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Huawei Q2 Pro Mesh WiFi 3-pack - £139.99

  • 20-05-2020 4:34pm
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 228 ✭✭


    Saw this posted on another Boards thread and went for it. Expecting it to arrive tomorrow so can't comment on the quality or user experience yet. Total cost delivered is £150.23. For a 3 piece mesh WiFi system that is pretty good value. A quick search is showing the same kit as being over £200 elsewhere. I'll post a review as soon as I get it set up. For those that aren't bothered waiting on an independent review you can jump straight in here - https://www.box.co.uk/Huawei-WiFi-Q2-Pro-Wi-Fi-System-(3-Pack)_2784181.html


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Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 10,399 ✭✭✭✭ThunbergsAreGo


    mickotoole wrote: »
    Saw this posted on another Boards thread and went for it. Expecting it to arrive tomorrow so can't comment on the quality or user experience yet. Total cost delivered is £150.23. For a 3 piece mesh WiFi system that is pretty good value. A quick search is showing the same kit as being over £200 elsewhere. I'll post a review as soon as I get it set up. For those that aren't bothered waiting on an independent review you can jump straight in here - https://www.box.co.uk/Huawei-WiFi-Q2-Pro-Wi-Fi-System-(3-Pack)_2784181.html

    Would this be overkill over a 4 bed semi?


  • Registered Users Posts: 656 ✭✭✭Happy_Harry


    Definitely a bargain- but amazon reviews are a bit mixed


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,496 ✭✭✭GerardKeating


    mickotoole wrote: »
    Saw this posted on another Boards thread and went for it. Expecting it to arrive tomorrow so can't comment on the quality or user experience yet. Total cost delivered is £150.23. For a 3 piece mesh WiFi system that is pretty good value. A quick search is showing the same kit as being over £200 elsewhere. I'll post a review as soon as I get it set up. For those that aren't bothered waiting on an independent review you can jump straight in here - https://www.box.co.uk/Huawei-WiFi-Q2-Pro-Wi-Fi-System-(3-Pack)_2784181.html

    My reading of your link, is that you have bought 3 Base units

    I was looking at Amazon, and they seem to have 3 different options to buy

    1 Base, 1 Satellite
    1 Base, 2 Satellite
    3 Base units

    This sounds like a good concept, will be interested in your review when you ready.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭Zimmerframe


    Tempted to try these.
    Have Google wifi, which has rave reviews and yet they are the devils spawn and Google support is a waste of time.


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,842 ✭✭✭Soarer


    Bought the Deco M4 Triple Pack from Amazon last week for £100. They were price-matching Curry's.

    *Dons tinfoil hat*
    Do you really want Huawei to have access to your home internet?


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  • Registered Users Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭Zimmerframe


    Soarer wrote: »

    *Dons tinfoil hat*
    Do you really want Huawei to have access to your home internet?

    Yes as long as I can access it too, unlike the ones I have now. D:


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,042 ✭✭✭Pique


    So this is the kinda thing that someone in an old stone farmhouse with massive thick walls should have to get for WiFi coverage all over the house?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,563 ✭✭✭Wing126


    Soarer wrote: »
    Bought the Deco M4 Triple Pack from Amazon last week for £100. They were price-matching Curry's.

    *Dons tinfoil hat*
    Do you really want Huawei to have access to your home internet?


    TP-Link are also a Chinese company. Huawei were established as networking technology company before they started making phones too.



    *Dons my own tinfoil hat*

    If China wants our data, China will get it one way or the other.


  • Registered Users Posts: 228 ✭✭mickotoole


    OK, I received these yesterday and hooked them straight up.

    My set up previous to this was FTTH - EdgeRouter - Asus AC-RT68U wireless. Using a PiHole for DNS.

    The equipment is a complete doddle to set up and using the app on my phone I had the whole lot up and running in about 20 minutes. The app is handy but what surprised me was that there was a decent amount of functionality in the WebGUI.

    The good - Full coverage all over my house (4 bed semi). Good parental controls. I can kick the kids off the WiFi on a whim. Easy to set up. Good wired internet speed (getting 800Mbps down 200Mbps up through Cat6 connected to switch connected to the router). All devices are connected and having no issues with buffering or dropping connection which is the reason I looked to move in the first place.

