Consumer/Pro-sumer Mesh Network

[dlockers]

Hi folks,

I am perfectly happy with my current Archer C80 and RE550 boosters, but they are starting to show their age and they don't support daisy chain boosting (and that sounds bad anyway). I ideally want a router with a VPN end-point like my mums TP Link, and a proper Mesh that supports ethernet backhaul as I aim to get down the bottom of the garden.

Is there anything materially better in a similar budget to the Deco range?

Use case:
~37 connected devices
1 gaming PC
1 HA server
1 Plex server (rarely used)

I have ethernet to the bottom of the garden via a PoE switch which powers my cameras. I guess I could upgrade this to gigabit, but latency wise it's probably fine for Teams calls if I migrate to the home office.

Thanks
and apols for the boring Q

 

[Avalon]

On router VPN tends to suck without hardware acceleration, however it depends what you need out of it, you will generally get much, much better results running something efficient like tailscale or wireguard on a PC/server, docker makes this easy, if you must run OVPN then it's still going to be a heck of a lot quicker on a CPU with hardware acceleration. The TP Link Deco's are actually surprisingly not awful, they have more hardware revisions than I care to think about, occasionally forget they're connected via wired backhaul, but they're easy to live with and stable. The basic X20/x50 will give 800mbit from my testing node to node, not much point in going for faster units as you're still limited by gigabit until you spend silly money on the higher end units. Also if you have a feed to the bottom of the garden, if that's in an office or building then just move the PoE switch to the other end and take a feed off for a Deco at that end. Sadly one of the annoyances of Deco is they aren't PoE capable officially, but like most things I suspect it could be done with minimal effort.

I run a mixed environment of Deco's with the odd Unifi AP, I also tend to install Deco's for family, they give very little agro and are easily managed/expanded as required.

 

[Mr_Orange]

I'm currently using Asus XT8 on wired backhaul that have been good. It has VPN capabilities but I don't use that side of it so I can't really comment. The biggest downside is that they are expensive for what they are.

I have heard good things about Deco too.

 

[dlockers]

On router VPN tends to suck without hardware acceleration, however it depends what you need out of it, you will generally get much, much better results running something efficient like tailscale or wireguard on a PC/server, docker makes this easy, if you must run OVPN then it's still going to be a heck of a lot quicker on a CPU with hardware acceleration. The TP Link Deco's are actually surprisingly not awful, they have more hardware revisions than I care to think about, occasionally forget they're connected via wired backhaul, but they're easy to live with and stable. The basic X20/x50 will give 800mbit from my testing node to node, not much point in going for faster units as you're still limited by gigabit until you spend silly money on the higher end units. Also if you have a feed to the bottom of the garden, if that's in an office or building then just move the PoE switch to the other end and take a feed off for a Deco at that end. Sadly one of the annoyances of Deco is they aren't PoE capable officially, but like most things I suspect it could be done with minimal effort.

I run a mixed environment of Deco's with the odd Unifi AP, I also tend to install Deco's for family, they give very little agro and are easily managed/expanded as required.

Thanks. It is my go-to for family/friends as well. The ethernet backhaul is brilliant, and the mini switch helps get around port limitation where you are re-using old cables.

For VPN, I just like the security of getting into my home network when the server dies/needs a reboot or RealVNC fails. Definitely not used regularly.

I'm currently using Asus XT8 on wired backhaul that have been good. It has VPN capabilities but I don't use that side of it so I can't really comment. The biggest downside is that they are expensive for what they are.

I have heard good things about Deco too.

Yeah a quick Google puts them a bit out of reach.

---

I think rather than overegging it, I'll wait until Prime Day and go for something like:

TP Link Deco S4 - AC1200 ~£115 WiFi5
TP Link Deco X10 - AX1500 - £161 WiFi6
TP Link Deco X20 - AX1800 - £200 WiFi 6 but quad-core 1Ghz CPU

 

[Firegod]

I liked the VPN setup on the Asus XT12's I used to have. I grabbed my Nord VPN info from the portal and plumbed it into the XT12. But, I only assigned it to the IoT SSID portion of the device. It was nice to have the flexibility. i.e. permenantly on for all IoT devices but not other network things. I found it useful and worked well. The only thing that puts me off TP-Link is the locked down interface. More options the better I say!

 

[Andre]

Deco X50-PoE is a possibility?

 

[dlockers]

Ordered the X10 then realised it didn't have VPN server so then cancelled and ordered the X55. I had a £25 voucher for my burtdoy' so £180ish all-in. If it comes down on PrimeDay I'll boomerang it. Apparently X55 uses a Qualcomm chip vs the X50 which uses Broadcom. Who knew. One was in stock, the other wasn't.

Deco X50-PoE is a possibility?

It'd be better if it delivered PoE vs. was powered by it. I could decommission the PoE switch that drives the cameras then

 

[dlockers]

OH MY GOD YOU HAVE TO SET DECO UP USING AN ANDROID/IOS APP.

I feel like you guys let me down by not telling me, lol. Just setup 60 odd IP reservations using Samsung DEX so I could at least copy paste them in. This is horrendous! However, it is does now...

Had one glitch with it connecting to my PoE switch in the garage but swapped the cable out and it seems fine now.

I definitely need to consolidate some of my switches, or at least upgrade the ZyXel to something bigger.

Black is into the house/backhaul for the Deco. Connects into the 5 port 10/100 PoE switch for the 2 CCTV cameras. Because the X55 has three ports, I have one-gigabit spare to run backhaul ethernet to the Garden Room/Summer House.

Cheapie switch (top right) replaced old Archer unit. The wires are crimped to length so Deco couldn't live there; I also need more ports than Deco offers vs. the Archer it replaced. I think it is a 10/100 but it's only hooking up the Hue Hub and Hive heating.

I've gone from Deco to 10/100/1000 POE switch, which is then looped into the ZyXel 8 port. I need to upgrade the ZyXel to 16 port I think; although right now I have just enough for what needs to be connected.

Time to upgrade to Gig internet me thinks

 

[Firegod]

Just about the mesh node in the garage, it might be worthwhile popping a little shelf somewhere for it to stand on, as I'd imagine being on its side like that would impact the orientation of the internal antenna. It might not... but I guess they are designed to be stood up. Just a thought.