Wifi mesh systems

Debs91 · 06-01-2021 11:40PM

Damien360 wrote: »

Are you using the TP-link as a router after the Vodafone modem ? Or is it an AP ?

I have virgin BB and put it in modem mode with Google mesh router and 2 x AP's. Not cheap but gives good coverage. Overkill possibly.

If you have a router and want to use the TP-link as a AP, you could try connect it to the router via powerline connections and then let it be a AP to other wireless devices or a couple of wired in that one location also. I had a similar setup previously but you loose a lot of speed over powerline (drops to 15% of house input in my case). But you get stability.

Depends what you wish to spend and your needs in each location. Google mesh is very good but doesn't give the coverage they advertise (in my case anyway). Just like any wifi 5Ghz signal, it cannot penetrate solid walls very well. It does have 2.4GHz auto switching built in to get around that. So I had to add another AP point to my purchase of one router and one AP. The setup and control in the app though is excellent.

I’m using it as an extender from the Vodafone Modem, I find the signal isn’t as strong in the rooms & it can’t stream radio stations in the garage smoothly - it breaks up at points. Does it matter where the TP is located, it’s in the attic at the moment?

54and56 · 07-01-2021 03:48PM

Gooey Looey wrote: »

What you've got is a /29 subnet with 6 hosts. If you don't have a use for them it doesn't matter. Businesses use them for internet facing services, web, vpn, voip etc. If you are hosting stuff at home it could come in useful to have this on a different public IP, Plex or Emby maybe?

Thanks Gooey Looey, I appreciate the info.

I don't run any internet facing services from my home office facility but I do run two Plex servers so I should investigate how allocating two of the fixed IP addresses to those might be beneficial. They are only used externally by 12-15 friends and family fairly intermittently (more so since Covid) so not a big deal but if a static IP address would improve security and/or performance it might be worth doing.

Clareman · 07-01-2021 04:42PM

54and56 wrote: »

Thanks Gooey Looey, I appreciate the info.

I don't run any internet facing services from my home office facility but I do run two Plex servers so I should investigate how allocating two of the fixed IP addresses to those might be beneficial. They are only used externally by 12-15 friends and family fairly intermittently (more so since Covid) so not a big deal but if a static IP address would improve security and/or performance it might be worth doing.

I used to run a plex server via IP and also via DynDNS, long story short, don't bother, their own service is so much easier and better just use that.

Gooey Looey · 07-01-2021 08:05PM

Clareman wrote: »

I used to run a plex server via IP and also via DynDNS, long story short, don't bother, their own service is so much easier and better just use that.

Yeah, I now use Emby so I forgot you won't need it for Plex as you authenticate with Plex servers.

Irish Gunner · 08-01-2021 12:34PM

I have Virgin 500 package and have it bridged and using TP link router and also have WFH PC hardwired so thats ok. So have 2.4g and 5g

However the wifi on phone keeps dropping now and again. Also looking at putting another TV in the room and android box/firestick for streaming.

However cannot run another cable into the room so looking at wifi mesh to run android box but think it maybe overkill and having to change settings on router

Looked at WIFI extenders and not sure if they are worthwhile or for what I want should they work or any other options

RangeR · 08-01-2021 12:45PM

I use Google WIFI x 3. One wired to the Virgin Media router and two others dotted around the house. WIFI is fantastic and up to 300+Mbps wifi speed depending on the device.

Just tested [internal wifi speed]:
302Mbps to Firestick [2 rooms away - maybe 10 meters as crow flies, 2 x stud partition]
363Mbps to OnePlus 7Pro [2 meters from AP]

Up until yesterday, I just couldn't fault it [other than by being owned by Google and having to use their admin app so no web interface]. However, yesterday I put a VPN router between it and the VM bridged router [just to thinker about]. I then found out that the Google Wifi mesh can only be a mesh if one of it's hub are the router. So now I'm double natted. The alternative [and keep the vpn router] is to use the 3 x google wifi hubs as standalone wifi AP's. There is no other option other than removing the VPN router.

