Recommend me a mesh router

[JSB 677]

Just installed the eero 6. I did not go with the pro model thinking that if this isn't working great, it is an easy return. So far, so good. Tomorrow when the kids are awake, I'll test out the movie room to make sure we get a good signal there, but everywhere else is awesome. 

[JSB 677]

success thus far. I'm very happy, thanks for the tips guys. 

[shnsajax 3592]

On 6/7/2021 at 6:49 PM, MonkeyDoughnut said:

In case anyone comes looking now.. I was very happy with my Nest WiFi.. literally set it and forget for past year and half... but Google decided to get rid of their Google WiFi app and roll settings control into their all in one Google Home app.  Good idea, cluster integration. They goofed Port forwarding so no longer can be counted on right now. Been this way for months now. If you had setup and working a-ok.. but can't change/add/delete without running into issues.

I'm about to have to drop a router in front of Nest Wifi until they fix (or permanently)... PITA for something that should be considered pretty important to fix for a router

This is what we have, and I like having the speaker in the bedroom. Makes for a great sound machine at nite and easy access for the Nest thermostat. 

[Barbacoa 1934]

Moving into a new house in a month. How hard it is to run cat lines to outside walls?

[Hate 20157]

Moving into a new house in a month. How hard it is to run cat lines to outside walls?

For someone that’s never done it? It’s a tremendous pain in the ass. For a professional?…still a pain in the ass but more efficient.

[Telegraph_it 3370]

Using an Amex promotion I purchased the Google WiFi deal for $100 (retailing for $200 normally) at Best Buy  

I have been happy so far. Setup took all of 15 minutes and I have had no issues for the past week. 
 

I do like having one SSID for 2.4 and 5 ghz bands. It does seem that my iPhone gets stuck on 2.4 band as I move about the house which is annoying. Speeds on 5 ghz have hit over 500 mbps while 2.4 is around 30-50. 
 

I think I may buy one extra WiFi base (expanding to 4 total) to hopefully complete 5 ghz coverage. 

[Barbacoa 1934]

4 hours ago, Hate said:

For someone that’s never done it? It’s a tremendous pain in the ass. For a professional?…still a pain in the ass but more efficient.

Thats what I figured. Oh well. 

[tbone_ 14255]

What do you even need it for anymore? I run all my TVs off WiFi now with a Roku. Works perfect. Get like 400 mb/s down on my phone with just the regular router Cox gave me.

[Grimas 671]

On 3/30/2021 at 10:48 PM, Grimas said:

I've got a 3 node Velop Tri-band AC6600 mesh with my 80mbps Xfinity internet with 2 of the 3 hardwired to each other.  Getting 1000mb fiber installed in the coming weeks.    I currently get rock-solid signal across the whole house and no one in the house bitches about any lag or buffering (2 kids stream Xboxes and all the TV's and devices streaming as well and lots of Teams and Zoom conferences from the backyard).  What's considered "fast enough" for a SpeedTest at a device?? Is it worth the coin to upgrade to a WiFi 6 mesh system? With my current provider, I'm doing fine with this current setup with a 80mbps connection but with the new fiber coming I should be able to increase the speed at every device by quite a bit.  Yes, a WiFi6 would deliver even better performance but is it worth the money to do this upgrade when I'm content with the current mesh on a slower connection?

So what kind of speeds are considered good/great on a wireless5G connection? I got 1GB fiber installed and was using the Velop Wifi5 Triband AC6600 described above.  I'm getting 900+mbs when my laptop was plugged into the wired connection at the router but am getting 200-250's over Wifi.  I went and purchased a Deco Wifi6 AX5700 this week and am not seeing my speedtests get any faster over Wifi (sitting a few feet from the router) than I was getting with the Velop setup.  Is 200-300mbps the best I should expect to be getting?

[shnsajax 3592]

So what kind of speeds are considered good/great on a wireless5G connection? I got 1GB fiber installed and was using the Velop Wifi5 Triband AC6600 described above.  I'm getting 900+mbs when my laptop was plugged into the wired connection at the router but am getting 200-250's over Wifi.  I went and purchased a Deco Wifi6 AX5700 this week and am not seeing my speedtests get any faster over Wifi (sitting a few feet from the router) than I was getting with the Velop setup.  Is 200-300mbps the best I should expect to be getting?

I get over 900 on WiFi pretty much anywhere in the house. Something is off.

[TwiceHorn 31677]

13 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

I get over 900 on WiFi pretty much anywhere in the house. Something is off.

I think around 60-75% of rated/wired speed is about right for most wifi.  In good range and with a solid signal.

