Mesh network advice

[hab1966]

Currently, the broadband comes into the house in the lounge and is fed directly to a Plusnet router. The router is 2.4/5GHz and feeds a TP-Link 200Mbps mains plug.

On the other side of the lounge is another TP-Link 200Mbps plug which supplies a 8 port switch, which supplies Sky box, TV, DVD player, soundbar. All but the sky box could go wireless. TV & DVD player are 2.4/5GHz capable whilst the soundbar is 2.4GHz only.

Upstairs i have my study which has a desktop with no wireless function, so again i use a TP-Link 200Mbps plug into the computer. Wifi from the Plusnet router downstairs is not good upstairs.

Around the house are various Amazon echo/dots and a google home mini. Also we have a laptop, pad and two phones connecting. One car also occasionally connects to wifi for downloads.

Im slowly loosing the TP-Link units due to failure and have started to look at implementing a mesh system, to give good coverage around the house. If this means i need to loose the Plusnet router, then so be it. I also have an OpenReach modem.

I like the looks of the new Google Nest Wifi, but i dont think the points have the ability to offer a wired connection which i would need for the sky box and upstairs desktop.

Ive also looked at running a Draytek 2862ac router and then using 2x AP_802 as ive used Draytek before and they seem to do what they claim!

8yr old daughter streams a lot from Youtube and at some stage i want to be able to implement access control to what and when she has access to.

Any recommendations as to what other products i should be looking at?

[Sebo]

My old sky box had a WiFi thingy which connected to the wired Ethernet port on it and effectively turned it into a wireless Sky box. Presumably if you did that and bought a WiFi dongle for the desktop PC upstairs, everything could move to wireless and cut your use case down?

[richatnort]

I have the linksys velop system and never had any issues with it, set up was a doddle, the app is very good and user friendly & more importantly it has 2 ethernet ports on the back of them for your hardwired requirement. So it can use wifi to mesh together and then plug two ethernet devices off and it just picks up the WIFI & sends it down the ethernet to your devices. I had to do this with my Arlo system as the hub needed to be hardwired but my router was too far away from where i'd positioned the camera.

Never had an issue and should meet your requirements.

[Pravus1]

Netgear orbi.

It's been pretty rock solid since I put it in. I've got them on a wired backbone between each other through a switch which most of these other systems seems to have issues with.

I can sit a decent distance away from it and still get my full internet speed

[Bikerjon]

Pravus1 said:

Netgear orbi.

It's been pretty rock solid since I put it in. I've got them on a wired backbone between each other through a switch which most of these other systems seems to have issues with.

I can sit a decent distance away from it and still get my full internet speed

It's nice to have the choice, but a wired backbone kind of defeats the point of mesh Wi-Fi in a domestic situation though! One of the main advantages of Orbi in particular is the speed of it's wireless backhaul compared to other consumer mesh systems.

[SistersofPercy]

I know little of these things other than to say, husband bought this from ebuyer last week

https://www.ebuyer.com/841843-tenda-mw3-nova-whole...

It came with another free box. Its transformed the wifi throughout the house and well down the drive. I'm very impressed.

[Corso Marche]

The original Google Wi-Fi mesh system did allow connection of devices via Ethernet. I've our NAS hooked up to one of the points with an Ethernet cable.
Not looked into the new Nest Wi-Fi to see if they've changed that.
Restricting access via Family controls is also pretty easy, if you need to do so for your daughters devices.

[AJB88]

I've got the gen 1 Google Wifi, 2 of them, one upstairs and 1 downstairs. Pretty sure the upstairs one allows a wired connection.

Get yourself some 2nd hand ones off eBay. I got mine in an auction that ended early hours for basically 75% off RRP.

[Rick101]

I have Google, nice when in range but the range is not particulally great. I'd say average house you would need three as a minimum.

[Ultraviolet]

I use the Devolo Magic 2 for both mesh / WiFi and powerline. Been pretty good so far.. bit fiddly to setup but very stable when up and running.

Cheers,
uV

[Sonie]

I had a plusnet router, same as BT HH5 which was naff. Changed suppliers to TalkTalk which gave a better but not brilliant router for signal across a 3 bed house. Decided on the BT Home install, one has to be connected via Ethernet cable to router, I have 3 in total which provide signal across all rooms and the garden.

I haven’t tried connecting another Device via Ethernet cable

[ging84]

I've got google wifi definitely does have wired and you can connect a skybox to it, it only has 1 lan port and a wan port.

But the new nest wifi looks different, the router has the same 2 ports, but the points do not have ports, they wifi only. I would assume you can use multiple 'router' units just like the current google wifi units, but thats untested.

[AJB88]

You should be able to mix and match old and new google wifi units as well. Best bet for OP is just get some 2nd hand Google Wifi ones.

[Beetnik]

+1 for Netgear Orbi. Had it in for maybe a year and it's been rock solid and great reach. Good price at Costco if you have a membership.

[David87]

I have four Google WiFi units with Vodafone broadband and they're really great. Never any troubles at all and fantastic signal almost everywhere. One of the best tech things I've ever bought, I think.

[OldFiver]

Coinciding with a new leap from dire to copper broadband to using EE 4G unlimited I bought in to the Mesh technology - binning off the Powerline units.
(see thread :https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=&t=1810861 )

The combo of both has been game changing.
I bought TP-Link Deco M5 Whole Home Mesh Wi-Fi
Down from £239.99 to £163.36 for 3 units.

Brilliant and easy to set up.

Would recommend

[hab1966]

Lots of food for thought - many thanks

I'll be waiting to see if theres any good deals coming up on Black Friday et al.

[Rick101]

Don't see them that often but just picked up two Google WiFi on fb for £95.

I know they are being superseded but I suspect 2 well placed old will still be greater then 1 new.

[Freakuk]

Another one with the current Google WiFi, I've got 4 points dotted around the house, the range as said isn't the best but if you place them correctly you should have coverage around your home. They do have a RJ45 connection for hardwired LAN, the app is pretty good and provides all of the stuff you are looking for.

One thing to note, I've finally had fibre to the home installed (300Mb/s) and the Google kit only supports 100Mb/s which is more than enough, so only hardwired or devices connected to the main router ever get to 300Mb/s speeds.

[HoHoHo]

We have a BT line with a non-BT router (due to our office IT suppliers contract) and we live on the outskirts of a village with dodgy broadband at best.

I was averaging anything from 0.2mbps to 6mbps at best and I’ve installed a TP Link M4 Mesh system.

fk me......we now get 30mbps average and have no internet issues with two children who seem to download everything ever loaded to the net!

I have no idea how it works but it does and it does it very, very well. We have a very large house and I have full bar coverage for many, many m’s around the property (including the garden which covers almost 1 acre).

I paid £150 or so for the 3 box system and just added a further box for £60 to include the outside room.