Mesh Wifi systems

mav2000

Skilled
Has anyone used any of the new mesh wifi systems? I am planning to buy one so just wanted to check if there were others who have used them and how well do they work.

I am currently using 2 mi wifi routers together to cover my house, but I still have a number of dead spots. I was hoping a mesh system would help sort this out.
 
Which one are you looking at currently?
I would say, Ubiquiti would be a notch higher than others considering they deal in Industrial quality components and features rather than consumer quality.
 
Orbi RBK50
I used a combination of a primary Netgear r7000 coupled with 2 wired APs but the whole setup always fell short of expectations

With the Orbi RBK50, I am getting anywhere between 300-800mbps in most rooms of a 2 floor 3500 sqft house
even in the farthest corners where I previously had near zero connectivity - I am getting 50+mbps - even at the outer edge of the garden which is 100 ft away from the satellite and a couple of walls in between.
Streaming works great everywhere, devices switch between router and satellite near seamlessly
The backhaul speed between router and satellite is 1300/1300 - although they are vertically close (the satellite is placed right above the router on the 1st floor with the floor concrete in between)
 
4 TP-Link Deco M5 in my office. Works brilliantly. To test, I removed the LAN on one of them, the device went offline for about 3 seconds and then came back online.

Cost is an issue, plus the app only as well - some security issues.
 
Have been using a Netgear Orbi system with 3 devices to cover 2 floors which has been working flawlessly till now. Throughput is similar to what @superczar has mentioned above and the range is usable on the third floor as well. At times the device on the second floor blinks saying that the connectivity with the other 2 is weak, but it recovers on its own in a minute or two and I've never had to restart it.

Orbi gives you different sized satellites including a wall pluggable one, depending on the coverage and speed you need.

Google and Eero systems at the time that I was buying, couldn't be used as an access point and needed to have the WAN routed through them, which was a deal breaker for me. Plus their bandwidth was somewhat limited.

Ubiquiti would have been the most robust choice, but I needed extra LAN ports at the point where the satellites are kept, and a switch was something that the Orbi provided.
 
Have been using a Netgear Orbi system with 3 devices to cover 2 floors which has been working flawlessly till now. Throughput is similar

Doesn't the backhaul reduce when using 2 satellites. Smallnetbuilder seems to say so in their review. The best feature of Orbi is their quad stream backhaul but according to Smallnetbuilder speeds would halve in 2 hop situation when using 2 satellites. Have found contradictory statements online, so asking you.
 
Been looking at a few on amazon and it seems that over the last year or so everyone has launched their own versions of mesh. Again, there seems to be no concensus . So let me put it this way. Good but cheaper the better.
 
You will have to define how much bandwidth you would need. Nearly all of these mesh systems will cover a home easily these days but you have to see whether the backhaul can even carry the data you will be using.
In my case, range is covered by even the cheapest system available, but the wireless standards don't have enough bandwidth for my needs hence I am going for a wired setup as I need continuous stream from 5 CCTV cameras and the number would increase in the future.

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-howto/33185-wi-fi-mesh-system-secrets
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...s/33023-don-t-get-caught-in-the-wireless-mesh
 
If you are looking at cheap, i think Tenda was the cheapest. I am not sure now.

For your requirement, why don't you setup repeaters? Won't that be cheaper?
 
I have currently setup repeater system with 2 mi wifi;s. But for some reason it does not seem to be working very well. It does not seem to work very well through walls, but it could also be that its too low as the repeater is placed about 1 foot from the ground level, because of plug points. I am trying to figure that out but in the meanwhile also trying to see if these will work better.
 
If I place the main unit (the one with the WAN connection) in the first floor and then place one unit each in the ground and second floors do I have to worry about backhaul? If the mesh system under consideration (Tenda Nova MW6) is dual band AC1200 under what conditions does the lack of backhaul band become a crippling factor. If I do not foresee using a WAN speed beyond 400 mbps can I get away with the lack of the third band?
 
I have currently setup repeater system with 2 mi wifi;s. But for some reason it does not seem to be working very well. It does not seem to work very well through walls, but it could also be that its too low as the repeater is placed about 1 foot from the ground level, because of plug points. I am trying to figure that out but in the meanwhile also trying to see if these will work better.

You can buy better range routers for cheap. I am using a TP-Link WR 941HP. It is currently kept on the ground floor of my 1200sq ft house and yet I get - 65dB signal at the second floor. Cost me just 3500 bucks.
 