So, for a standard set up with VM router as a bridge and Google mesh as THE router, it just works. As a power user, I would love a web interface but it's not a deal breaker for me, just an inconvenience.

Leftwaffe · 08-01-2021 12:46PM

Redordeadqwwer wrote: »

Considering the TP Link Deco M4. Anyone any experience with this model? Seems reasonable. €120 for 3 pack in Harvey Norman.

Bluefoam · 08-01-2021 12:50PM

Irish Gunner wrote: »

I have Virgin 500 package and have it bridged and using TP link router and also have WFH PC hardwired so thats ok. So have 2.4g and 5g

However the wifi on phone keeps dropping now and again. Also looking at putting another TV in the room and android box/firestick for streaming.

However cannot run another cable into the room so looking at wifi mesh to run android box but think it maybe overkill and having to change settings on router

Looked at WIFI extenders and not sure if they are worthwhile or for what I want should they work or any other options

A good mesh WiFi is well worth the money. I have a 250mb line & a two part mesh... It's fanfeckin'tastic. The cable modem has wifi disabled and connected directly to the mesh. Anything needing a wired connection is direct to the modem. Only downside is that they need to be located in one location, or I need another mesh point with an ethernet port.

I don't have a TV connection + working from home with lots of zoom calls, large file downloads, wireless printing, plus I have gone overkill on smart home etc... & it was well worth investing in.

The future is going to place more demands on our data needs... This has me future proofed, at least for the medium term...

Bluefoam · 08-01-2021 12:55PM

Redordeadqwwer wrote: »

Redordeadqwwer wrote: »

Considering the TP Link Deco M4. Anyone any experience with this model? Seems reasonable. €120 for 3 pack in Harvey Norman.

Whats the upper limit in terms of line speed? some systems only accomodate 100mb download...

[edit] seems to do up to 300, which is reasonable.

Optimus Prime · 08-01-2021 02:14PM

Hi, does anyone have this Fritzbox mesh repeater ?

I have Siro with Digiweb and the provided the Fritzbox, but i had to get it put in the front room behind the TV. im finding the signal drops sometimes in the back of the house now. I was thinking about getting this

https://digiweb.ie/product/fritz-3000-repeater/

But wanted to see if anyone has any experience with it first?

Thanks a lot

Clareman · 08-01-2021 02:20PM

Optimus Prime wrote: »

Hi, does anyone have this Fritzbox mesh repeater ?

I have Siro with Digiweb and the provided the Fritzbox, but i had to get it put in the front room behind the TV. im finding the signal drops sometimes in the back of the house now. I was thinking about getting this

https://digiweb.ie/product/fritz-3000-repeater/

But wanted to see if anyone has any experience with it first?

Thanks a lot

I have an ISP supplied Fritzbox and when I was looking into getting mesh first I decided against going down the Fritz route as I didn't want to be tied to a router supplied by the ISP, I wanted to be independent.

degsie · 08-01-2021 02:28PM

Optimus Prime wrote: »

Hi, does anyone have this Fritzbox mesh repeater ?

I have Siro with Digiweb and the provided the Fritzbox, but i had to get it put in the front room behind the TV. im finding the signal drops sometimes in the back of the house now. I was thinking about getting this

https://digiweb.ie/product/fritz-3000-repeater/

But wanted to see if anyone has any experience with it first?

Thanks a lot

The positioning of the router means that your wifi signal is likely partially blocked by the TV due to shielding. Reposition your router to where the radio signals have a clearer path.

Optimus Prime · 08-01-2021 03:07PM

I have it up over the height of the TV on the wall.

Clareman · 08-01-2021 03:13PM

Optimus Prime wrote: »

I have it up over the height of the TV on the wall.

Looking at the device you linked to it's €139 for 1 device, for that price you could get a decent mesh Deco or something that will work no matter what ISP router you get.

meztli · 08-01-2021 03:22PM

that repeater is not cheap. Wouldn't a mesh be better for that price?

Deagol · 08-01-2021 03:31PM

Optimus Prime wrote: »

Hi, does anyone have this Fritzbox mesh repeater ?