[Grimas 671]

26 minutes ago, shnsajax said:

I get over 900 on WiFi pretty much anywhere in the house. Something is off.

When I'm wired directly to either the Velop or the Deco, I get 900+mbs but with wifi on any device physically sitting next to either one of the routers, I'm getting in the 200-300 range...  Only thing I was thinking is that I have several devices connected and streaming to the mesh (tv's, Xboxes) that are on when I do the test.  Is this "watering down" my thru-put speed? To get the higher test speeds, do I need to disconnect everything else? (4 streaming devices at the same time each pulling down 200+?)

Edited August 21, 2021 by Grimas

[TwiceHorn 31677]

6 minutes ago, Grimas said:

When I'm wired directly to either the Velop or the Deco, I get 900+mbs but with wifi on any device physically sitting next to either one of the routers, I'm getting in the 200-300 range...  Only thing I was thinking is that I have several devices connected and streaming to the mesh (tv's, Xboxes) that are on when I do the test.  Is this "watering down" my thru-put speed? To get the higher test speeds, do I need to disconnect everything else? (4 streaming devices at the same time each pulling down 200+?)

Yeah, I left that part out.  Other devices will play a role if they're "pulling."

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

So at our next residence the only options for fiber internet are Spectrum and AT&T. We are going to go with AT&T 1000 internet as our home will have a lot of smart features. What is the best mesh system to pair with that internet speed and router that's provided by AT&T? 

Edited September 9, 2021 by BurntOrange&White

[TwiceHorn 31677]

5 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

So at our next residence the only options for fiber internet are Spectrum and AT&T. We are going to go with AT&T 1000 internet as our home will have a lot of smart features. What is the best mesh system to pair with that internet speed and router that's provided by AT&T? 

First off, you are probably going to want to turn off your ATT router, if you actually get one (as opposed to just the modem).  You could maybe have a second or guest network set up on the ATT router, if there is one, but, on balance, it will probably interfere with your other, mesh network, to one degree or another.

Some smarthome devices use wifi, some bluetooth, and some another comm standard called zigbee. So you'll probably want one where the satellites have the BT and the zigbee built in.

Can't help with specific models, it's moving too fast for me right now, and I expressly disavow smart home stuff, so I specifically didn't want a system with that stuff.

[TexasEd 8142]

Update on what we did.

I wanted a wired backhaul and thought I was ordering an Eero system that had that.  Apparently I got the wrong model for wired but it was a Prime Day deal.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B085WSCTS4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Range is great for my house with large backyard.  It is a little more hand holding/applefied than I typically like but I could get used to it.  I did have to set up a guest network for my pool equipment to get through to the corp offices monitoring system.  I'm sure this is a port problem on the regular network but there is no impact on how I use it since I am using the app to connect to the corp system to control the stuff in my backyard.

I really like the notifications when new devices join.  I reused my old wifi name and password so it has been illuminating to see how many people my wife and kids have given that out to.  I created a guest profile and add all the non family members to it and can shut them all out at once.  I also added kids devices to profiles so I can shut off access at bed time.

Setup was super easy but it seems to be a tradeoff for lack of configurability

Speed has not been an issue

I disabled my ISP router and put it in modem mode.  The one wired beacon/router is before my first wired hub and everything works fine.

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

Thinking about getting these: 

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear-orbi-ax4200-tri-band-mesh-wi-fi-6-system-2-pack-white/6405440.p?skuId=6405440

 

How does it work with the ATT modem? Is it easy to do? Says these two will cover 5000 sq/ft, so I’d preferably have one at the front and rear of the house?

Edited September 9, 2021 by BurntOrange&White

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

Actually just realized Costco has that same Orbi for $50 more and you get 3 instead of 2

[TwiceHorn 31677]

55 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Thinking about getting these: 

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear-orbi-ax4200-tri-band-mesh-wi-fi-6-system-2-pack-white/6405440.p?skuId=6405440

 

How does it work with the ATT modem? Is it easy to do? Says these two will cover 5000 sq/ft, so I’d preferably have one at the front and rear of the house?

The modem is pretty much a modem.  Unless ATT has gotten up to some fuckery.

That one does not have zigbee radios or bluetooth on the satellites, which you may want for maximum smarthome flexibility and utility.

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

6 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

The modem is pretty much a modem.  Unless ATT has gotten up to some fuckery.

That one does not have zigbee radios or bluetooth on the satellites, which you may want for maximum smarthome flexibility and utility.

Recommend comparable one with those?

[TwiceHorn 31677]

2 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Recommend comparable one with those?