    The bad - My house isn't huge but the power line functionality looks to be pretty poor. One of the units is getting 60Mbps and the other 32Mbps through the Powerline. Out of the box the 5G signal was using a channel that I believe were incompatible with most of my devices. As a result the devices were swapping to the 2.4GHz network (there is only 1 SSID broadcast btw which I particularly liked). Once I lowered that channel to a lower number the speeds picked up.

    I'm having some issues getting the PiHole working with this kit. There is an option to set a DNS server but everytime I use the internal IP of the PiHole no devices on the network can connect. I will most likely set up the PiHole as my DHCP server to enable the functionality but once I change anything I get a lots of complaints from the wife and kids that the internet isn't working. Once I get some more time to test I'll figure it all out.

    So far the kit is doing a good job. I'm not blown away by it but it was easy to set up and seems to give solid and consistent coverage all over the house.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭Zimmerframe


    How is port forwarding m8, is it done like on conventional routers ie you port forward an ip address ?
    My big gripe with Google wifi, is that while I have devices that work fine on my network as they should, have fixed ip addresses, are accessible, but Google wifi can't list them in the list of devices.
    Because Google wifi won't list them then they can't be forwarded.

    With google wifi, it searches all your devices and lists them eg Samsung tv, Imac, Shield tv etc etc
    So you can port forward your "Samsung tv", but you can't port forward a device with an ip address of 192.168.1.75, because despite it being totally accessible on your network, Google won't/can't list it so can't be done.
    I had Apple extremes years ago and they worked much better than Google wifi.

    Google seems to have dumbed down the interface, and decided if very few people have one of those, let's ignore that device.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 228 ✭✭mickotoole


    How is port forwarding m8, is it done like on conventional routers ie you port forward an ip address ?
    My big gripe with Google wifi, is that while I have devices that work fine on my network as they should, have fixed ip addresses, are accessible, but Google wifi can't list them in the list of devices.
    Because Google wifi won't list them then they can't be forwarded.

    With google wifi, it searches all your devices and lists them eg Samsung tv, Imac, Shield tv etc etc
    So you can port forward your "Samsung tv", but you can't port forward a device with an ip address of 192.168.1.75, because despite it being totally accessible on your network, Google won't/can't list it so can't be done.
    I had Apple extremes years ago and they worked much better than Google wifi.

    Google seems to have dumbed down the interface, and decided if very few people have one of those, let's ignore that device.

    Port forwarding is available to all devices that the router picks up as far as I can see. I've got some funky looking devices listed by the router, I think it could be smartwatches or something (I haven't had a chance to identify them yet) but anything that is on your network can be used to port forward to.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭Zimmerframe


    mickotoole wrote: »
    Port forwarding is available to all devices that the router picks up as far as I can see.

    Cheers m8.

    My issue is Google wifi does not pick up some devices, it ignores them totally, they don't show up anywhere yet they exist and work fine in a browser.
    So with a conventional router if I have a device like 192.168.1.75, then I just port forward that address, job done in 0 seconds.
    With Google wifi, my working device has not been officially found, so despite it working, it is deemed to not exist.
    Then port forwarding 192.168.1.75 can not be done, because it hasn't made the list.


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,711 ✭✭✭podgeandrodge


    mickotoole wrote: »
    OK, I received these yesterday and hooked them straight up.

    My set up previous to this was FTTH - EdgeRouter - Asus AC-RT68U wireless. Using a PiHole for DNS.

    The equipment is a complete doddle to set up and using the app on my phone I had the whole lot up and running in about 20 minutes. The app is handy but what surprised me was that there was a decent amount of functionality in the WebGUI.

    The good - Full coverage all over my house (4 bed semi). Good parental controls. I can kick the kids off the WiFi on a whim. Easy to set up. Good wired internet speed (getting 800Mbps down 200Mbps up through Cat6 connected to switch connected to the router). All devices are connected and having no issues with buffering or dropping connection which is the reason I looked to move in the first place.

    The bad - My house isn't huge but the power line functionality looks to be pretty poor. One of the units is getting 60Mbps and the other 32Mbps through the Powerline. Out of the box the 5G signal was using a channel that I believe were incompatible with most of my devices. As a result the devices were swapping to the 2.4GHz network (there is only 1 SSID broadcast btw which I particularly liked). Once I lowered that channel to a lower number the speeds picked up.

