Wifi mesh systems

I'm swaying towards the S4 mesh system rather than the M4 now, mainly just incase 3rd party firmware is released. I have the M4 on the way from littlewoods, I got them for €130 with some discounts, and I see the S4 are available for £109 from amazon now. From any of the videos Ive watched online, it seems that with these tp link mesh systems, you cant actually broadcast 2.4 and 5ghz separately, this is a step backwards imho.

I did see one guy set up the guest network as the 2.4ghz ok and the main network as 5ghz only, the problem here will be not being able to access devices on both networks, ie, we've a wireless printer here thats only 2.4ghz and im assuming then that any of our 5ghz devices wont be able to communicate with the printer then

SchrodingersCat

I would highly recomment the Fritz! brand routers for setting up a mesh. Their ease of use and UI is worth their price alone. You can pick up some of the older models for very cheap on Amazon Warehouse.

Some ISPs give FritzBox as their free router, very handy

beauf

Clareman wrote: »

Some ISPs give FritzBox as their free router, very handy

Who?

beauf wrote: »

Who?

Airwire definitely do and I think Digiweb do

SchrodingersCat

Clareman wrote: »

Airwire definitely do and I think Digiweb do

Yep! You are right.
https://digiweb.ie/fritzbox/

The model from Airwire is the 7560

GerardKeating

beauf wrote: »

Who?

Also Lighnet

Gooey Looey

beauf wrote: »

Who?

And Westnet

Jo Satan

I had a TPlink C7 for a couple of years , worked well but had issues in one bedroom.
The room was built as part of an extension above a garage.
The house is 160sqm 60's block build.

In the end with 3 laptops, 6 phones 2 tablets, and a load of smart plugs/lights I had constant dropouts, issues etc.
I spent a while researching, I found a guy writing reviews, articles etc on Home networks and I post a question on his site describing my issues and home layout.

He recommended the ASUS ZenWiFi AC Tri-Band Whole-Home Mesh WiFi System(CT8).

Its pricey but I work from home and needed reliability more than anything.
I have two units not hardwired, wireless backhaul for about a month now.
Its very stable and speeds are pretty much maxed out all around the house and the back garden.

How would the Fritz compare to say a TP-Link C2300 which was highly rates by Tom's Hardware. I'm not looking for a mesh system but just something that will have a stronger wifi signal than the Virgin Hub.

Gooey Looey

garo wrote: »

How would the Fritz compare to say a TP-Link C2300 which was highly rates by Tom's Hardware. I'm not looking for a mesh system but just something that will have a stronger wifi signal than the Virgin Hub.

Which Fritz, there are numerous models with different specs and standards

Gooey Looey wrote: »

Which Fritz, there are numerous models with different specs and standards

Sorry should have specified. The 4040 pictured above.

SchrodingersCat

There is no comparison really. The TP link is newer and much better specced but is 2x -3x the price of the fritzbox above. My own experience of TP link is that they are grand but don't provide many firmware updates and hit their EOL sooner. However, as the 4040 is three years old it's probably hitting its EOL now too.

If you are not looking for a mesh system you might be better off asking in other areas of the subforum.

Thanks. Only considered the Fritz because of the ridiculously good Amazon warehouse offer. Will stick with the TP-Link as I had researched it previously.

degsie

garo wrote: »

Thanks. Only considered the Fritz because of the ridiculously good Amazon warehouse offer. Will stick with the TP-Link as I had researched it previously.

The TP-Link routers are fine, the downside is firmware support which ends quickly as they switch development efforts to newer routers.

digiman

Getting eir FTTH in tomorrow, would like to replace their router with my own so I can connect directly to the ONT.

Will have the 1Gbps package so want to get as much out of this as possible all around the house. I’ve got cat5e to every room so would plan to use that as the backhaul for my WiFi extenders.

My iPhone is WiFi 6 capable and my next laptop will most likely have it so would like to future proof with that if possible.

Would probably go with 3 WiFi extenders to cover the house.

I’ve had google WiFi in the past and it didn’t work well with sky Q so sold it. Also would like something that can record metrics such as total download/upload.

Suggestions please

degsie wrote: »

The TP-Link routers are fine, the downside is firmware support which ends quickly as they switch development efforts to newer routers.

I have *ducks* never updated the firmware of a router. Never felt the need for it.
The Netgear X4S R7800 is the other option I am looking at.

digiman wrote: »

Getting eir FTTH in tomorrow, would like to replace their router with my own so I can connect directly to the ONT.

Will have the 1Gbps package so want to get as much out of this as possible all around the house. I’ve got cat5e to every room so would plan to use that as the backhaul for my WiFi extenders.

My iPhone is WiFi 6 capable and my next laptop will most likely have it so would like to future proof with that if possible.

Would probably go with 3 WiFi extenders to cover the house.

I’ve had google WiFi in the past and it didn’t work well with sky Q so sold it. Also would like something that can record metrics such as total download/upload.

Suggestions please

I've SIRO and I just leave the ISP router in place for the wired connections and use the mesh to operate the WiFi around the house for me.

There is a difference between WiFi extenders and a Mesh system so I'm not sure if this is the best forum to be asking your questions, the folks over in the networking forums really know their stuff.

If you have cabling all over the house then it'd be fair to assume that you'll have gigabit speed through a cable in every room, I would guess that connecting a WiFi router like the FritzBox above, in a room where coverage is dropping and setting it into mesh mode would allow you to blanket cover the house. Personally, if I had cabling all over the house I'd be looking to use that as much as possible and keep WiFi usage to a minimum, cable will always trump WiFi.

babelfish1990

garo wrote: »

I have *ducks* never updated the firmware of a router. Never felt the need for it.
The Netgear X4S R7800 is the other option I am looking at.

