Are you using or considering a mesh WiFi system?

[kiranrss]

i have been using the tplink deco x20 mesh for over 2 years now and the same is in use with a friend of mine too. Yes in order to kill all the dead zones, the mesh system is the best option but there are a few key things that you should know before you buy.
-Always go with the wired backhaul if possible and by that i mean dont use wireless connectivity between different mesh routers. Wired backhaul will give you the best performance.
-There are very expensive mesh systems out there, chose wisely according to your need, overspending is very common when buying mesh router.
-You will need to use a gigabit switch in order to setup wired backhaul and i would highly recommend wired backhaul over the wireless backhaul.

i agree with you but a part of my brain is like - well if you are connecting with wire why do you need a mesh, keep cheap wifi routers in every room with same SSID and live with the couple of seconds drop when you move.
not disagreeing with you but yea wired backhaul kind of defeats the aesthic purpose of Mesh doesnt it

 

[superczar]

i agree with you but a part of my brain is like - well if you are connecting with wire why do you need a mesh, keep cheap wifi routers in every room with same SSID and live with the couple of seconds drop when you move.
not disagreeing with you but yea wired backhaul kind of defeats the aesthic purpose of Mesh doesnt it

Every single office uses a distributed wired mesh as against standalone APs with shared SSID.
Its not just a couple of seconds drop as you move. The real problem is what is often termed as Sticky AP..

What ends up happening is that when you move from one room to another, most devices will continue to latch on to the far AP and drop packets instead of switching to the nearby/ strong signal AP till you manually turn off wifi and re-enable it

 

[kiranrss]

Every single office uses a distributed wired mesh as against standalone APs with shared SSID.
Its not just a couple of seconds drop as you move. The real problem is what is often termed as Sticky AP..

What ends up happening is that when you move from one room to another, most devices will continue to latch on to the far AP and drop packets instead of switching to the nearby/ strong signal AP till you manually turn off wifi and re-enable it

Makes sense Thanks

 

[HonestLiar]

i agree with you but a part of my brain is like - well if you are connecting with wire why do you need a mesh, keep cheap wifi routers in every room with same SSID and live with the couple of seconds drop when you move.
not disagreeing with you but yea wired backhaul kind of defeats the aesthic purpose of Mesh doesnt it

if aesthetics are your priority and all the cables are not already laid underground, then installing open cables dont make much sense. But for the best performance the wired backhaul is the way to go, good luck!

Every single office uses a distributed wired mesh as against standalone APs with shared SSID.
Its not just a couple of seconds drop as you move. The real problem is what is often termed as Sticky AP..

What ends up happening is that when you move from one room to another, most devices will continue to latch on to the far AP and drop packets instead of switching to the nearby/ strong signal AP till you manually turn off wifi and re-enable it

mesh setup switches routers pretty well, at least it has been the case with my deco x20.

 

[darylzero]

what i did
bought 4 x Linksys EA6900
then went on to do this

Turning a Linksys EA6900 to Asus RT-AC68U – an Ephemeral Memoir of the Lazy Mocha

All Linksys are now ASUS RTAC68U
these can now use official asus merlin firmware
connected one in router and all others in mesh mo9de using the merlin firmware
Why i did this each linksys router came for 12$ used from usa ebay
performace wise all are similar to the asus 68u asin using QOS and everythig
running stable from last 3 years without any problem ,also supports Adguard home,Immich,Plex from dell wyse 5060
This is my cheap method to get asus mesh @ home

 

[HonestLiar]

what i did
bought 4 x Linksys EA6900
then went on to do this

Turning a Linksys EA6900 to Asus RT-AC68U – an Ephemeral Memoir of the Lazy Mocha

All Linksys are now ASUS RTAC68U
these can now use official asus merlin firmware
connected one in router and all others in mesh mo9de using the merlin firmware
Why i did this each linksys router came for 12$ used from usa ebay
performace wise all are similar to the asus 68u asin using QOS and everythig
running stable from last 3 years without any problem ,also supports Adguard home,Immich,Plex from dell wyse 5060
This is my cheap method to get asus mesh @ home

View attachment 217518

sounds just about right but personally i don't have any router firmware flashing experience, can you mention how difficult or easy it is?

 

[guest_999]

sounds just about right but personally i don't have any router firmware flashing experience, can you mention how difficult or easy it is?

It is not for the faint hearted, only go through this if absolutely sure or can afford to risk some small amt of money (like $12 price).

 

[Ragnaar]

i agree with you but a part of my brain is like - well if you are connecting with wire why do you need a mesh, keep cheap wifi routers in every room with same SSID and live with the couple of seconds drop when you move.
not disagreeing with you but yea wired backhaul kind of defeats the aesthic purpose of Mesh doesnt it

devices will not connect to the nearest router, they will try to stick with the one already connected no matter the range is low. In mesh the device will connect with the nearest highest range
Mesh 3 set comes under 4-5000 regularly in sale periods

 

[asheet]

Interesting insights. Please also mention the model no and price points, etc.

 

[darylzero]

trust me its not so bad all you need is patient and like one hour after you have a IDENTICAL asus rt ac 68u with official firmware or merlin firmware ,using it from last 2 years or so stable and perfect as amesh system

 

[anmolbhard004]

Mesh WiFi,

TP Link

would suggest people if choosing tp link to go with their omada series the decos are too locked for anything infact as @lged821 said you cant even change channels plus no openwrt support.

