Home Wifi Mesh Networks

[rockrat]

Who on here has experience with Wifi Mesh networks like the one by Google?
They seem to get good reviews but are they worth the $?

[paceman]

Seem a bit overpriced to me...

I’m more inclined to spend the money on unifi access points for better coverage...


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[plusnq]

I use an eero system. It works well. We previously used four apple routers in bridge mode and the Eero’s seem more consistent although the apple gear did last about eight years. We replaced it because two of the units eventually failed and apple were no longer in the router business.

https://eero.com/

Cheers

[tombie]

I got a good deal on the Google system so went with it.

Works a treat - 3 stations across the house and not a low signal to be found.


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[Bird]

I had a electrician come in and run cable throughout the house... No looking back

[GeoffA]

Got a 3 station Orbi at our place. Does the job very well.

[gronk]

Do people have huge houses ?
My small 24 square house has a modem in the far front, tucked away at the rear of a bedroom and I even get good reception down the backyard in the pool area. Usually only run 2 devices though..

[loanrangie]

Do people have huge houses ?
My small 24 square house has a modem in the far front, tucked away at the rear of a bedroom and I even get good reception down the backyard in the pool area. Usually only run 2 devices though..

 We can have up to 12 devices between pc's, phones, media devices, gaming consoles etc so added another wifi AP in the downstairs spare bedroom which services outside including pool area and my shed.

[Symon]

Do it once, do it right.

Ubiquiti UniFi.

Job done.

[Onion]

+1 Ubiquiti gear. I run it here (not the mesh though).
Very happy with it. We have near 20 devices here.
Most wired in, but also phones, tablets, laptops, etc.

[tombie]

Do people have huge houses ?
My small 24 square house has a modem in the far front, tucked away at the rear of a bedroom and I even get good reception down the backyard in the pool area. Usually only run 2 devices though..

2’ thick stone walls and the shed acts as a Faraday cage.

Signal makes it to the shed door but it’s flaky and ultra slow - the phone often using mobile data to assist.

When I built the shed I ran cable and it has its own network, so the house Mesh network is seperate.

We also have an extensive number of devices connected.  At last count I think we’re running around 50 devices connected.


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[Jon Burrell - Tentworld]

Can recommend the Google Wifi - it is very user friendly, and has given great coverage for my house & yard. 

The app you use to control it is also very good, and monitors your average speeds & consumption by device. 

If you do have data outlets through the house, it apparently will use that for the backhaul to internet instead of using wifi but I haven't arranged this in my house.  I got this, thinking I'd start with this and if needed then do the ethernet too, but in the end this Wifi gives me full speed for internet access 100/40 which is all I need.  I dont run any local servers or anything like that, so internet is my bottle neck.

[DannyG]

We are going through a bit of an issue in our house getting wifi to other rooms.

For the most part it is ok but the kids complain when they are gaming and I have to use a powerline adaptor out to my garage where I use an old wifi modem as a router to get decent signal.

So we were about to grab a large roll of ethernet cable and run ethernet points to the other rooms. Is this a better solution than these wifi extender type gadgets? Sorry if it is a silly question but this sort of thing isnt my strong point.

[Bird]

So we were about to grab a large roll of ethernet cable and run ethernet points to the other rooms. Is this a better solution than these wifi extender type gadgets? Sorry if it is a silly question but this sort of thing isnt my strong point.

Yes it is better...
If there is internet to the modem, then they will always work.

[paceman]

Yes it is better...
If there is internet to the modem, then they will always work.

+1

we cabled to all of our TV units, so you could plug in apple tv's, xbox's, etc... then leave the wifi for tablets and phones...

a bit of a cost upfront, but worth it in the long run...

make sure you get up to date cable (cat6 at a minimum)...

[Jon Burrell - Tentworld]

Yes it is better...
If there is internet to the modem, then they will always work.

I do agree with Bird sort of - ethernet cable is better.....

But, most devices such as mobiles, laptops etc need wireless.  So the need for good wireless coverage is still there. 

Mesh wireless is still great, and can be made better with ethernet running to each of the repeaters.   But maybe you dont need to go to the effort (& Expense if you're paying someone to do it).

So to start off with, my recommendation is to get the mesh first - because it does not critically need ethernet (But can be improved with it) then if you find you have further needs (which I dont) then get ethernet through the house. 

I can do speed tests on wifi all through my house and get 100/40 - thats the limit of my NBN connection. 

FWIW - my TV is 4K and running on wireless very happy.  I also have my xbox and game online often on wireless too.  It's all good.

[Bird]

I do agree with Bird sort of - ethernet cable is better.....

But, most devices such as mobiles, laptops etc need wireless.  So the need for good wireless coverage is still there. 

Mesh wireless is still great, and can be made better with ethernet running to each of the repeaters.   But maybe you dont need to go to the effort (& Expense if you're paying someone to do it).

So to start off with, my recommendation is to get the mesh first - because it does not critically need ethernet (But can be improved with it) then if you find you have further needs (which I dont) then get ethernet through the house. 

I can do speed tests on wifi all through my house and get 100/40 - thats the limit of my NBN connection. 

FWIW - my TV is 4K and running on wireless very happy.  I also have my xbox and game online often on wireless too.  It's all good.

Best is both
Run cable to each room/end of house and then a wireless extender or 2 (if you must)

Also a good wireless router helps.... those things that optus/telstra give you arent even worth throwing in the bin.
Setup a few Asus RT-AC88U and have one at home for extra ports... expensive?? they are old now but brilliant
https://www.asus.com/Networking/RT-AC88U/

[Symon]

We are going through a bit of an issue in our house getting wifi to other rooms.

For the most part it is ok but the kids complain when they are gaming and I have to use a powerline adaptor out to my garage where I use an old wifi modem as a router to get decent signal.

So we were about to grab a large roll of ethernet cable and run ethernet points to the other rooms. Is this a better solution than these wifi extender type gadgets? Sorry if it is a silly question but this sort of thing isnt my strong point.

Gaming requires low latency, unless you have decent wifi gear they will generally struggle.

Personally I have a motto of if it doesn't move - cable it.  We ran Cat6A throughout the house as this supports 10GBe so gives a degree of futureproofing.  We only use the wifi for tablets, phones and any devices guests have when they come over.

The other motto is if you are running a cable, run two.  Cable is so cheap now just run two outlets to each point - they do come in handy from time to time.

[cyberess]

Who on here has experience with Wifi Mesh networks like the one by Google?
They seem to get good reviews but are they worth the $?

I used to install WIFI in public Libraries, councils and public spaces, test the access etc, and the Rolls Royce gear would be Ruckus, and I would recommend  Ruckus R310 Access Point mounted on the ceiling and connected to your home WIFI router and yes you can run more that one and mesh them, but the single would probably just do the whole house, they are just so much better that what the ISPs supply as the home WIFI router, particular when connecting multiple wifi devices.

Now looking at the Wifi Mesh Units by Google, just been watching a few reviews of the unit e.g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNZLxu-jYag actually they look quite good, and are probably better suited for your home use, and no one appears to have a bad thing so say about them, and the app to set it all up looks fantastic -- so in your case,  the better unit could be the Google Unit and probably well worth the money.