Looking for a good 'bridge mode' home mesh wifi

Pinkeyes

Pinkeyes

Pinkeyes

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I am looking to replace my Plusnet Hub One router with a BT Modem / Netgate pfSense firewall / mesh wifi

I have just returned a Nova Tenda MW12 3 pack mesh system as it refused to work in Bridge mode, and just caused my current router to disconnect itself from the internet.

Can anyone recommend a good home mesh wifi system, with gigabit ethernet ports, that works nicely with LAN devices, and is a bit more configurable than just using a phone application.

Thanks !
 
The only ones I see coming up in reviews (I use the Orbi RBK752 btw) are the Netgear Orbi units, Asus ZenWifi units, and the TP-Link units (like the Deco X90). I don't think the Asus ZenWiFi MINI units support bridge mode. But those 3 I've listed all do. The Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8) twin pack is on sale for £327.99. The Orbi RBK752 (twin pack) is similar at £329.99. The Deco X90 is £349.99. So yeah some ideas there - hopefully that helps to narrow things down. There should be reviews online for those mentioned if you fancy a read through. Obviously I have no idea how many units you need or your price range etc etc. Oh and they all have Web GUI's and a phone app. :)
 
Firegod said:
The only ones I see coming up in reviews (I use the Orbi RBK752 btw) are the Netgear Orbi units, Asus ZenWifi units, and the TP-Link units (like the Deco X90). I don't think the Asus ZenWiFi MINI units support bridge mode. But those 3 I've listed all do. The Asus ZenWiFi AX (XT8) twin pack is on sale for £327.99. The Orbi RBK752 (twin pack) is similar at £329.99. The Deco X90 is £349.99. So yeah some ideas there - hopefully that helps to narrow things down. There should be reviews online for those mentioned if you fancy a read through. Obviously I have no idea how many units you need or your price range etc etc. Oh and they all have Web GUI's and a phone app. :)
Click to expand...

Sorry to state the obvious( :))but for £300 you can have 3 UniFi U6-Lite access points that will happily mesh and yes, you’ll need to run a controller but that’s just a Raspberry pi.
 
Might be an unpopular opinion but I set up a BT Whole Home kit for the in-laws and it's worked a treat. Probably not the best but it was cheap and the dishes work fine for their needs in their rather large townhouse over 3 floors. Router in AP mode, app on my phone, all set up in a few minutes
 
If your happy with WiFi5, like the MW12's, how about a Linksys Velop WHW0303 3 node mesh ?
I've just bought one a week ago to replace my old 3xMW3 + 1xMW6 Tenda mesh. All working in bridge mode and Tri-Band too.
They were available for £150 after using a code from e by eck we're in Howden Buyer or Box.
 
goobs said:
If your happy with WiFi5, like the MW12's, how about a Linksys Velop WHW0303 3 node mesh ?
I've just bought one a week ago to replace my old 3xMW3 + 1xMW6 Tenda mesh. All working in bridge mode and Tri-Band too.
They were available for £150 after using a code from e by eck we're in Howden Buyer or Box.
Click to expand...

That model is actually top of my list at the moment, based on budget. I just needed to know how it handled bridge mode.
Thank you.
 
Pinkeyes said:
That model is actually top of my list at the moment, based on budget. I just needed to know how it handled bridge mode.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
It works just like the Tenda, transparent bridge, passing DHCP from your main router etc and all wireless devices (or any ethernet cabled device plugged into any wireless AP) to all be on the same subnet.

I had the Huawei AX3 3 pack mesh for a day but that refused to work in transparent bridge and mesh at the same time.
 
goobs said:
If your happy with WiFi5, like the MW12's, how about a Linksys Velop WHW0303 3 node mesh ?
I've just bought one a week ago to replace my old 3xMW3 + 1xMW6 Tenda mesh. All working in bridge mode and Tri-Band too.
They were available for £150 after using a code from e by eck we're in Howden Buyer or Box.
Click to expand...

I've ordered this. The £50 off (Promo code in the blurb which seemed odd!) made this. I will report back on the bridge mode.

Thanks again
 
Pinkeyes, how are you getting on with the Linksys Velop WHW0303?

I've had a frustrating time with the Huawei AX3 (Pro), spent 2 hours trying to get it to talk to my VM router. It. didn't work in any mode (DHCP, static or bridged). I wanted it in bridged mode. I intended it to replace a fairly new Tenda MW12 mesh which works ok for most of the time, but suddenly decides to drop off for no apparent reason (I'm using cat 6 as the backhaul), I notice about once a day at random times. My kids reckons it lags every 5 minutes when they're playing online games. This was solved by plugging straight into the switch.

Now I'm looking at :
1. Linksys Velop WHW0303
2. Aruba AP22
3. Ubiquiti UniFi U6 lite

In no particular order. I'd want :
1. Reliable wifi
2. Wifi6 would be nice, but top end Wifi5 with 3 channels would do
3. Guest network on a separate VLAN
4. Bridge mode that works
5. Configurable from an internal web config page and no rely on silly apps or 'cloud'

Nice to haves:
6. Ability to set DHCP, set IP range, allocate static IP and dynamic IP whilst in bridge mode (this isn't a oxymoron) I'd want to run a single subnet and not double NAT. The people who write the FW seem to have a limited/restricted view on what can or should be done imo.
7. Opensource alternatives for FW
8. Not too expensive
 
FSoverC said:
Pinkeyes, how are you getting on with the Linksys Velop WHW0303?

I've had a frustrating time with the Huawei AX3 (Pro), spent 2 hours trying to get it to talk to my VM router. It. didn't work in any mode (DHCP, static or bridged). I wanted it in bridged mode. I intended it to replace a fairly new Tenda MW12 mesh which works ok for most of the time, but suddenly decides to drop off for no apparent reason (I'm using cat 6 as the backhaul), I notice about once a day at random times. My kids reckons it lags every 5 minutes when they're playing online games. This was solved by plugging straight into the switch.

Now I'm looking at ...
Click to expand...

I found the Linksys to be rock solid, and so far very reliable. I will try and answer all your points.

The mesh is setup and working. I think I am staying connected to downstairs unit when I go upstairs and the range is HUGE (devices only 'hop' if the signal difference reaches a certain point). If I join the wifi upstairs I join a different node.
I have one node my home office, with a HP switch connected to it, and 3 PCs plugged into the switch. Works brilliantly.
Guest mode is still available in Bridge mode. Which works well - everything in on my network is visible and no double NAT.
There is an internal web config page. It tells you to download the app everytime you log in, but the web config is very good.

As for your 'Nice to haves'
Once in Bridge Mode, there is no DHCP Server. Do this from elesewhere (Router, Firewall or Raspbery Pi-Hole)
I have got a pFsense aplicance, so once I have bought a modem, this will be replacing my ISP Router.
I think I would trust an ISP router over these mesh networks anyway.

The only downside I could give is when I got the Tenda it was seriously rapid. Web pages loaded faster than I've seen. The Linksys is still a lot quicker than my ISP routers wifi, but not as quick. So that has bugged me a little!

If I have missed anything, or you want to ask anything else, let me know :)
 
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