Mesh Wifi systems

Haste said:
Just a small doubt, I had created a makeshift mesh long back using 2 wireless routers by setting them on same SSID and channel. It used to work well if your devices are static, however there was major drawback with mobile devices with real time processes like Whatsapp calling, etc that the connection used to break temporarily when phone switched from one router to another dropping the call. Wifi switching between stations wasn't really seamless. Does Mesh technology fixes it? Or its still the same?
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It's still the same. There is no protocol in wifi 11ac for seamless handover unlike mobile networks.
 
Chaos said:
It's still the same. There is no protocol in wifi 11ac for seamless handover unlike mobile networks.
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oh ok, guess its old stuff in a new package then lol

BTW there is good deal on iball Mesh router today@amazon for 999 if anyone's interested. Yeah I know iBall doesn't inspire confidence but amazon reviews are pretty good. I'll be skipping it now though..
 
Haste said:
Just a small doubt, I had created a makeshift mesh long back using 2 wireless routers by setting them on same SSID and channel. It used to work well if your devices are static, however there was major drawback with mobile devices with real time processes like Whatsapp calling, etc that the connection used to break temporarily when phone switched from one router to another dropping the call. Wifi switching between stations wasn't really seamless. Does Mesh technology fixes it? Or its still the same?
Click to expand...
I am a happy camper with the Orbi - so much so that added another satellite that I was able to snag for 6.5K on the recent amazon sale .
I am not sure about the other mesh systems but Orbi for me has been very robust.
There could be client related dependencies though - My mobile clients are iOS and perhaps Orbi may have been tuned for it

1 caveat though - Mesh systems take forever (several minutes) to reboot. If you live in an area with frequent blackouts, it can get frustrating
 
superczar said:
I am a happy camper with the Orbi - so much so that added another satellite that I was able to snag for 6.5K on the recent amazon sale .
I am not sure about the other mesh systems but Orbi for me has been very robust.
There could be client related dependencies though - My mobile clients are iOS and perhaps Orbi may have been tuned for it

1 caveat though - Mesh systems take forever (several minutes) to reboot. If you live in an area with frequent blackouts, it can get frustrating
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What's your backhaul? Are you using ethernet for that or even that is wifi?

I personally just repurposed 3x netgear R7000 routers as APs and it seems to serve my purpose really well.

The only issue I face is the roaming problem with mobile phones - they stay connected to an AP in another floor instead of connecting to the AP that is present on the current floor.

I don't see this issue with laptops.
 
Is there anyway to have mesh use Gigabit ethernet for backhaul/inter communication? Or use them as access points with the same benefits of mesh while router does the routing? The mesh will basically handle providing wifi, roaming between and transmitting data, router will do the rest.

Want to basically keep the whole place as one single giant network.. Extended via mesh units for wifi and switches for ethernet..
 
Chaos said:
What's your backhaul? Are you using ethernet for that or even that is wifi?

I personally just repurposed 3x netgear R7000 routers as APs and it seems to serve my purpose really well.

The only issue I face is the roaming problem with mobile phones - they stay connected to an AP in another floor instead of connecting to the AP that is present on the current floor.

I don't see this issue with laptops.
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I had almost the exact issue with a couple of R7000 and another couple of older routers linked wired..
My issue of sticky APs extended not just to phones but other devices as well.
For some time, I tried using different SSIDs but it soon got very tedious...

To be honest I didn't expect Orbi to be much better but I took a chance when I saw it on a good lightning deal
While it isn't perfect, it is far better than the messy setup I had
There was a detailed review on SNB sometime ago where the wireless logs showed that the mesh nodes actively tried to kick client to a node that was closer - The efficacy of this kick-off varied between devices but IIRC iOS devices did accept the transition request from the AP as expected (which is what I have seen in the real world too)

The backhaul is all Wireless ( The links were weak to begin with but now super strong after I changed the region (has to be done via telnet) to WW)
The RBK50 satellite shows a backhaul speed of 1333mbps and the RBS20 shows 866mbps

Party Monger said:
Is there anyway to have mesh use Gigabit ethernet for backhaul/inter communication? Or use them as access points with the same benefits of mesh while router does the routing? The mesh will basically handle providing wifi, roaming between and transmitting data, router will do the rest.

Want to basically keep the whole place as one single giant network.. Extended via mesh units for wifi and switches for ethernet..
Click to expand...
That's broadly how mine is setup.
2 WAN links into a router with a Gbe switch on the LAN side
The Orbi primary connects to the switch and the satellites are on other ends extending both wired & wireless

Having said that, the only reason it's setup this way is because WAN failover is a must for me
I have in the past temporarily used in Router mode as well and that worked fine too.
 
superczar said:
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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I have Airtel v-Fiber in the 2nd floor connecting to Tenda AC1200 via ethernet (internal wiring) to 1st floor. The signal is very weak in the ground floor with many dead spots. Hence, I am now looking for a good wired AP to be put in the ground floor. Any suggestions?