Don't replace your router - just add a Mesh WiFi system, and turn off the WiFi in the eir router. Since you have wiring in place, you should consider going for a system that uses the wiring, to give you gigabit speeds at each access point. You might also consider going for access points that are powered over the Ethernet cabling (POE) - this will avoid the need for mains power at each node, and might allow you to position the nodes discretely, high on the walls or ceilings for better coverage. I can recommend the Ubiquiti UAP-AC-Lite.

Mesh systems give seamless WiFi coverage, with portable devices handing over smoothly as they move from one zone to the next. Very useful for services like WiFi Calling that require no breaks as you move between rooms.

I wouldn't recommend change your eir router, unless you have the IT Security knowledge and discipline to keep your replacement router patched with security patches to protect against new vulnerabilities that arise.

I've actually got a Netgear X4S R7800 myself and overall very happy with it *

If it is doing the job for you and there are no blackspots in your home, then I wouldn't bother going for a wifi mesh system.

Wifi systems are a great addition to the world of networking, but I also feel they are being oversold. Most people in a standard home don't really need them IMO.

A good quality router like the R7800, well positioned in a home, should easily be able to cover most typical Irish homes.

Of course some people have unusual homes, extra large, materials that cause interference, extra big garden, etc. and they need wifi systems and great that this option exists.

But wifi mesh adds complexity, expense and potential issues with interference between AP's and roaming between AP's

I feel a lot of people have crappy wifi due to cheap ISP supplied routers and bad positioning and then they jump straight to wifi mesh systems, when something like a R7800 probably would have solved their problems.

Wifi systems are great, but most people don't actually need them.

* The R7800 has fantastic speed and range, I get like 500mb/s out of it, nice. Two downsides, it doesn't support Netgears/Disneys latest parental controls and it only supports 32 devices per channel, which might be an issue for those of us with lots of HA wifi devices. I haven't hit the limit myself yet, but possible others might.

Wifi 5 versus Wifi 6 and no one mentioned Wifi 6E !!!

Wifi 6E will be massive, in particular for wifi systems. A whole new band to be used, 6GHz and more suited to wifi systems. Much faster speeds (more bandwidth) but only over shorter distances.

6GHz hasn't been approved yet in the EU, but likely only a matter of time now, given the US has approved it.

All the developments around Wifi 6 and 6E is part of the reason I'm happily sticking to my R7800 for now, wait for all this to mature and for devices that support them to launch, before upgrading and maybe considering wifi mesh (for 6GHz).

digiman

So far the Sagecom device from eir is performing well. I’m getting 600Mb/s beside the device and about 300Mb/a in other rooms around the house.

Won’t rush into any mesh setup yet, I think one of the best things about it is that it’s using channel 100 on 5ghz and there is no other neighbouring houses using that one. I was picking up 3 other devices on channel 36 which was probably causing lots of issues with the sky q mesh that I had been using.

For anyone interested in the TP Link Deco mesh system, the M4 triple pack is now available on Amazon for £99.99. I set up this kit in my house this week and I’d definitely recommend trying to hardwire at least 2 of the three if possible. I switched my VM hub into modem mode and The difference I’m getting now in my WiFi is unreal, getting 300-360Mbps everywhere in the house now whereas I used only get those speeds in the same room as my router, oh and not a single WiFi dropout on my iPhone or iPad since either.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07NH1J543/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_s9PgFbDQAXZTB

oneway2

I've just had a VM tech out to the house as i was only getting 275 speed i modem mode with a VM Hub 3.0 and a Netgear X8 AC router.
The tech replaced some cables and connected a new Hub 3.0 (same HW revision as the existing one). We were getting 500 speed on both wi-fi and Ethernet with the VM Hub 3.0 in router mode.
After the tech left, I put the Hub back into modem mode and now I'm back to the 275 (max 300) speed.
What's the top speed you can get in modem mode?
Is there any chance that modem mode has a lower max speed than router mode?

Gooey Looey

oneway2 wrote: »

I've just had a VM tech out to the house as i was only getting 275 speed i modem mode with a VM Hub 3.0 and a Netgear X8 AC router.
The tech replaced some cables and connected a new Hub 3.0 (same HW revision as the existing one). We were getting 500 speed on both wi-fi and Ethernet with the VM Hub 3.0 in router mode.
After the tech left, I put the Hub back into modem mode and now I'm back to the 275 (max 300) speed.
What's the top speed you can get in modem mode?
Is there any chance that modem mode has a lower max speed than router mode?

What router are you using with it?

oneway2 wrote: »

I've just had a VM tech out to the house as i was only getting 275 speed i modem mode with a VM Hub 3.0 and a Netgear X8 AC router.
The tech replaced some cables and connected a new Hub 3.0 (same HW revision as the existing one). We were getting 500 speed on both wi-fi and Ethernet with the VM Hub 3.0 in router mode.
After the tech left, I put the Hub back into modem mode and now I'm back to the 275 (max 300) speed.
What's the top speed you can get in modem mode?
Is there any chance that modem mode has a lower max speed than router mode?

Well I’m on the 360mb package and I’m getting close to that on wired and WiFi consistently now.

oneway2

NetGear X8 D8500 - tri-band AC router

oneway2

Aquos76 wrote: »

Well I’m on the 360mb package and I’m getting close to that on wired and WiFi consistently now.

Is that with the Hub in modem mode and your own Router?

What router are you using?