set up and what are their drawbacks.Where in a home are they set up?do you have to have them in the rooms with the best signal such as my study and guest bedroom and then spaced equidistantly? Will I have to have one plugged into the guest bedrooms and study to produce better signals for all surrounding rooms.Do they need to be just plugged into a socket or do I need to also plug them into both a phone line in each room and the router using Ethernet cables?Can they be plugged into laptops etc using the Ethernet cables to boost signals?Whats the signal range of them?They come in packs of two and three but can I buy extra packs of two or three etc to spread strong signals across my entire house on all floors and can these be merged into one seamless system of four or six or more nodes that are linked together that merges and spreads signals through the entire home?

Ash.J.Williams

have you looked at satellite ?

whats the signal like at source?

can you do normal things like Netflix , sky catch up etc ?

mesh just seems like putting a 5er of diesel into a cruise liner with 7mb

carlowplayer

yeah I can do those things but only in a few places would mesh networks be a good investment

smokie72

I bought a TP link Deco AX1800 a couple of months ago. It was the 3 mesh system. Paid 299 euro for it. Reduced from 350 euro in Harvey Normans. I find it excellent as I can get wireless down in my shed which is 30ft away from the house and stream a wireless camera and TV down there. Also I don't have to put my modem in bridge mode to use the Deco. I can just run a ethernet cable from the Modem to the main Deco. Nice app comes with it as well. Pricey but easy to set up.

carlowplayer

So sounds good but what speeds can you get with that and also could some one please answer the questions I asked in the original post as I’m just curios as to what they do and what I can expect and what’s the best models to look around for

would this be good

https://consumer.huawei.com/ie/routers/5g-cpe-pro-2/

dam099

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118020344#Comment_118020344

That unit isn't a mesh system, its a 5G router for mobile data.

WiFi 5 is the older (AC) standard, WiFi 6 is newer (AX) but not supported by many devices yet (newer smartphones are the main WiFi 6 devices available at present). Both router and device need to support WiFi 6 for it to give the benefits (but WiFi 5 and earlier generations will work with one as they are backward compatible).

Not familiar with individual models other than Deco (the older WiFi 5 model S4). It can put out 400Mbs when satellite units use wired Ethernet to connect to the main unit, drops sub 200 when using WiFi to connect the units to each other (in ideal conditions, concrete walls may dramatically reduce that).

Any good system can be expanded with more units than in the base kit (usually 2/3 units).

How many units you will need is hard to judge without experience of your environment, if the existing router struggles to reach even adjoining rooms a mesh system using WiFi backhaul may suffer similar problems (however they can often be better than the ISP router).

If you can wire some or all satellite units with Ethernet it will make a huge difference (not all systems allow this, the Deco's generally do).

Finally your major limiting factor is the 7-10Mb incoming connection (assume that is the best you can get wired to the router)? You dont need to get the latest WiFi 6 Mesh gear for a connection that slow unless you anticipate getting FTTH or some other higher speed connection within a few years, better to get something cheaper like the Deco M4/S4/M5 and upgrade down the line once your ISP connection gets better.

carlowplayer

 Ok so what speed increase could I expect.would I have to have the mesh networks plugged into the study with the router and/or I n the bedroom above it or can I have it plugged in any room in the house even where the signal comes and goes and is the weakest and would it thus generate wifi.What layout of them do you need ie do they have to be plugged into and connected to the router and spread out across the house or can they be be plugged into any room at all and spread out.Could I have a device plugged into my bedroom and using an Ethernet cable connect it to my laptop for top speeds.Do the devices merely extend signals or do they amplify signals or do they generate their own signals or all three.Do you have to connect a device to your router via an Ethernet cable for it to work.Can you plug one into your laptop via an Ethernet cable and it generate fast WiFi speeds for your laptop and if so can this be done anywhere in the home.What do the different speeds such as 4-6 Gigabits via WiFi 6/Wifi 5 mean?Do they generate these speeds plugged in or connected to a router or computer via Ethernet cables.Do Ethernet cables come with them or do you have to buy them separately.as stated not tech savvy and I want to know exactly how they work to make an informed decision and know what to expect from them and thus decide on the best model to buy.I have an iPhone 11 Pro Max which should have WiFi 6 capabilities.

carlowplayer

So can anyone answer my questions