Well, like I said, I'm not up on the very latest and don't care about smarthome stuff, so I don't know.

Pretty sure the Velop mesh system (ASUS I think) has the zigbee radios.  Looks like BT is being phased out as a protocol for smarthome stuff.  But there's another one called z-wave similar to zigbee.  It's a betamax vhs thing.  MIght try to figure out which standard most of your things use or will use.

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

I’m down to the following:

 

Orbi AX4200 WiFi 6

Linksys Velop AX4200 WiFi 6

TP-Link X60 AX3000 WiFi 6

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

Going with this actually

 

https://www.costco.com/tp-link-deco-ax5700-tri-band-smart-whole-home-mesh-wi-fi-6-system-(2-pack).product.100716151.html

Edited September 11, 2021 by BurntOrange&White

[Grimas 671]

4 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Going with this actually

 

https://www.costco.com/tp-link-deco-ax5700-tri-band-smart-whole-home-mesh-wi-fi-6-system-(2-pack).product.100716151.html

This is exactally what I tried and didn’t find it any faster than my Velop WiFi 5 mesh but I did find the user interface better than what I had with the Velop and if I hasn’t already had the current mesh, I would have kept it...

[nycHorn 3055]

Aight, so I’m moving into a place with Verizon Fios and finally telling Spectrum to get fucked.

I don’t want to rent Verizon’s router so I’m thinking of buying one. I’ll confirm that the ONT is installed inside the apartment then it’s pretty simple from there, right?
Grab a decent TP Link or Asus wifi 6 and that’s all I’d need? I think I’m going the 500MB route.

I’m connecting my Apple TV via Ethernet from the router and I don’t need a mesh router.

What am I missing? I know enough to know I know nothing.

[nycHorn 3055]

Aight, so I’m moving into a place with Verizon Fios and finally telling Spectrum to get fucked.

I don’t want to rent Verizon’s router so I’m thinking of buying one. I’ll confirm that the ONT is installed inside the apartment then it’s pretty simple from there, right?
Grab a decent TP Link or Asus wifi 6 and that’s all I’d need? I think I’m going the 500MB route.

I’m connecting my Apple TV via Ethernet from the router and I don’t need a mesh router.

What am I missing? I know enough to know I know nothing.

Ended up grabbing this one:

https://www.tp-link.com/us/home-networking/wifi-router/archer-ax55/

[Sam Lin 3564]

It's refurb, but this is a nice deal for anyone currently looking.

https://slickdeals.net/f/15796627-3-pack-linksys-velop-ac6600-tri-band-mesh-wi-fi-5-system-refurbished-100-6-sd-cashback-free-shipping?v=1&src=frontpage

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

We just closed on a house and the house has the following:

 

 

Im not sure if the current home owner is leaving the hardware or not but the wiring is already done. Any recommendations? Or explanations of how this setup works? On the off chance they do leave as is, how do I set it up?

Edited May 24, 2022 by BurntOrange&White

[Okie State 3855]

Previous owner left something similar in my house. Every room is hardwired with at least two ethernet connections all running back to a central set of switches. I have no need for all of them, but I did hardwire in my Google WiFi hubs and all of my TV's. Everything works great.

My cables were all numbered at the switch and in each room on the wall plates so I just plugged my router into the switch and connected whichever cables I needed.

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

3 minutes ago, Okie State said:

Previous owner left something similar in my house. Every room is hardwired with at least two ethernet connections all running back to a central set of switches. I have no need for all of them, but I did hardwire in my Google WiFi hubs and all of my TV's. Everything works great.

My cables were all numbered at the switch and in each room on the wall plates so I just plugged my router into the switch and connected whichever cables I needed.

Gotcha, so if left as is, I'll just need modem from ISP and provide my own router that plugs into one of the switches pictured? The wifi password and new network will be configured in the router setup?

[Okie State 3855]

Gotcha, so if left as is, I'll just need modem from ISP and provide my own router that plugs into one of the switches pictured? The wifi password and new network will be configured in the router setup?

That's how mine worked. I literally plugged in my modem and it was live. My network password is all setup through my Google WiFi router and carried over with everything I had at my previous house.

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

2 minutes ago, Okie State said:

4 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Gotcha, so if left as is, I'll just need modem from ISP and provide my own router that plugs into one of the switches pictured? The wifi password and new network will be configured in the router setup?

That's how mine worked. I literally plugged in my modem and it was live. My network password is all setup through my Google WiFi router and carried over with everything I had at my previous house.

