Best Home WIFI Mesh Network

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

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Hi guys, my parents have just bought a new house which is a pretty large barn conversion, we don't have the internet setup there yet but i'm anticipating it have poor Wifi coverage from one point and as such, whilst they are in the process of some light renovation before they move in I wouldn't mind getting a better Wifi network set up.

Am I right in thinking a mesh network will be the best for them to use whereby they can walk around the house and stay connected to one singular wifi network?

I would think maybe 1 or 2 APs/nodes are required if the router is situated in the centre of the house. At their current house the Wifi reception is terrible if you're just one room along from the router so anything to help give them a better experience in their new place is what i'm looking for!

What are the best/easiest to use and set up, and also that won't break the bank?
 
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This seems to be an almost daily topic now.

In short, mesh networks use part of the available bandwidth to talk to one another.

If there are renovations happening, have cat6 put in, and put in hardwired Access Points. Depending on the size of the barn and how many stories, will dictate how many APs would be required and no one on there can answer that without doing a site survey or at least seeing the floor plans etc. The general rule of thumb is one AP per wall/floor for the best experience.
 
If going to the next room already weakens the signal significantly a mesh setup with Wi-Fi backhual won't work well since it'll have the same problem too. As above, cable the place up if possible and use APs, if they support roaming then it will work just like "mesh" where devices can move between points almost seamlessly.
 
What I meant to put was, signal starts to deteriorate after 1 wall/floor. So if the AP is in the next room, experience should be fine, but if it's two rooms down then not so much. Of course this depends on the wall construction too, hence I mention about a survey,
 
ChrisD. said:
In short, mesh networks use part of the available bandwidth to talk to one another.
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Not all the time, especially with tri-band but I get what you are saying. Some folks don't spend much money and end up with dual-band mesh setup and then lose a chunk of throughput and wonder why it is slow. :) But you can also cable in the mesh units (if practical) so they kind of become APs at that point.
 
Yeh running cables anywhere isn't going to be viable as they arent doing that extensive a renovation.
I'm not sure what the WIFI signal is like at the new place yet so maybe i'll just wait and then assess once they are in and we know how bad it is!
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Yeh running cables anywhere isn't going to be viable as they arent doing that extensive a renovation.
I'm not sure what the WIFI signal is like at the new place yet so maybe i'll just wait and then assess once they are in and we know how bad it is!
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I think a mesh system will be fine. Yes wired is optimal but 99% of people won't care. On reviews sites and tech forums people will try and convince you that you need max throughput in every corner but that is nonsense.
I have a dual band mesh. Yes the bandwidth off the second node is a bit slower but it isn't a huge issue. I get 450Mb off the primary node and 300Mb off the second.
For most people having a strong reliable signal is what is important not full bandwidth.

Btw I got the Deco X60 with 2 nodes for about £160.
 
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Do you happen to have a floor plan of the home? And do you know what the internal walls are made from?

Will be able to give some better advice with the above information.
 
Not to hand no, I haven't actually been up there yet either so not sure on how the barn is built. I imagine its solid wall construction inside though but could well be wrong.
I also don't know where the landline/fibre will come into the property yet either. Gonna go up this weekend and have a nosey around.
 
Also just seen that Sky do a Wifi guarantee and provide extenders too if the Wifi they provide isn't great, so may see what system they use as it can be included with their Sky package.
 
Owenb said:
I think a mesh system will be fine. Yes wired is optimal but 99% of people won't care. On reviews sites and tech forums people will try and convince you that you need max throughput in every corner but that is nonsense.
Click to expand...

Tell that to the people that complain they don't get max throughput over WiFi who complain on this forum on how to improve things. :cry:
 
R.O.S.S.I said:
Also just seen that Sky do a Wifi guarantee and provide extenders too if the Wifi they provide isn't great, so may see what system they use as it can be included with their Sky package.
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By large accounts it's crap.

With Sky Broadband Boost, we'll guarantee you can get at least 3Mbps WiFi in every room
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Have fun with that.

And don't forget, if you take Sky's system, you're stuck with Sky. Go with another ISP and you have to take their kit if they do a similar offer.

Or do it once, properly, and go with whichever ISP you fancy and enjoy high speed everywhere.
 
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Parents have Sky TV at the moment and I will likely get them a TV and BB bundle for their new place. Obviously if other ISP's are cheaper for the same product then i'll go with them but with Sky F&F discount the TV and BB packages are pretty competitive.
 
I am a big Ubiquti Unifi fan. Lots of videos on youtube - crosstalk solutions, lawrence systems, mac telecom networks, and more. TP link Omada is a copy of the Unifi line, but reviews seem to be positive.
 
If you are ‘t too fussy about looks, just get a 30m flat ethernet cable to connect the AP, that’s what I’ve done and it works a treat with 2 routers and it’s a >2000sqft house. I do have 1 deadspot outside though which is annoying but that’s building structure so a different issue.

Edit asus 3200 main with a 66RT as an AP. One at each end of the house and downstairs.
 
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