I have Siro with Digiweb and the provided the Fritzbox, but i had to get it put in the front room behind the TV. im finding the signal drops sometimes in the back of the house now. I was thinking about getting this

https://digiweb.ie/product/fritz-3000-repeater/

But wanted to see if anyone has any experience with it first?

Thanks a lot

Hi, I have one of them, great piece of kit. And for those who are not aware, it is MESH compatible.

Optimus Prime · 08-01-2021 03:37PM

Deagol wrote: »

Hi, I have one of them, great piece of kit. And for those who are not aware, it is MESH compatible.

Thanks , so if I went with that , I just put it in another room within signal range and it connectors to the router extending the WiFi network ?

Deagol · 08-01-2021 03:44PM

Optimus Prime wrote: »

Thanks , so if I went with that , I just put it in another room within single range and it connectors to the router extending the WiFi network ?

Yup - I was trying to remember the exact way it works but was so simple I've totally forgotten how it went

There's a LED on the front that glows different colours depending on how good a connection it has to the base router. So you can plug it in in different power sockets / locations to see where is best place.

For reference, I have the Fritzbox from Digiweb plus the Fritz mesh repeater covering a two storey, 3500sqft house. Signal everywhere though I could do with a bit of a boost in the very furthest corner.

Optimus Prime · 08-01-2021 03:44PM

Clareman wrote: »

Looking at the device you linked to it's €139 for 1 device, for that price you could get a decent mesh Deco or something that will work no matter what ISP router you get.

Which one did you go for it you don’t mind me asking ? Thanks

Deagol · 08-01-2021 03:47PM

Clareman wrote: »

Looking at the device you linked to it's €139 for 1 device, for that price you could get a decent mesh Deco or something that will work no matter what ISP router you get.

Bit of a loss to understand what you are talking about here. The Fritzbox stuff is not tied to any ISP etc.. and the repeater will work with any other mesh compatible router / mesh repeater etc...

Mesh (802.11s) is an open standard that is interoperable regardless of manufacturer.

Deagol · 08-01-2021 03:50PM

meztli wrote: »

that repeater is not cheap. Wouldn't a mesh be better for that price?

No idea what you are talking about there. Mesh refers to 802.11s, which is an open wifi standard. Fritzbox 3000 repeater is mesh compatible so I can't figure out what you mean when you refer to 'a mesh'?

Clareman · 08-01-2021 03:54PM

Optimus Prime wrote: »

Which one did you go for it you don’t mind me asking ? Thanks

I've the Google setup myself but I got 1 of these for a friend and they are a great job
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Deco-S4-3-pack-Beamforming/dp/B0851D6MXY/ref=sr_1_18?dchild=1&keywords=TP+Link+AC1200&qid=1606495489&sr=8-18

Gregor Samsa · 08-01-2021 03:55PM

Deagol wrote: »

Mesh (802.11s) is an open standard that is interoperable regardless of manufacturer.

Deagol wrote: »

No idea what you are talking about there. Mesh refers to 802.11s, which is an open wifi standard.

I think you misunderstand what mesh networking is.

802.11s is indeed an open wireless LAN standard that facilitates mesh networking. But not all mesh networks use 802.11s. "mesh" is a topology, not a standard. You can create a mesh network using various different standards. 802.11s is just one of them. "Mesh" products from different manufactures will not necessarily work with each other.

Have a look at the table on this page:

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/mesh/

TP-Link Deco mesh products, for instance, don't use 802.11s. They use 802.11k/v/r for their mesh protocol.

Netgear Orbi uses 802.11k/v

Google WiFi does use 802.11s

The two do not mean the same thing.

Irish Gunner · 08-01-2021 05:35PM

Bluefoam wrote: »

A good mesh WiFi is well worth the money. I have a 250mb line & a two part mesh... It's fanfeckin'tastic. The cable modem has wifi disabled and connected directly to the mesh. Anything needing a wired connection is direct to the modem. Only downside is that they need to be located in one location, or I need another mesh point with an ethernet port.

I don't have a TV connection + working from home with lots of zoom calls, large file downloads, wireless printing, plus I have gone overkill on smart home etc... & it was well worth investing in.