I was a deco user too but shifted to Ubiquiti this year due to these reasons plus the frequent disconnections I used to get [ decos were connected wirelessly , had 8 decos in total]
Setup
UDM PRO as main router with dual wan failover
and 6 APs
Never faced a single issue till date
And yes WIFI 7 works + 6ghz works if location is set to USA in ubiquiti, my mac connects to 6ghz but not any other device. Only S24U and Oneplus 12 connect to wifi 7 rest even iphone 16pm connects to Wifi 6 due to geo restrictions.

These 6 AP s cover 3 floors in total 2 on each floor
Some APs are bought from Dubai and rest everything is USA bought.

and trust me nothing beats Ubiquiti.

 

[nitin_g3]

I use Deco x60 and x20 both. Seamless roaming works fine. I also hardwire devices where it's possible, like cameras, TVs, work desk, consoles etc. So that there is less chances of interference.

 

[chetansha]

Repurposed an r7000 (flashed with merlin xwrt firmware) and running as a node , main router is rt ac3100

 

[TechnologyHell]

It's not a big place where I live in, but possibly due to refrigerators and CRT TVs, the wifi signal is being blocked off at several points in the house.
And also we have 2 connections in our house.

1 is on Alliance Broadband, 40mbps plan, and a cheap 600rs router from Digisol.
2nd is my personal connection, WishNet, 70mbps on Asus RTAC 51U Dual band router.

Surprisingly the range coverage of that cheap digisol router is incredible. It even connects while I visit the shops that are on the other side of the road.
And my 3000rs Asus router is sitting dumb.

I bought a TP Link AC1200, and added it as an extension, via LAN Cable from the main router.
Somewhat better than before.
Later I Got another TP Link AC1200 and replaced the ASUS Router (also have a sale post for old router).
While installing the newer AC1200, I saw the feature called MESH, which involves making use of satellite routers, and the devices will auto switch between the stronger range. But no, the catch was that the satellite system is to run on wireless - meaning both routers connect to each other over wifi, not via lan.
Now how do I solve the Wireless issue through a Wireless extension ?

I decided not to go for the so called advance wireless mesh system, rather keep the 2nd router on router mode, and extend the main one via LAN cable.
This is what was the most feasible solution for me.

 

[guest_999]

But no, the catch was that the satellite system is to run on wireless - meaning both routers connect to each other over wifi, not via lan.
Now how do I solve the Wireless issue through a Wireless extension ?

You are supposed to buy multiple satellite units & place them within decent range of each other. Also, mesh is mainly for interruption free wireless roaming which won't be possible in a wired AP scenario even if having similar signal strength/coverage as mesh system.

P.S. there are advanced mesh systems with wired backhaul too but they are also costlier.

 

[rockyo27]

It's not a big place where I live in, but possibly due to refrigerators and CRT TVs, the wifi signal is being blocked off at several points in the house.
And also we have 2 connections in our house.

1 is on Alliance Broadband, 40mbps plan, and a cheap 600rs router from Digisol.
2nd is my personal connection, WishNet, 70mbps on Asus RTAC 51U Dual band router.

Surprisingly the range coverage of that cheap digisol router is incredible. It even connects while I visit the shops that are on the other side of the road.
And my 3000rs Asus router is sitting dumb.

I bought a TP Link AC1200, and added it as an extension, via LAN Cable from the main router.
Somewhat better than before.
Later I Got another TP Link AC1200 and replaced the ASUS Router (also have a sale post for old router).
While installing the newer AC1200, I saw the feature called MESH, which involves making use of satellite routers, and the devices will auto switch between the stronger range. But no, the catch was that the satellite system is to run on wireless - meaning both routers connect to each other over wifi, not via lan.
Now how do I solve the Wireless issue through a Wireless extension ?

I decided not to go for the so called advance wireless mesh system, rather keep the 2nd router on router mode, and extend the main one via LAN cable.
This is what was the most feasible solution for me.

In TPlink AC1200 can act as main node only for using it in mesh. Then u will need to get range extenders to serve your purpose of using mesh

 

[TechnologyHell]

In TPlink AC1200 can act as main node only for using it in mesh. Then u will need to get range extenders to serve your purpose of using mesh

I have 2
One is AC1200
Other is AC1200U (usb variant)

USB variant is version 1.x
Non USB is version 4.x

And the non USB one gives me option to make it a satellite router, from the setup section.
So yes, I can use this one as well for the satellite router purpose.

P.S. there are advanced mesh systems with wired backhaul too but they are also costlier.

Probably somethng that I would call as "Reliable'
But for now, the requirements are all being fulfilled by the 2 on wired mode.
I've enabled auto bandwidth selection, so it automatically between 2.4 and 5GHz as per device distance from router.

And another thing that I noticed is that now the phone switches network faster, than what it was earlier.
I move to a room close to the other router, boom, it switched in no time.!

 

[pranjalrohilla]

I have been using Netgear Orbi RBK50 since 2020 now and it has been amazing. Fixed the deadzone issues I had in my apartment. The only con for me is that the one I own is limited to max speeds of 500mbps. Few of my friends have opted for TPLINK Deco and it seems to be running pretty well for them so that is something one could try. Economical as compared to Netgear for sure.