Mesh versus Router Home Internet System

[stardust3]

OK, got it. Figured it out after I posted. My Ring cameras have a built in RSSI tester for each camera. Is it better to use the Signal Spy app or the built in camera reading?

Yeah ring has a built in tester, didn't realize that is what you had. I would use the built in camera reading as it is optimized for their device.

Use the signal spy to walk around and see where your wifi signal is low. You'll get a real good idea on the areas that need help.

 

[HipKat]

I have 3 of the Linksys Velop Routers we sell. One at my Modem (Fiber Optic 1Gb/s). My phone on WiFi at the Modem with the old Dlink 1000Mb Router I had, download on my phone via WiFi was about 245. Middle of my house was about 85, and 25 at the far end. Now I have node at each point, so I'm getting steady d/l speeds. The middle Node is where my TV is so I have Ethernet from the Node to the Hopper and the TV. My Hopper D/L Speed went from 35 to 142 and Netflix on my Hopper. TV and Firestick is noticeably faster. I ran Cat 5 from Node 1 at the Modem to the far end of my house where my Computer is. At that distance, my computer d/l's at about 965 Mb/s.

One thing with the Velops. I turned off Device Prioritization and when you run the setup, they do a speed test. Mine dropped my speed to about 235 Mb/s over Ethernet so I did a Google search and found out you have to log into the Web GUI for the Linksys App on your browser and in the settings, you can manually change that so for me, I set it to 1000 Mb/s and it fixed my d/l speed.\

The Tri-band is nice and I can see which bands each device is connected to. I have 7-9 actively connected at most times

 

[charlesrshell]

Yeah ring has a built in tester, didn't realize that is what you had. I would use the built in camera reading as it is optimized for their device.

Use the signal spy to walk around and see where your wifi signal is low. You'll get a real good idea on the areas that need help.

OK, thanks again, neat app. I hope the Mesh router setup takes care of all my dead spots. I really haven't had any issues except with the cameras. Maybe because I have lots of things connected by Ethernet. I just changed my 4K Fire Stick to Ethernet so now there are 17 Ethernet and 15 WiFi devices my router deals with. When the Best Buy consultant comes next Friday I am going to get me something after I hear what he has to say. I am kind of thinking of the Orbi AC3000 system so far. Best Buy salesmen I talked to at the store favored the eero system.

 

[charlesrshell]

I have 3 of the Linksys Velop Routers we sell. One at my Modem (Fiber Optic 1Gb/s). My phone on WiFi at the Modem with the old Dlink 1000Mb Router I had, download on my phone via WiFi was about 245. Middle of my house was about 85, and 25 at the far end. Now I have node at each point, so I'm getting steady d/l speeds. The middle Node is where my TV is so I have Ethernet from the Node to the Hopper and the TV. My Hopper D/L Speed went from 35 to 142 and Netflix on my Hopper. TV and Firestick is noticeably faster. I ran Cat 5 from Node 1 at the Modem to the far end of my house where my Computer is. At that distance, my computer d/l's at about 965 Mb/s.

One thing with the Velops. I turned off Device Prioritization and when you run the setup, they do a speed test. Mine dropped my speed to about 235 Mb/s over Ethernet so I did a Google search and found out you have to log into the Web GUI for the Linksys App on your browser and in the settings, you can manually change that so for me, I set it to 1000 Mb/s and it fixed my d/l speed.\

The Tri-band is nice and I can see which bands each device is connected to. I have 7-9 actively connected at most times

WOW, thanks HipKat. Nice setup. Looks like to me the Mesh setup is the way to go.

 

[stardust3]

One at my Modem (Fiber Optic 1Gb/s).

That makes my bonded pair dsl look pitiful. That's ok it does everything we want it to do and is just a flat $45 a month (15 down 1.5 up). I'm well off the beaten path here and this is as good as it's gonna get for the foreseeable future. It very well could be HN...not.

 

[stardust3]

OK, thanks again, neat app. I hope the Mesh router setup takes care of all my dead spots. I really haven't had any issues except with the cameras. Maybe because I have lots of things connected by Ethernet. I just changed my 4K Fire Stick to Ethernet so now there are 17 Ethernet and 14 WiFi devices my router deals with. When the Best Buy consultant comes next Friday I am going to get me something after I hear what he has to say. I am kind of thinking of the Orbi AC3000 system so far. Best Buy salesmen I talked to at the store favored the eero system.

What is your rssi readings at your ring devices?

 

[charlesrshell]

What is your rssi readings at your ring devices?

See my spreadsheet in post #14. Camera RSSIs are listed there.

 

[stardust3]

See my spreadsheet in post #14. Camera RSSIs are listed there.

Ahh yes they need some help, especially the backyard & driveway cameras. Nice spreadsheet!

 

[charlesrshell]

Ahh yes they need some help, especially the backyard & driveway cameras. Nice spreadsheet!

Thanks. Yep, those two cameras are not too reliable. The doorbell camera never fails. It goes thru the Ring extender to the router. I tried routing the two cameras thru the Ring extender too but the signals weren't that good so I have them going straight to the router.

 

[HipKat]

WOW, thanks HipKat. Nice setup. Looks like to me the Mesh setup is the way to go.