    I'm having some issues getting the PiHole working with this kit. There is an option to set a DNS server but everytime I use the internal IP of the PiHole no devices on the network can connect. I will most likely set up the PiHole as my DHCP server to enable the functionality but once I change anything I get a lots of complaints from the wife and kids that the internet isn't working. Once I get some more time to test I'll figure it all out.

    So far the kit is doing a good job. I'm not blown away by it but it was easy to set up and seems to give solid and consistent coverage all over the house.

    It's not powerline though no?


  • Registered Users Posts: 5,711 ✭✭✭podgeandrodge


    I have installed these in myself/friends/relations houses and find them excellent.

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Tenda-Coverage-Compatible-100Mbps-Configured/dp/B07H3CXJBH/

    https://www.currys.ie/ieen/computing-accessories/networking/whole-home-wi-fi-systems/tenda-nova-mw5-whole-home-wifi-system-triple-pack-10190570-pdt.html

    Don't go for MW3 if you see it on Amazon etc - it does not convert any more than 100mb internet and you want to maximise the potential for the wifi. The MW5 or MW5s both allow full speed in, so will give you the max wifi possible. The only difference between the MW5 and MW5s (1 in each link below and they are same price approx.) is that the MW5 in Currys has the 2 nodes for other rooms as "plug in" so they may appear neater than the S model where the 2 nodes are the same design as the main node. Personally, I like the currys one as they are neater for placement.

    https://cordcuttingreport.com/2019/01/04/mw5-mesh-router-review/


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,496 ✭✭✭GerardKeating


    Haven't actually open the box yet, but I orderded friday evening just before 6pm, and it arrived about 20 minutes ago.

    Hopefuly this is a good omen for it.


  • Registered Users Posts: 952 ✭✭✭gabbo is coming


    Haven't actually open the box yet, but I orderded friday evening just before 6pm, and it arrived about 20 minutes ago.

    Hopefuly this is a good omen for it.

    Hi

    Which is better, this or a couple of powering adapters?


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,496 ✭✭✭GerardKeating


    Haven't actually open the box yet, but I orderded friday evening just before 6pm, and it arrived about 20 minutes ago.

    Hopefuly this is a good omen for it.

    Will i unboxed it today and installed it and all seems well.

    The before enviromment was a LinkSys Wifi router hanging off the broadband, and a second (netgear) wifi router in the kitchen, connected via powerline adaptors. Wifi coverage was a bit patchy, sometimes in the bedrooms a phone will connect to the Kitchen router etc. House is a modern (2008) built bungalow.

    House has 4 computers, a few phones, two google mini's, a NAS and a bluray player on the network

    So the two routers and two homeplugs were ripped out, and the Huawei's plugged in, and almost everything worked first time.

    Well everything except the NAS, which disappeared off the network. Eventually i temporarily reconnected the old router, and found the NAS had a hardwired DNS and IP address, changeing this to dynamic, restored the Huawei's and all was well.

    Mostly happy with the new setup, but will stress test it over the next two week. It might be a fluke, but i noticed with my phone, I alway had wifi turned off since the 4G gave better performance than wifi, but i had the wifi one to run the Huawei app, several hours later, i realised phone was still on WiFi, and the usual lag was gone.

    Only very minor isssue is in the kitchen, the Netgear home plugs have a passthrough socket, so something plugs in behind it, so one item will not get plugged in, untill i get a bigger power stripe, or relocate it.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,958 ✭✭✭✭Shefwedfan


    I found this and posted on other ofrum but forgot to post here

    I have bought 2 boxes of them. A total of 6 units. They are great. The app is a little new compared to some of the other competition.

    You can buy smaller satellites but I have yet to find them standalone


  • Registered Users Posts: 952 ✭✭✭gabbo is coming


    Shefwedfan wrote: »
    I found this and posted on other ofrum but forgot to post here

    I have bought 2 boxes of them. A total of 6 units. They are great. The app is a little new compared to some of the other competition.

    You can buy smaller satellites but I have yet to find them standalone

    Just bought a set. Seem like good value and future proof to support 1Gb whenever Virgin upgrade


  • Registered Users Posts: 968 ✭✭✭Str8outtaWuhan


    any work around to getting it delivered to ireland, cost GBP150 to ireland and GBP154 to NI?


