Weapons-grade home WiFi suggestions

[boxst]

Sporky said:

Not quite, but Zen do Fritz routers which have built in mesh capabilities - just add more of them and prod some buttons.

I have a FritzBox 7590 and a couple of the Zen 7530s that I got when subscribing (two lines, one ADSL and then finally Fibre). They work really well as a mesh network, however the actual range of each box is quite short in comparison to Asus routers that I've used before.

[bmwmike]

Gary C said:

bmwmike said:

/

We have 950MB incoming and i'm still using the BT router as I don't know what to replace it with. Assuming I ditch the existing investment in ubquiti, what would folks suggest?

Be aware that with the PSTN switch off, and the subsequent transfer of BT customers to Digital Voice, you may end up having to go back to the BT router. Separating your home telephone number from your BT internet account to use with a third party VOiP is a minefield and impossible to negotiate without cancelling your internet and phone and starting afresh.

Maybe BT will eventually allow easy separation, but its not looking good at the moment.

thanks Gary thats a good point. I dont actually need or use the telephone number but could see it happening as you describe.

[Sporky]

boxst said:

Sporky said:

Not quite, but Zen do Fritz routers which have built in mesh capabilities - just add more of them and prod some buttons.

I have a FritzBox 7590 and a couple of the Zen 7530s that I got when subscribing (two lines, one ADSL and then finally Fibre). They work really well as a mesh network, however the actual range of each box is quite short in comparison to Asus routers that I've used before.

I have four of the 7530s - one in the garage where the ADSL line comes in, one in the office, one in the living room, and one in the workshop. You're right about the range - the whole house is covered, but the patio isn't. One more would sort that, or I think changing the orientation of the living room one might do it.

[illmonkey]

I've had the NanoHD unplugged for a while and everything is working ok on my TP-Links. Anyone want a cheap NanoHD? Expand that range yo...

[Phooey]

ecsrobin said:

Purchased and received a pair of Netgear Orbi wifi6 mesh on amazon prime day, only went for the more basic dual bands but compared to the Tenda MW6 they replace its a transformation. 9etting 900mbps across the whole house and garden off 2 boxes whereas we saw some massive reductions in speeds and black spots off 2 MW6’s and they were both wired. The 2nd Orbi is wireless.

Well worth a purchase.

Hi, I am currently looking at the Netgear Orbi stuff. Do you have a link to the one you bought please

I need a router-based Orbi set-up which will work with Virgin and (mostly) Apple equipment. Amazon is a minefield when trying to buy the correct kit

[ecsrobin]

Phooey said:

ecsrobin said:

Purchased and received a pair of Netgear Orbi wifi6 mesh on amazon prime day, only went for the more basic dual bands but compared to the Tenda MW6 they replace its a transformation. 9etting 900mbps across the whole house and garden off 2 boxes whereas we saw some massive reductions in speeds and black spots off 2 MW6’s and they were both wired. The 2nd Orbi is wireless.

Well worth a purchase.

Hi, I am currently looking at the Netgear Orbi stuff. Do you have a link to the one you bought please

I need a router-based Orbi set-up which will work with Virgin and (mostly) Apple equipment. Amazon is a minefield when trying to buy the correct kit

This is the one: NETGEAR Orbi Mesh WiFi System (RBK352) | WiFi 6 Mesh Router with 1 Satellite Extender |WiFi Mesh Whole Home Dual Band Coverage up to 2,500 sq. ft. and 30+ Devices | AX1800 WiFi 6 (Up to 1.8 Gbps) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08FT6NWZ8/ref=cm_sw_r...


As an example I’ve just done a Speedtest whilst sat 2m away from the main orbi on my iPhone (we’re on a 900mbps down/up package), wired I get full speeds.



In the garden the other day I was still at 106/76mbps which was more close to the speeds I’d have got sat next to the Tenda.

It’s been 2 months of use and it’s been bulletproof with not a single down or hung loading of anything.

[Phooey]

ecsrobin said:

This is the one: NETGEAR Orbi Mesh WiFi System (RBK352) | WiFi 6 Mesh Router with 1 Satellite Extender |WiFi Mesh Whole Home Dual Band Coverage up to 2,500 sq. ft. and 30+ Devices | AX1800 WiFi 6 (Up to 1.8 Gbps) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08FT6NWZ8/ref=cm_sw_r...


As an example I’ve just done a Speedtest whilst sat 2m away from the main orbi on my iPhone (we’re on a 900mbps down/up package), wired I get full speeds.



In the garden the other day I was still at 106/76mbps which was more close to the speeds I’d have got sat next to the Tenda.

It’s been 2 months of use and it’s been bulletproof with not a single down or hung loading of anything.

Thanks for reply and linky. Impressive performance! I think I might need a tri-band set up though

[ecsrobin]

Phooey said:

Thanks for reply and linky. Impressive performance! I think I might need a tri-band set up though

This is the tri band orbi wifi6. I just couldn’t justify the cost. Deal: NETGEAR Orbi Mesh WiFi System (RBK752) | WiFi 6 Mesh Router with 1 Satellite Extender |WiFi Mesh Whole Home Triband Coverage up to 4,000 sq. ft. and 40+ Devices | 11AX Mesh AX4200 WiFi (Upto 4.2 Gbps) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B089NMH2WX/ref=cm_sw_r...

[JustinCredible]

Noob here hoping for some advice.

Moved house last week into a 1500ish built thatched roof property with a slightly odd layout.