I upgraded to 200 mbps connections hoping for better speeds but the speed was stuck at 90+ mpbs only. Later I realized that my internal wiring was Cat5 (done in 2007) and hence the speed was limited to 100 mpbs. Now I will have to do an external wiring. Ordered some Cat7 cable to test it out.
 
@Haste , Thanks for the headsup on the iball mesh system. Managed to get three from 3 different accounts and all were delivered this morning. I have connected them and they seem to be working very well.

Thanks again
 
Haste said:
Just a small doubt, I had created a makeshift mesh long back using 2 wireless routers by setting them on same SSID and channel. It used to work well if your devices are static, however there was major drawback with mobile devices with real time processes like Whatsapp calling, etc that the connection used to break temporarily when phone switched from one router to another dropping the call. Wifi switching between stations wasn't really seamless. Does Mesh technology fixes it? Or its still the same?
Click to expand...

Depends. The iball routers that people are talking about dont seem to be mesh routers, but still very much VFM - this is based on @kuduku feedback. However, if you are using expensive stuff like the Orbi/Decos, they handoff without much in the way of interruption.

I have picked up quite a few of the iballs, should be getting down to setting them up maybe next week.
 
vivek.krishnan said:
Depends. The iball routers that people are talking about dont seem to be mesh routers, but still very much VFM - this is based on @kuduku feedback. However, if you are using expensive stuff like the Orbi/Decos, they handoff without much in the way of interruption.

I have picked up quite a few of the iballs, should be getting down to setting them up maybe next week.
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quite a few is an understatement , seeing the number you purchased ;) . Sab kuch badal dalunga.......:blush:
It seems exact replica of Tenda Nova Mw6 & MW3 .
Issues i am facing - Mac Access control not working , where is IP6 in this & handover is visible , WIFI connect then disconnects when router changes
 
mav2000 said:
@Haste , Thanks for the headsup on the iball mesh system. Managed to get three from 3 different accounts and all were delivered this morning. I have connected them and they seem to be working very well.

Thanks again
Click to expand...

Cool, you're wecome :)

Chaos said:
The only issue I face is the roaming problem with mobile phones - they stay connected to an AP in another floor instead of connecting to the AP that is present on the current floor.

I don't see this issue with laptops.
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If you have a droid, there is app called swifi which helps to fix this issue. However downside for the app is you have to keep location on, on the phone.
 
 
I bought iBall Mesh Routers yesterday and it was delivered today. I bought following:
  1. iB-WRD12GM (With Gigabit port to connect to WAN): https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07XG2XRJ3/
  2. iB-WRD12EM (Without Gigabit port as another node in mesh): https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07XF5RHWL/
Got both of these in Rs. 2250/- (10% discount on Diners Club Card using RuPay offer). #1 has gigabit port to connect to WAN so I am future proof if I upgrade my current broadband plan to more than 100mbs and #2 is just a node in mesh and doesn’t require gigabit port as it connects wirelessly. This way I was able to save Rs. 500 as one with gigabit is costlier by this amount.

Added #1 to my WAN port and configured the PPoE connection. Added #2 to mesh as a node just like extender. My entire house of 1362 sq feet has wi-fi connectivity above 500mbps, even at most tight spots where my earlier router, TP-Link Archer C60 AC1350, used to struggle with 7mbps. Overall I am happy with this setup for now.
 
Konquerror said:
I bought iBall Mesh Routers yesterday and it was delivered today. I bought following:
  1. iB-WRD12GM (With Gigabit port to connect to WAN): https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07XG2XRJ3/
  2. iB-WRD12EM (Without Gigabit port as another node in mesh): https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07XF5RHWL/
Got both of these in Rs. 2250/- (10% discount on Diners Club Card using RuPay offer). #1 has gigabit port to connect to WAN so I am future proof if I upgrade my current broadband plan to more than 100mbs and #2 is just a node in mesh and doesn’t require gigabit port as it connects wirelessly. This way I was able to save Rs. 500 as one with gigabit is costlier by this amount.

Added #1 to my WAN port and configured the PPoE connection. Added #2 to mesh as a node just like extender. My entire house of 1362 sq feet has wi-fi connectivity above 500mbps, even at most tight spots where my earlier router, TP-Link Archer C60 AC1350, used to struggle with 7mbps. Overall I am happy with this setup for now.
Click to expand...
Different models are able to work fine? Have you tried to use them just as access points and router separate? Any idea if thats possible
 
Party Monger said:
Just to be sure, you mean your router is separate and these two wifi are extending the network of the router? Im not sure what its called.
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No, I don't have separate router, my network just consists of iB-WRD12GM & iB-WRD12EM. My connection looks like below:

WAN <--> iB-WRD12GM ))))) iB-WRD12EM

<--> - Wired Connection
))))) - Wireless Connection
 
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