Weapons-grade home WiFi suggestions

[paralla]

Digger said:

Can someone explain (for a domestic/home setting) what Backhaul is, & the difference between wired & wireless Backhaul. Have done a quick google but getting mixed messages!

If I had to guess ... wired Backhaul is when devices are connected directly to the router via Ethernet?

Some mesh systems are tri-band which means they have the regular 2.4 and 5 GHz WiFi frequencies and a third transceiver for the back haul. This means the 2.4 and 5 ghz bands are not slowed down.

[dmsims]

Lucas Ayde said:

Wireless uses some of the available wifi bandwidth to set up links between the mesh points, they talk to each other and route wireless traffic back to the point that's directly connected to the router. Theoretically slower and higher latency, but a doddle to set up and no extra ethernet connections needed.

Except that some systems like Orbi have a dedicated wireless backhaul

[Digger]

Aah . . . I hadn’t worked out that Backhaul is a mesh-specific term. Doh!

Thanks for the replies.

[techguyone]

My mesh setup has two Gigabit ethernet ports on each mesh unit meaning I now have an additional 8 ethernet points than I would otherwise have had, and has proved really handy for things like cctv /raspberry pi's and other remote device that don't have/work well with wi-fi.

[Gary C]

Digger said:

Aah . . . I hadn’t worked out that Backhaul is a mesh-specific term. Doh!

Thanks for the replies.

its not mesh specific, just that in a mesh backhaul term is used to describe the intermidiate link as it is generally used in telecommunications, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Backhaul_(telecommun...

[Northernboy]

After reading through this, I’m lost.

I’ve a mesh system, the Linksys one, and my main router is also Linksys, attached to my wall socket via a Draytek Vigor 130 Ethernet modem, and it still doesn’t give me consistent service.

I’d thought that I was doing what seems to be recommended here, but it still struggles with wifi drop-outs, and the odd disconnection of the modem from the internet.

I’ve a tall house, five stories, it has Ethernet throughout (but not necessarily in the right corner of each room to allow it to run to the main computers), and I’ve tried what feels like every combination of setup without finding a great solution.

I’ve had the mesh units attached to the modem over Ethernet. I’ve had them wireless only. I’ve had the Linksys modem attached to broadband via the Vigor modem, via the Plusnet router, and via the previous Sky router, before I changed service providers to see if that was the problem.

I’ve unplugged everything Linksys, and had apple base stations all with the same network name, wired together and wireless. I’ve used ad-hoc Linksys wireless extenders to try to stop the downstairs mesh unit dropping out of the grid, and tried just finding a good place for the Linksys router on a middle floor to reach everywhere without the mesh units.

Nothing works. I still will get “you are not connected to the internet” when my iPad is attached to the Linksys network with five bars, and when my wired computer is connected just fine.

Any idea what I should be doing? Sticking with the mesh seems the right idea, but it doesn’t seem to want to cover the whole house, and I don’t know whether to tell it use one network name and password, or different ones, and whether to wire each unit in, or have them only communicate wirelessly.

[RizzoTheRat]

techguyone said:

My mesh setup has two Gigabit ethernet ports on each mesh unit meaning I now have an additional 8 ethernet points than I would otherwise have had, and has proved really handy for things like cctv /raspberry pi's and other remote device that don't have/work well with wi-fi.

Same here, and where I'm not using ethernet cable for backhaul they act as a nice wifi bridge, so my Pi and Playstaton are connected to the mesh unit by ethernet, which talks to the other mesh unit over wifi/powerline backhaul

Northernboy said:

Any idea what I should be doing? Sticking with the mesh seems the right idea, but it doesn’t seem to want to cover the whole house, and I don’t know whether to tell it use one network name and password, or different ones, and whether to wire each unit in, or have them only communicate wirelessly.

Generally speaking you want to go:
modem - router - mesh unit - mesh unit - mesh unit - mesh unit
or
modem - router - switch < multiple mesh units

If you're using a separate router, or using one of the mesh nodes as a router, make sure your modem isn't also acting as a router by setting it tp passthrough (or modem) mode

Does the linksys system have a phone app or similar for setup? If so it should be able to step you through the setup.