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If I place the main unit (the one with the WAN connection) in the first floor and then place one unit each in the ground and second floors do I have to worry about backhaul? If the mesh system under consideration (Tenda Nova MW6) is dual band AC1200 under what conditions does the lack of backhaul band become a crippling factor. If I do not foresee using a WAN speed beyond 400 mbps can I get away with the lack of the third band?
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...mw6-nova-whole-home-mesh-wifi-system-reviewed

Since your system will be a 1-hop system, overall speeds will be good.
The issue I see is, that the Tenda system isn't priced as VFM over here whereas it was available for as low as $130 in the US. Infact, the Deco M5 is available cheaper online and it bests the Tenda system at every step.
Also, the difference between the best performing Netgear RBK50 is not much, going by online prices. Check if you can get the Tenda at competitive pricing from the distributor. Still, the Deco M5 at the same price seems a better option.
 
Doesn't the backhaul reduce when using 2 satellites. Smallnetbuilder seems to say so in their review. The best feature of Orbi is their quad stream backhaul but according to Smallnetbuilder speeds would halve in 2 hop situation when using 2 satellites. Have found contradictory statements online, so asking you.

Well, the Orbi wasn't a true mesh to begin with as the satellites always tried to connect to the base station. Its reflected in the initial review by SNB as well. They've recently upgraded firmware to allow multi-hop, but I think priority is still given to connection directly to the base station. Of course, if placement restrictions are not a problem I guess, optimal placement can be taken advantage of to benefit from this.

In my case due to the placement, the top floor satellite still always connects to the base station which I've tested while turning off one of the satellites while cleaning. The blinking on the satellite at times I assume, is when it checks which of the connections is stronger and connects to the better one. Apart from that, my internet tops out at 150 Mbps and usage on the top floor is mostly restricted to browsing, music or full HD streaming, while file transfers and 4K streaming mostly happen on the floor below. So real world usage is barely hampered.

In the OP's case though, a 2-pack should be enough which would provide the max throughput.

https://www.gizbot.com/amphtml/inte...-system-052845.html?__twitter_impression=true

Linksys Velop Dual-Band Whole Home Mesh WiFi System (1-Pack) WHW0101 - Rs 7,999

Linksys Velop Dual-Band Whole Home Mesh WiFi System (2-Pack) WHW0102 - Rs 14,999

Linksys Velop Dual-Band Whole Home Mesh WiFi System (3-Pack) WHW0103 - Rs 21,999

That cheap! Where? I can only find the 2 pack (dual band) one on Amazon.in at ~29K. The tri band is nowhere to be found. While on Amazon.com both are available much cheaper
 
https://www.linksys.com/in/wheretobuy/
Well, the Orbi wasn't a true mesh to begin with as the satellites always tried to connect to the base station. Its reflected in the initial review by SNB as well. They've recently upgraded firmware to allow multi-hop, but I think priority is still given to connection directly to the base station. Of course, if placement restrictions are not a problem I guess, optimal placement can be taken advantage of to benefit from this.

In my case due to the placement, the top floor satellite still always connects to the base station which I've tested while turning off one of the satellites while cleaning. The blinking on the satellite at times I assume, is when it checks which of the connections is stronger and connects to the better one. Apart from that, my internet tops out at 150 Mbps and usage on the top floor is mostly restricted to browsing, music or full HD streaming, while file transfers and 4K streaming mostly happen on the floor below. So real world usage is barely hampered.

In the OP's case though, a 2-pack should be enough which would provide the max throughput.



That cheap! Where? I can only find the 2 pack (dual band) one on Amazon.in at ~29K. The tri band is nowhere to be found. While on Amazon.com both are available much cheaper
 
http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...mw6-nova-whole-home-mesh-wifi-system-reviewed

Since your system will be a 1-hop system, overall speeds will be good.
The issue I see is, that the Tenda system isn't priced as VFM over here whereas it was available for as low as $130 in the US. Infact, the Deco M5 is available cheaper online and it bests the Tenda system at every step.
Also, the difference between the best performing Netgear RBK50 is not much, going by online prices. Check if you can get the Tenda at competitive pricing from the distributor. Still, the Deco M5 at the same price seems a better option.

I can get the Tenda Nova M6 for $180 from US. The Tenda Nova M3 is available for $130. The RBK50 and Deco M5 are way too expensive.

Any idea how much better is the M6 compared to the M3?
 
FWIW, a mesh network isn't a cure-all.
A low end mesh setup may actually give you worse results than say 2 good wired APs
If you have the option of using a wired connection to your second (or 3rd if required) AP from the primary, you may actually be better off with a pair of high grade APs
 
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