Hell yeah that would be nice, fingers crossed. Any recommendations on a router to pair? Figure I'll just get one of these if that is the case:

 

Eero Pro 6 or Pro 6e just because of how easy it is with the app to setup.

Edited May 24, 2022 by BurntOrange&White

[TwiceHorn 31677]

 

12 minutes ago, BurntOrange&White said:

Hell yeah that would be nice, fingers crossed. Any recommendations on a router to pair? Figure I'll just get one of these if that is the case:

 

Eero Pro 6 or Pro 6e just because of how easy it is with the app to setup.

That looks like a bit more than a router/switch.  There might be a modem in there, and maybe some wireless stuff.  Are there any other "pieces" distributed around the house?

Before buying anything, I'd have a pro come out, probably the installer and explain.  Or get the seller to.

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

3 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

 

That looks like a bit more than a router/switch.  There might be a modem in there, and maybe some wireless stuff.  Are there any other "pieces" distributed around the house?

Before buying anything, I'd have a pro come out, probably the installer and explain.  Or get the seller to.

Yeah the only reason I think it may be a simple setup is because it appears to have a router there once you zoom in:

 

[Hate 20157]

That's a lot of hardware for a simple set up.  You can make it pretty simple by putting a switch on the Eero primary so you can connect the other cables.  That would allow you to hard wire the other two Eero AP and get some pretty good speeds. 

[Sam Lin 3564]

Take some better pictures so we can see each piece of equipment. Might need to sketch out a diagram of wiring connections as well. But consider yourself lucky that your previous owner apparently took this seriously. As much as wifi keeps improving, a hardwired house makes everything easier (including setting up better wifi).

[MonkeyDoughnut 10439]

Luxul is higher level wifi gear. I'd look around rooms to see if you see wifi devices mounted on ceiling or upper walls etc. You likely won't need anything but ISP connection.

Definitely reach out to prior owner if can as anyone putting that in will be "excited" to tell you about it.

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

10 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Luxul is higher level wifi gear. I'd look around rooms to see if you see wifi devices mounted on ceiling or upper walls etc. You likely won't need anything but ISP connection.

Definitely reach out to prior owner if can as anyone putting that in will be "excited" to tell you about it.

There is a Wi-Fi router located in the stairwell(middle of the house essentially). If he leaves the hardware I’ll have our realtor reach out to his for more information. Unsure the etiquette of that relationship. 

Edited May 25, 2022 by BurntOrange&White

[MonkeyDoughnut 10439]

For the setup, likely the top unit is a switch that will be wired to the room outlets. The next unit is managed switch that allows ability to separate traffic types and provide more security (among other things), might be used to separate security cameras or guest traffic etc. Or possibly run home server more isolated. My guess though is it was originally needed for the bottom device or home server.

3rd device is your wifi unit which will be hardwired into the ceiling wifi devices.

Last unit is a dual wan router that would allow you to connect two separate internet providers for failover redundancy.  Only one hooked up now it appears.

You would just need to factory reset the 2nd, 3rd and 4th devices and plug ISP connection into the 4th device and then configure other last 3 devices.....easy web configuration just like a Linksys router...plenty of YouTube videos on it.

 

Or.... Just get like an ero wifi router setup and don't use the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th devices. ISP -- eero -- top device.

You could likely sell the other devices for a few hundred dollars.

[TexasEd 8142]

3 hours ago, BurntOrange&White said:

There is a Wi-Fi router located in the stairwell(middle of the house essentially). If he leaves the hardware I’ll have our realtor reach out to his for more information. Unsure the etiquette of that relationship. 

Getting the current router login and password and migrating to your own SSID and guest SSID may be easier than a factory reset of the equipment so I would ask for that if they don't leave a note with it for you. 

[BurntOrange&White 40435]

Sounds like the tenant is going to take the hardware but he informed me that all the upstairs bedrooms are wired in but he never got around to the down stairs. With that said I think I’m going to purchase the following:

 

https://www.costco.com/netgear---orbi-ax5400-wifi-6-mesh-system%2c-one-year-advanced-internet-security-included.product.100942085.html

Or would you recommend something else? For $429 that seems like a good deal  

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/eero-pro-6-ax4200-tri-band-wi-fi-6-mesh-wifi-system-3-pack/6433414.p?skuId=6433414

^ On sale for $479

I’ll set the main router up in the rack he’s leaving along with the ISP modem. Hope that the master bedroom line is labeled and setup one of the satellites there hard wired, and place the final one down stairs somewhere just plugged in. 