The future is going to place more demands on our data needs... This has me future proofed, at least for the medium term...

Currently have Archer C9 modem that is linked to the Virgin router and working fine so far

Was looking at getting the Orbi mesh

https://www.netgear.com/home/wifi/mesh/rbk50

Or google but that does not have Ethernet ??

So take it one of these orbi would replace Archer and would have to go through the bridge method again to the Virgin router and the hard wire cable to pc would connect to orbi?

Then place second Orbi in the weak spot of wifi in house ?

Could add more if necessary. Dont want to muck around with internet while WFH so hopefully easy to install. Also give me more access to limit internet time via app etc

This correct?

Deagol · 08-01-2021 06:23PM

Gregor Samsa wrote: »

I think you misunderstand what mesh networking is.

802.11s is indeed an open wireless LAN standard that facilitates mesh networking. But not all mesh networks use 802.11s. "mesh" is a topology, not a standard. You can create a mesh network using various different standards. 802.11s is just one of them. "Mesh" products from different manufactures will not necessarily work with each other.

Have a look at the table on this page:

https://www.tp-link.com/uk/mesh/

TP-Link Deco mesh products, for instance, don't use 802.11s. They use 802.11k/v/r for their mesh protocol.

Netgear Orbi uses 802.11k/v

Google WiFi does use 802.11s

The two do not mean the same thing.

Sheesh- why do people always complicate it. Most mesh devices will work with one another - yes? Wasn't aware that some where not using 802.11S though so fair enough.

In this case, some people are giving advise that makes no sense - saying that they you are somehow tied to using Fritzbox stuff if you have a Fritz router.

Not true at all. The poster asked about the Fritz repeater 3000 and instead of saying nothing because they didn't have an answer, some people instead muddied the waters by answering a question the poster didn't ask. I was trying to clear up the confusion by pointing out that they didn't seem to have any expertise in the subject.

Leftwaffe · 08-01-2021 06:26PM

Took the plunge on the Deco M4 3 Pack. €120 in Harvey Norman. Now to set it up.

Gregor Samsa · 08-01-2021 06:34PM

Deagol wrote: »

Sheesh- why do people always complicate it.

Maybe because it's actually more complicated than you said it was. Twice.

Deco mesh products (incredibly popular on this thread) don't work with Google WiFi mesh products (also very popular), for instance.

You can't just come on here and say they'll all work together when they actually won't. Well, you can, but you're going to have to deal with being corrected for doing so.

dam099 · 08-01-2021 07:05PM

Clareman wrote: »

Looking at the device you linked to it's €139 for 1 device, for that price you could get a decent mesh Deco or something that will work no matter what ISP router you get.

The Deco's are great value and a fine choice but if Optimus only needs one additional Wifi point to get coverage and doesn't want to or can't use wired backhaul the Fritz repeater looks like it's tri-band so may give an performance advantage over the cheaper Deco's.

Leftwaffe · 09-01-2021 12:22AM

Question. The Deco M4 created the one network for 2.4ghz and 5ghz WiFi. I never know which one I’m on. Is it advisable to set up 2 separate networks for 2.4ghz and 5ghz?

Also, do they relay 5ghz effectively? I have approx 450mb (from 500mb line) when next to the main Deco. But when I move to the upstairs one I’m picking up around 50mb. I know they have band steering so can I expect the deco to switch me to the 5ghz whenever it is needed?

Cyrus · 09-01-2021 09:15AM

Redordeadqwwer wrote: »

Question. The Deco M4 created the one network for 2.4ghz and 5ghz WiFi. I never know which one I’m on. Is it advisable to set up 2 separate networks for 2.4ghz and 5ghz?

Also, do they relay 5ghz effectively? I have approx 450mb (from 500mb line) when next to the main Deco. But when I move to the upstairs one I’m picking up around 50mb. I know they have band steering so can I expect the deco to switch me to the 5ghz whenever it is needed?

Set up two separate ssids and connect to the 5ghz one only on devices that can take a 5ghz signal.

Wifi mesh systems

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