Mesh setup - Sky router plus Deco X50 AX3000

[SaBBz]

Morning all

I have just swapped from BT gigabit (with Halo 3 disks), to Sky broadband with no kind of mesh network as the disks no longer work with Sky broadband.

The Sky router is under the stairs with the ONT (green box), and we have CAT 5e connections going from under the stairs into both the study and the lounge (orange boxes) - both of these have gigabit switches attached which then go into TVs, PS4, PC etc, though I have a Sky Q main box connected in the lounge I have had go to wifi for the Sky Q mini box in the study as it was reducing the whole wired network to 250mbit. I'm trying to work out where best to put the Deco units to give decent coverage to the whole house and also the garden (out from the kitchen). I've attached a very basic layout diagram for reference (not to scale ).

Is it sensible to put one unit under the stairs, wired directly into the Sky router and then turning off the Sky wifi, and then the other two units connected into the switches in the study/lounge? Is this likely to give me a poor signal to the garden (which is about 25m from the under-stairs cupboard, in which case I might be better having a Deco unit in the kitchen (which cannot then be wired via ethernet)?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[Firegod]

If the study and lounge both have network switches, you could just buy a double pack of mesh nodes and as you say wire each in at those locations. That in turn then goes back to the Router under the stairs. Looking at your diagram that should give you good coverage in the house. I don't think you need to then put a 3rd under the stairs. Put the Sky Router under the stairs into passthrough or bridge mode and yeah turn off the wifi. If the garden signal is still poor, then you might want to look at adding another node in the kitchen (perhaps the right hand side to give a nice triangulation between nodes). All depends on what your internal/external walls are made from as I would hope the study node would be enough.

One of my ceiling mounted APs is at the end of a long hallway which has a window at the end. ~20m outside is a security camera - direct line of sight. And it picks up the wifi OK on 2.4Ghz (reporting a signal of -68dbm and I run 2.4Ghz at reduced power). Like I say, depends on what is in the way at the end of the day. I have another camera, closer to another AP, yet that gets -71dbm signal strength - yet it is perhaps just 5m away.

 

[Avalon]

It depends on the actual distance and the construction of the walls. I wouldn't expect great coverage in the garden, going through two walls of any type is usually going to end in disappointment.

 

[SaBBz]

Thanks both for the responses.

The house is a new build so the walls are pretty thin, being plasterboard and a small amount of insulation, though I have already bought the set of 3 X50s so I may just wire up the two in the study/lounge and put the other in the kitchen I think. The specs say they have good coverage so that should hopefully be ample?

 

[CaNsA]

What sort of use are you planning in the garden?
Streaming music? That doesnt take much bandwidth and you'd be fine with 2.4ghz wifi out there.

Internally, and this is just me being me.
I'd drop the Sky router out of the equation and replace it with a single X50 to take over the heavy lifting.
You have the Cat5e running to the study and the lounge, and having a node in location will give you the wired backhaul link to the hallway main node. Tip Top stuff.

You will have decent coverage in the house, and ok coverage outside.

 

[SaBBz]

Garden usage would be streaming music but also some phone and iPad usage, though nothing that requires too much bandwidth. I might turn the wifi off on the router and pop the third unit under there, and just see how the signal is in the garden. If it’s a bit rubbish then I can always move it into the kitchen.