Roaming/Mesh wifi confusion

[mpj88]

Hi all,

Hoping you can clear this up for me. Getting confused between mesh and roaming wifi. I thought it was Mesh I wanted but now I think its just roaming.

Current have internet connection into one corner of the house through a virgin media box set to modem only mode. Then I have a TP-link wifi router. This has a wired connection to a netgear router set as an access point at the opposite corner of the house. Each of these devices has different wireless SSID.

As they're both in corners of the house there's points in the house where wireless clients cling onto one of the routers where they could have a better connection by switching to the other network. I see "mesh" networks advertised by TP-link (e.g. deco x20, m9 plus) and netgear (e.g. rbk50, rbk852) which offer seamless transitioning between access points throughout a house. However I think the "mesh" part of these wifi systems is the wireless backhaul (not really needed in current house, maybe in future) between access points. Researching ubiquiti devices has made me realised what I think I need is better roaming. As their mesh wifi products are for stadiums etc.

Any comments?

 

[BigT]

Your devices clinging mean that you want to resolve the issue of roaming and efficient and appropriate handoff.

Things advertised as consumer mesh networking products tend to resolve this reasonably well. However one of the major contributing reasons for that in my experience is that they are devices form the same manufacturer and designed to work in a multi-node environment. Mesh does this out of the box but other products such as wired access points from the same manufacturer/range can also do it well. This is probably why it seems confusing to you. The problem you want to solve can be done so in a variety of ways.

Mesh devices can have wireless backhaul or confusingly wired backhaul or a mix in some cases. I think traditionally they're marketed as one of the plus points being wireless backhaul so you don't need to run cables but it's not true that this is the only method.

Good news for you, if I understand correctly from your post, is that you have an ethernet cable running from your virgin/TP-link router to your Netgear router? Aside from the hand off issues, when connected to the right SSID, do you get good coverage where you want? If so then I can see the following options for you:

1. Lowest cost (i.e. free) might be to try the same SSID and access credentials on both the routers. It may be that devices will roam more freely but I have my doubts. It sounds counter intuitive but if the routers have the ability to change the transmit power on the WiFi then turn it down so it'll try to cling on less when there's a stronger signal close by. It may also be this isn't a setting that can be tuned (I don't know the routers to say definitively)
2. Since you've got the cables going where you need then put a decent access point in both locations from the same manufacturer/ecosystem. Disable Wifi on your TP-Link so it just does routing/switching and remove the Netgear entirely. I use Ubiquiti UAPs for this but there's some good posts somewhere on here with positive experiences from TP-Link prosumer Access Points
3. Buy a two node mesh system that supports wired backhaul (may as well make use of the better performance if you're investing some hard earned cash) and put them on each end of the ethernet cable. Again you disable WiFi on the TP-link and remove the Netgear entirely. Some manufacturers' mesh systems will also do the routing so you may need to get rid fo the TP-Link router as well or else you end up in this weird situation where you have two home networks and can't work out why a device wired into your router can't be accessed from a WiFi connected device (commonly seen when laptops can't find network printers).

Options 2 and 3 are likely to see you happiest, with UAPs for option 2 being one solution I know from personal experience that is good and configurable to tune it to your circumstances. I hold out little hope for option 1 but given its free to try may as well give it a go. No point spending money unnecessarily.

 

[mpj88]

snip

Thank you very much for the detailed reply. Yes, your understanding re cable between the two points is correct.

The other thing is the netgear router I'm using as an access point is a really old DGN2000. The only reason I actually set this up is because our Logitech harmony systems was playing up and I realised the harmony hub was in a wifi deadspot from the tp-link router. I really try to limit the devices using this access point as its so slow! So getting some new HW isnt an issue.

I've been researching the Ubiquiti eco system and interested to try it out. I've been thinking of trying to pick up a couple of AP AC lite or AP AC Pro. There's someone selling a edgerouter4 on the MM, so I could take the TP-link router out of the equation completely. Any advice re Ubiquiti products is welcome.

 

[BigT]

Unless you have some advanced routing or firewalling requirements the I wouldn't bother replacing your router. Things I wold consider in this space include policy based routing, network wide VPN client, running services from home, running your own VPN server for home access while away, VLANs for things like IoT devices, isolated guest network etc.

As for Ubiquiti Access Points, I run four and have done for years and am very happy. Without knowing the layout of your house it's difficult to say definitively what would work, but if you got close to acceptable performance with your current setup then 2 x AC Lite's should be just fine I would think. Be sure you can mount them high though as they're designed to be on a ceiling and radiate WiFi in a way that is not omnidirectional like consumer routers. If you must mount on a desk or in/on a wall then there are other Ubiquiti products for that.

 

[mpj88]

Hadn't really thought about keep the TP-link just for routing purposes. It's an Archer C8 and 5 years old, so thought it was due replacement but guess it would still function fine as a router. I don't think I do anything overly fancy with my router, only port forwarding. If I need a VPN server I've run one on my NAS before. Not sure if I'm missing out on any other tricks?

The current house isn't that big, see floor plan below, red marks are locations of router and AP, with the router being upstairs . (We're thinking of moving hence why we have these drawn up!) Lounge is a single story extension. I was thinking I could potentially cover the whole house with one AP AC Pro in Bedroom 2. If not, 2 x AP AC lite, one is bedroom 2 and one in kitchen. It shouldn't be too difficult to get it ceiling mounted. See if SWMBO will notice a box on the ceiling.....

 

[BigT]

I think you'll get away with one if you can run the cable to the ceiling in bedroom 2 or just outside on the upstairs landing. Why not try one before deciding to buy another one if it isn't good enough for you? Also, claim it is a smoke alarm and its for the safety of everyone