[Northernboy]

RizzoTheRat said:

Generally speaking you want to go:
modem - router - mesh unit - mesh unit - mesh unit - mesh unit
or
modem - router - switch < multiple mesh units

If you're using a separate router, or using one of the mesh nodes as a router, make sure your modem isn't also acting as a router by setting it tp passthrough (or modem) mode

Does the linksys system have a phone app or similar for setup? If so it should be able to step you through the setup.

The router is attached to the big racked Ethernet switch in the cupboard where the signal enters the house, and it’s then the location and setup of the mesh units that I’m struggling with.

Whether wired or not, the work OK for a good chunk of the time but have a habit (wired or not) of one just dropping out of the mesh.

When that happens I think that it’s still broadcasting a network, so things are still connecting to it, but it’s not then attached back to the router.

When I initially set the units up the app tells me that they are all “just right”, and speaking to each other well, but by the following day one or two will have gone totally AWOL.

[techguyone]

5 stories is a lot though, that'll be a stretch, your standard 3 mesh unit setup won't cut it, more likely 6 or 7, (most mesh allow up to 10) but once you get past 6 or so the benefit of each new unit is less and less.

[Northernboy]

techguyone said:

5 stories is a lot though, that'll be a stretch, your standard 3 mesh unit setup won't cut it, more likely 6 or 7, (most mesh allow up to 10) but once you get past 6 or so the benefit of each new unit is less and less.

I’ve got four at the moment, but they seem to struggle going between floors.

I’ll just persevere I suppose, and try to find positions that work.

[xeny]

Northernboy said:

I’ve got four at the moment, but they seem to struggle going between floors.
.

What structure is the floor made of? If it's something like poured concrete on steel sheets, transmission between floors will be terrible.

[Northernboy]

xeny said:

What structure is the floor made of? If it's something like poured concrete on steel sheets, transmission between floors will be terrible.

It probably is, it’s quite a substantial building.

[paralla]

Northernboy said:

It probably is, it’s quite a substantial building.

If the mesh nodes are all wired back to the switch and you have one on each floor there is no need for wifi transmission through the floors/ceilings.

I'd check that the nodes are actually using the ethernet backhaul rather than trying (and occasionally failing) to use wireless backhaul.

[Northernboy]

paralla said:

If the mesh nodes are all wired back to the switch and you have one on each floor there is no need for wifi transmission through the floors/ceilings.

I'd check that the nodes are actually using the ethernet backhaul rather than trying (and occasionally failing) to use wireless backhaul.

How would I do that?

[paralla]

Northernboy said:

How would I do that?

I'm not familiar with the Linksys system but you should be able to see the connection method of each child node somewhere in the app. If you can't you might need to log into your system using a web browser.

https://www.linksys.com/gb/support-article/?articl...

[Northernboy]

paralla said:

I'm not familiar with the Linksys system but you should be able to see the connection method of each child node somewhere in the app. If you can't you might need to log into your system using a web browser.

https://www.linksys.com/gb/support-article/?articl...

Thanks. I’ll have a try.

[Toilet Duck]

In the next few weeks I will finally get fibre to the premises installed (live in the sticks so only had 1Mb download speed on crappy copper).

Can I use any of the mesh extender systems mentioned in this thread, or do I need something "specific" for fibre to the premises? They are literally running a fibre all the way to my house and into the property. If its important, the install is being carried out by County Broadband and they will be supplying some sort of router as part of the install. Am I tied to that router, or can I put something "better" in its place? Can the fibre provider "lock" the service so it will only work using their kit?

Many thanks from a pc luddite

[Trustmeimadoctor]

What speed are you buying? As that will decide most of it for you. The faster you net connection the better the rest of your kit needs to be.

[Toilet Duck]

Trustmeimadoctor said:

What speed are you buying? As that will decide most of it for you. The faster you net connection the better the rest of your kit needs to be.

I'm going for their middle option, 600Mbps with a minimum guaranteed speed of 400Mbps. I live in a 4 bed house, part of which is very old with stone walls. Ideally I would like to get the Internet in every room plus the garage (which is attached but seperate by a thick stone wall)

It will be like travelling into the future when we get the fibre; currently I have to download stuff from sky on demand etc overnight!

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Any idea what they supply modem/ router wise