Edited May 26, 2022 by BurntOrange&White

[Chewbacca 7793]

Orbi started acting up last night and the satellites won't connect to the base.  I'm going to keep fucking with it, but if I can't get it going again, what are the best mesh systems out there?  Been really happy with Orbi up until now (we've had it probably 4-5 years, maybe a little longer?).  I do not want Jeff Fucking Bezos or Google listening to me through my router.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10439]

Going to throw this out there only because you are eliminating the top 2 rated systems by users:

https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/your-router-is-collecting-data-heres-what-to-know-and-how-to-protect-your-privacy/

[TexasEd 8142]

4 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Going to throw this out there only because you are eliminating the top 2 rated systems by users:

https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/your-router-is-collecting-data-heres-what-to-know-and-how-to-protect-your-privacy/

Thanks for this.  I use Eero and was not going to reply since it is associated with Amazon/Bezos.  It has been very reliable, my beacons are wireless and I was concerned and wanted wired but it has been a non issue.

[MonkeyDoughnut 10439]

Just now, TexasEd said:

Thanks for this.  I use Eero and was not going to reply since it is associated with Amazon/Bezos.  It has been very reliable, my beacons are wireless and I was concerned and wanted wired but it has been a non issue.

I'm on Eero at home as well, also have Google Nest in another location, switching from Orbi and have had same success with both units. Eero maybe slightly better/consistent speeds but nothing big, Google has a little more feature/use reporting that I like.

[52-80 19277]

Orbi is my number choice, but got a great deal on top end TP Link Deco X90.  Easy setup but advanced functionality is absent.  Another good option is Asus because of modularity - you can add any AiMesh standalone routers to its network.

[LosIllini 91]

Running 2 x Asus RT-AC86U routers in a Mesh setup in a 2 story house (one on each floor), with 3rd party Asuswrt-Merlin Firmware.  Backhaul is via ethernet which helps performance, though they work via wifi as well.  Not too tricky to setup- first unit did a pretty good job covering the house, but, added the second unit to my existing network.

They're probably a little bit dated at this point (no wifi 6, look like routers w/ antennas), but, are rock solid, and the wifi is powerful/ covers the entire house.  Rarely have to reset.  Merlin firmware has some really cool stuff if you like to play with software.  I have some add-ons running which block adverts/ unwanted traffic at the router level (amazing how much roku, samsung, etc. device call home/ how many ads this thing blocks).

[TexasEd 8142]

1 hour ago, LosIllini said:

Running 2 x Asus RT-AC86U routers in a Mesh setup in a 2 story house (one on each floor), with 3rd party Asuswrt-Merlin Firmware.  Backhaul is via ethernet which helps performance, though they work via wifi as well.  Not too tricky to setup- first unit did a pretty good job covering the house, but, added the second unit to my existing network.

They're probably a little bit dated at this point (no wifi 6, look like routers w/ antennas), but, are rock solid, and the wifi is powerful/ covers the entire house.  Rarely have to reset.  Merlin firmware has some really cool stuff if you like to play with software.  I have some add-ons running which block adverts/ unwanted traffic at the router level (amazing how much roku, samsung, etc. device call home/ how many ads this thing blocks).

Interested in the ad blocking.  Did you use an add on or use a custom DNS setting that filters the ad sources?

Not endorsing this, was the first search result: https://www.instructables.com/Block-Ads-With-Your-Router-Using-Ad-blocking-DNS-S/

[LosIllini 91]

I think there are a few ways to block ads/ malware- through an ad blocking DNS, using blocking scripts on the router (which is what I'm doing), or through separate hw/ sw solutions like pihole (running on a raspberry pi box).

On my Asus router, I'm running a program called Diversion, which uses 3rd party scripts/ blocking lists that seem to be updated pretty regularly.  You can also whitelist/ blacklist/ create custom entries.  Works pretty well, and is self-contained on the router (no separate hw boxes).  Pihole looks to be more customizable and has more bells and whistles, but, Diversion seems to be pretty popular.  I still use my regular DNS servers (Cloudflare or Google).  Don't notice any losses in surfing speed.    Pihole vs. Diversion

[ChickenSandwich 9856]

Just installed these at the new house. The range and speed is awesome. 
 

TP-Link Tri Band Wi-Fi 6 Mesh Router System | 2- Mesh Routers | Coverage up to 5,500 Sq Ft | Deco W7200 (2-pack)
 

ARRIS SURFboard SB8200 DOCSIS 3.1 Cable Modem | Approved for Comcast Xfinity, Cox, Charter Spectrum, & more | Two 1 Gbps Ports | 1 Gbps Max Internet Speeds | 4 OFDM Channels | 2 Year Warranty https://a.co/d/4YErfq0