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,958 ✭✭✭✭Shefwedfan


    any work around to getting it delivered to ireland, cost GBP150 to ireland and GBP154 to NI?


    I checked and the 10 pound flat fee was best way.....


    I did end up buying about 500 quid worth of stuff as they have good value across a number of products, still was a 10 pound flat fee


  • Registered Users Posts: 7,496 ✭✭✭GerardKeating


    any work around to getting it delivered to ireland, cost GBP150 to ireland and GBP154 to NI?

    Shipping to ireland only £10.24, and fast, I ordered friday 6pm, and had it lunchtime monday. and it was a Bank Holiday in the UK at weekend.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,958 ✭✭✭✭Shefwedfan


    Shipping to ireland only £10.24, and fast, I ordered friday 6pm, and had it lunchtime monday. and it was a Bank Holiday in the UK at weekend.


    Plus they are about 100 quid cheaper than elsewhere


    But also a good reason to buy other non essential electronic


  • Registered Users Posts: 10,399 ✭✭✭✭ThunbergsAreGo


    Shefwedfan wrote: »
    Plus they are about 100 quid cheaper than elsewhere


    But also a good reason to buy other non essential electronic

    You seem very knowledgeable and have tried many of these. Are the Huawei overkill for a 4 bed semi?

    Just looking for a bit of garden and attic coverage


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,958 ✭✭✭✭Shefwedfan


    You seem very knowledgeable and have tried many of these. Are the Huawei overkill for a 4 bed semi?

    Just looking for a bit of garden and attic coverage


    I love technology and got it into my head a few months back to get a mesh.....since then I have bought and sold/returned 4-5 system. Huawei is my latest and probably last purchase.


    Read more on this thread: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058072654

    I also gave a review of the other options on the market


  • Registered Users Posts: 10,399 ✭✭✭✭ThunbergsAreGo


    Shefwedfan wrote: »
    I love technology and got it into my head a few months back to get a mesh.....since then I have bought and sold/returned 4-5 system. Huawei is my latest and probably last purchase.


    Read more on this thread: https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2058072654

    I also gave a review of the other options on the market

    Yeah same myself, have a niggle in my mind to get it but not sure what's worth it.

    Cheers


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 18,958 ✭✭✭✭Shefwedfan


    Yeah same myself, have a niggle in my mind to get it but not sure what's worth it.

    Cheers


    The huawei is incredible value for money for box.co.uk.....I spent more on TP-link adapters which is replaced and it is 5-6 times better


  • Registered Users Posts: 567 ✭✭✭Kencollins


    I'm about to pull the trigger on the Q2, but need a little more information.

    Can they be daisy-chained via Ethernet? This would be preferable over using the power line capabilities.

    Eir router > Node 1
    Node 1 > Node 2
    Node 2 > Node 3

    It's also unclear from the specifications if the nodes can communicate over 5ghz if they are within range, or is powerline always a preference in them?

    Thanks!

    Ken


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,657 ✭✭✭Zimmerframe


    Kencollins wrote: »
    I'm about to pull the trigger on the Q2, but need a little more information.

    Can they be daisy-chained via Ethernet? This would be preferable over using the power line capabilities.

    Eir router > Node 1
    Node 1 > Node 2
    Node 2 > Node 3

    It's also unclear from the specifications if the nodes can communicate over 5ghz if they are within range, or is powerline always a preference in them?

    Thanks!

    Ken


    Haven’t got a chance to setup mine yet, but you are supposed to be able to daisy chain by Ethernet - lan on main unit to wan on next unit


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  • Registered Users Posts: 7,496 ✭✭✭GerardKeating


    Kencollins wrote: »
    Can they be daisy-chained via Ethernet? This would be preferable over using the power line capabilities.

    I installed a set over the weekend, and use the "power line capabilities" to link them and do not have the option to link via Ethernet.

    I will note that all thre units have 3 Ethernet ports, one labeled WAN.

    Obviously the "WAN" port on the main unit is for your boardband connection. I cannot think the secondard units would have a WAN port. I did have my BluRay player connected via the WAN port on a secondary unit, and it kept losing the network connection, moving it to a "LAN" port seems to have resolve the issue, so perhaps the "WAN" port on the secondary units is for Ethernet backhaul. but nothing in the extensive manuals to support this.


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