The broadband router connection point is in the kitchen (bottom left of the Kitchen in the above floorplan) and as such, the wifi signal is pretty good in the two right most bedrooms (i.e. above the kitchen!) but is poor / non existant in some of the other rooms.

Typically, it's really poor in the cellar (keeps disconnecting) which is my man cave with my PC etc. which I use to work from home but also to do some online gaming on an evening.

I'm pretty dire at DIY so don't really want to be drilling holes in walls to run ethernet cables from the kitchen to the cellar unless I absolutely have to. Can anybody please recommend some kit that is easy to set up for beginners that will enhance the wifi signal to the whole home? Also, am I kidding myself that wifi will ever be good enough for online gaming (ping / latency etc.) ?

Thanks in advance

[dmsims]

Buy a Deco from Amazon with Gigabit ports

If WiFi doesn't work for man cave try Devolo powerline

[Captain_Morgan]

JustinCredible said:

Noob here hoping for some advice.

Moved house last week into a 1500ish built thatched roof property with a slightly odd layout.

The broadband router connection point is in the kitchen (bottom left of the Kitchen in the above floorplan) and as such, the wifi signal is pretty good in the two right most bedrooms (i.e. above the kitchen!) but is poor / non existant in some of the other rooms.

Typically, it's really poor in the cellar (keeps disconnecting) which is my man cave with my PC etc. which I use to work from home but also to do some online gaming on an evening.

I'm pretty dire at DIY so don't really want to be drilling holes in walls to run ethernet cables from the kitchen to the cellar unless I absolutely have to. Can anybody please recommend some kit that is easy to set up for beginners that will enhance the wifi signal to the whole home? Also, am I kidding myself that wifi will ever be good enough for online gaming (ping / latency etc.) ?

Thanks in advance

First set of questions
Is the router currently connected to the bt master socket (assuming it’s not virgin or a fttp provider)
Who is the current provider and what ‘router’ do you currently have
What is the state of the current electrical wiring e.g. any plans to re-wire or issues noted in survey

[Gary C]

The real question is how much can you spend.

That will define everything. If you can afford it, get someone in to flood wire the house with cables to every room, then run wifi6 mesh points with ethernet backhaul in enough places for 100% coverage and the fastest speeds possible with stationary equipment directly wired,

but i think you already know that.

So you need to work out the budget, what you are prepared to do to the house and what sort of internet speed you have now and likely to have in the future (ie is FTTP realistic ?) and are you likely to need to move data around the house (such as network attached storage, video streaming from device to device etc)

Then you can work out what network you need.

Most people with a max 78mbps only really need a good reliable, low latency mesh system such as the netgear stuff. I would always steer clear of ethernet over the mains wiring as I have had nothing but trouble with it (working, but odd delays in response, and finding neighbours equipment appearing on my network !) but if you have FTTP in the near future, its worth hardwiring as much as possible and getting wifi6 mesh to make it worth while.

[Captain_Morgan]

To be fair wifi 6 is less about increasing the average domestic wifi speed and more about increasing bandwidth in congested commercial environments, that said never let a vendor pass up an opportunity to up sell to the punters.

[Bikerjon]

Captain_Morgan said:

To be fair wifi 6 is less about increasing the average domestic wifi speed and more about increasing bandwidth in congested commercial environments, that said never let a vendor pass up an opportunity to up sell to the punters.

Technically true, but in my experience Wi-Fi 6 does seem to work better in almost any situation. No-one should really be investing heavily in Wi-Fi 5 equipment now - unless they are cheapskates!

[JustinCredible]

Thank you for the replies and apologies for not answering the questions sooner - had a few more spectacular fails that have needed sorting including the boiler packing in due to a broken fuel gauge on the outside oil tank meaning we have completely ran out of oil for the central heating.

Current setup - BT Openreach socket > DSL Filter > Vodafone Wi-FI hub (model no THG3000) although worth mentioning I've signed up to BT since moving in and am waiting on the delivery of the new BT Router which may or may not improve things.

Quoted download speeds when I signed up to BT was only 60ish mbps so not expecting it to be quick.

Realistically how much would I be looking at to get somebody to come out and route ethernet throughout the house? If it's £1k plus then probably not worth it if I can solve the problem with a few hundred pounds worth of mesh wifi stuff?

Thanks again for your advice all.

[dmsims]

Difficult to price up wiring remotely.

Buy the Deco, if it doesn't work it won't cost you anything

[JustinCredible]

Thanks, have just looked on Amazon and there are lots of different models of Deco and not sure how to compare.

Do you think these would suffice?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07RXLF5XZ?smid=A3P5RO...

or these maybe?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Deco-S4-3-pack-Be...

[dmsims]

Second one

[xeny]

JustinCredible said:

worth mentioning I've signed up to BT since moving in and am waiting on the delivery of the new BT Router which may or may not improve things.
.

My experience of the current BT router has been pretty positive in a couple of locations. Keep it up off the floor, and try not to bury it behind furniture, and you may be pleasantly surprised.

[RizzoTheRat]

The E4 only has 100 Mbps ethernet ports, while the S4 has Gigbit ethernet, might not be an issue compared to you internet speed, but will make a different transferring stuff locally.

If you struggle with thick walls, also consider the P9, which is basically the S4 with built in powerline as well.

Another option is see what extras BT can offer with the new router, they have thier own mesh system and guarantee the network quality in the house, but you pay monthly for it so long term is more expensive than just buying your own system.