Wireless Mesh Network?

[begreen]

Has anyone set up a modern wireless mesh network. We are long overdue for an upgrade, but the standards keep changing. At CES they are already announcing new modems that will use the 6GHZ band for the backhaul. I am willing to buy one step behind state of the art, these things are expensive, but also want to avoid obsolescence. Our prerequisites are that it supports Wifi6, has at least 3 LAN ports on the base station, has excellent range and reliability, and not need an engineer to set up. The goal is to not only cover the house but ideally the garden area next to the house too. If necessary I can put one unit in the greenhouse for that. It's 60ft from the house. What I don't want is Google, Apple or Amazon listening in. And I don't want a network booster, that has a separate login to manage.

Recommendations?

 

[Nealm66]

I hear a lot of good feedback about orbi (net gear) not sure the specs

 

[begreen]

I hear a lot of good feedback about orbi (net gear) not sure the specs

Yes, my current system is Netgear and it has worked without a hiccup for the past 7 years.

 

[Nealm66]

I believe they make a few different levels of they’re mesh network devices

Most of them are set up through an app

Just follow prompts and some will show color for placement, some will learn and guide with app

Your basically looking for a good reflection point and avoid leapfrog

 

[Nealm66]

I use either airport utility tool or wifi analyzer app to check signal strength. Good rule of thumb is better than -65. Each pod should be placed within this range and far enough away from another satellite device so as to avoid leapfrog. You can check each pod by it’s Mac as it won’t always broadcast a name

 

[Bad LP]

Orbi here. Not a tech geek but it works solidly.
I’d buy another if it died tomorrow

 

[Nealm66]

If you have trouble finding the Ethernet ports available, a simple gigabit switch is an inexpensive alternative

 

[faultymechanics]

Ubiquiti Amplifi is a good option for you: https://amplifi.com/amplifi-hd

Just so you know, while wifi6 is the new thing. Don’t feel like you need to dive onboard right now.

I just upgraded my setup for the new house and went with a Ubiquiti Dream Machine and a gigabit switch and that will have us covered for years to come.

 

[festerw]

I don't have any opinion on the Wifi6 aspect but I've been using Asus AIMesh routers for awhile and they're pretty easy to set up.

 

[begreen]

Ubiquiti Amplifi is a good option for you: https://amplifi.com/amplifi-hd

Just so you know, while wifi6 is the new thing. Don’t feel like you need to dive onboard right now.

I just upgraded my setup for the new house and went with a Ubiquiti Dream Machine and a gigabit switch and that will have us covered for years to come.

My son's wireless connection to his computer is WiFi 6 capable. He would be the beneficiary. My iPhone would too, but I am not a heavy hitter on the phone wireless usage. The intent was to be more futureproof, but I see now a lot of the new routers will have a 6GHz backhaul, so maybe I am better to not worry about it. No matter what you buy it will be out of date shortly, even if it cost a fortune.

I have been trying to avoid adding a gigabit switch just to gain ports. It's another wall wart and parasitic load and I am running out of plug space.

 

[Nealm66]

Well, you have certainly helped a tremendous amount of people. I have a basic understanding of how they work and how to troubleshoot problems and if I can help I certainly will. Good luck with your choice!

 

[begreen]

Thanks. I suspect I will be getting a Netgear Orbi or Linksys Velop, but nothing decided yet. We don't need gigabit+ throughput, but good range and rock steady operation are important.

 

[Nealm66]

One thing to keep in mind about range, wifi channels overlap with neighbors. If there’s a lot of networks close by, it narrows the bandwidth even for mesh networks with band steering

 

[begreen]

No problem, but thanks for the heads up. We have a couple acres separating us from neighbors.

 

[ABMax24]

Depending on speed required I'd be tempted to run on the 2.4GHz (Wireless N) spectrum. It's definitely not the fastest, but the signal often carries the furthest.

That being said most new equipment should have the option to manually force 2.4GHz should you need to try and increase range.

But I'm not familiar with mesh networks, mainly because I've never needed more range than a single router can provide.

 

[semipro]

One caution about wireless mesh networks - latency.
I've worked with commercial mesh networks and each hop adds a bit of delay.
If someone was doing time-critical work/play then mesh wireless networking may cause problems.
I have no idea if this is the case with Wi-Fi mesh systems but I'd suggest confirming it's not, or that it doesn't matter for your usage.

 

[Nealm66]

It definitely is the case. We call it leapfrogging. It’s why I like to see the signal strength of each device for placement. For an out building it may be the only way without hardline

 

[begreen]

Depending on speed required I'd be tempted to run on the 2.4GHz (Wireless N) spectrum. It's definitely not the fastest, but the signal often carries the furthest.

Good to know, that makes sense. Our out of the house (patio and garden) needs would be low speed. Mostly email and browsing and maybe some H.com moderating. That area would be 30-60 ft away from the satellite.

 

[festerw]

Good to know, that makes sense. Our out of the house (patio and garden) needs would be low speed. Mostly email and browsing and maybe some H.com moderating. That area would be 30-60 ft away from the satellite.

Even at a range your likely going to have enough speed on 2.4 for most things. Our deck is about 60ft from the router through 3 walls and we can still stream 1080 video for the projector.

 

[begreen]

Even at a range your likely going to have enough speed on 2.4 for most things. Our deck is about 60ft from the router through 3 walls and we can still stream 1080 video for the projector.

Thanks, that's good to know. The router or base router is in my office and would be on the diagonally opposite corner of the house about or about 50 ft away from the satellite and 80-120' away from the garden area. I suppose I could reverse wire the setup and put the primary router closer to the garden, but I need good bandwidth at my office location. My son's computer is directly above. What router are you using?

 

[festerw]

Thanks, that's good to know. The router or base router is in my office and would be on the diagonally opposite corner of the house about or about 50 ft away from the satellite and 80-120' away from the garden area. I suppose I could reverse wire the setup and put the primary router closer to the garden, but I need good bandwidth at my office location. My son's computer is directly above. What router are you using?

I'm using an older model of this Amazon product ASIN B01N08LPPP
You can use any Asus AIMesh compatible router and add multiple nodes fairly easily.

 

[TradEddie]

You may not need a mesh system with newer routers. I've been excessively stubborn about upgrading but my re flashed DD-WRT Access Point died and the primary router couldn't handle everything so I caved and got a TP-link AX3000. I've been blown away by the reliability, speed and range improvement. I can get 10-15Mbps 100ft away from the single router. Keep in mind, the 5Ghz band may be faster, but it's far more easily blocked, for those distant devices, 2.5Ghz ends up faster.

TE

 

[begreen]

I've heard good things about that router.

 

[Nealm66]

I believe a mesh network would be the best for your situation. I would center and spider out if possible. With a good system, the outlying areas work as well as the main. If you corner the main you will likely end up with leap frogs

 

[begreen]

I believe a mesh network would be the best for your situation. I would center and spider out if possible. With a good system, the outlying areas work as well as the main. If you corner the main you will likely end up with leap frogs

Good point. Such is the layout of the house that I would have to do some notable rewiring to relocate the main to the center of the house in order to get ethernet wiring to non-wireless devices on the system. However, I am building toward the future so maybe wired devices will become something of the past. I ordered an Orbi today with one satellite. That will get my feet wet and allow me to determine what works well (and not) in our situation. I will start off with the main and the remote on the opposite corners of the house on the first floor, then test all around to see how well the signal is distributed. If there are problems, then I may need to adjust the plan.