I'm amazed by it. I'm spoiled now, so I guess moving out to the country is off the list!

 

[EarDemon]

Thanks dolfan3033. From what I have learned so far I think a Mesh router system is a no brainer for a larger home. Installed my present router in 2016, a Linksys WRT3200ACM and it has worked great until recently. It is in our 2nd floor office and reaches just fine down to the basement. Couple months ago, upgraded my modem to one gig service from Spectrum. With my laptop Etherneted to the router I get around 760 down and 20 up. If I connect by Ethernet straight to the modem (no router and switches) I get 940+ down and 35 up, the speed Charter says I should get. Also installed couple outside wireless security cameras and a doorbell camera. Two of the cameras are working a little sluggishly. They are on the 2.4 GHz band from my router and I suspect they are having trouble punching thru walls with good signal strength. So I think it is time to upgrade to a Mesh system.

Do you think the Orbi satellite unit connected by Ethernet thru several switches before it gets the router unit will work OK? Is it easy to switch from Wireless to Ethernet mode in the Orbi Mesh setup? Thanks again for your help.

A gigabit WAN connection will show the flaws in your home network. When I got Spectrum Gig last Summer, my hardwired desktop PC would not pull in over 600 Mbps when connected to the router, on the rare occasion it did, it could not sustain those speeds. Once I replaced my router, I could instantly get 940+ Mbps like I’m supposed to. I bought the newer version of the router I had and all was good.

Wifi is not important to me, In fact I hate it. Nothing beats a hard-wired connection. Unfortunately, you can’t hardwire a Google Home, Amazon Echo or any other spying IoT device. If it were not for my IoT junk I would not have wifi in my house.

My personal laptop is hardwired, it’s only an is N only, not AC. My work laptop is AC and I can get 350 Mbps on 5GHz at the kitchen table, which is the farthest point in the house from my access point, or 500+ Mbps when at my desk right next to my AP.

On a smartphone or tablet an app like Signal Spy is great, I use competing apps, but they are all helpful. I use the paid version of Network Cell Info for cellular signal strengths and the paid version of Network Signal Info for wifi. At work when I replaced all of our WAPs, I purchased a license of InSSIDer Office from Metageek and used the corresponding app on my phone to map out where I wanted to place access points. Also if you have a Windows device you want to test, you can use the command netsh wlan show interface to view the signal strength percentage.

 

[Claude Greiner]

I want to upgrade my home Internet system since I have added outside cameras. Not too familiar with the new Mesh setup. It sounds awesome to me compared to just a router from what I have read so far. I am interested in fellow SatGuys members thoughts or experience with Mesh versus a router. Also, which model is the best. I have been a long time Linksys guy but I am favoring the Netgear Orbi right now versus Linksys Velop mesh system. Best Buy has a free consulting service. For the hell of it I have them scheduled 3 May to perform an Internet evaluation for my home to hear what they have to say.

Best Buy?

Dude, I wouldn’t have the geek squad within 500 feet of my house. They know nothing and want to sell you something.

My advice, get a Netgear R9000 router or if you want a mesh system look into EERO.

When you get the EERO, Orbi or whatever mesh system you end up getting, hook up everything with a hard line eithernet cable and a gigabyte switch.

Nothing worse than running 1 access point off of another access point. Granted it works, but the note bottle necks you can get rid of the better.

Best thing you can do on the mesh systems is get a 3 pack and put them in the areas your in most like the bedroom, living room, den, etc.

 

[HipKat]

A gigabit WAN connection will show the flaws in your home network. When I got Spectrum Gig last Summer, my hardwired desktop PC would not pull in over 600 Mbps when connected to the router, on the rare occasion it did, it could not sustain those speeds. Once I replaced my router, I could instantly get 940+ Mbps like I’m supposed to. I bought the newer version of the router I had and all was good.

Wifi is not important to me, In fact I hate it. Nothing beats a hard-wired connection. Unfortunately, you can’t hardwire a Google Home, Amazon Echo or any other spying IoT device. If it were not for my IoT junk I would not have wifi in my house.

My personal laptop is hardwired, it’s only an is N only, not AC. My work laptop is AC and I can get 350 Mbps on 5GHz at the kitchen table, which is the farthest point in the house from my access point, or 500+ Mbps when at my desk right next to my AP.

On a smartphone or tablet an app like Signal Spy is great, I use competing apps, but they are all helpful. I use the paid version of Network Cell Info for cellular signal strengths and the paid version of Network Signal Info for wifi. At work when I replaced all of our WAPs, I purchased a license of InSSIDer Office from Metageek and used the corresponding app on my phone to map out where I wanted to place access points. Also if you have a Windows device you want to test, you can use the command netsh wlan show interface to view the signal strength percentage.

Great info!! I'm going to look into all those apps, etc

 

[HipKat]

Best Buy?

Dude, I wouldn’t have the geek squad within 500 feet of my house. They know nothing and want to sell you something.

My advice, get a Netgear R9000 router or if you want a mesh system look into EERO.

When you get the EERO, Orbi or whatever mesh system you end up getting, hook up everything with a hard line eithernet cable and a gigabyte switch.

Nothing worse than running 1 access point off of another access point. Granted it works, but the note bottle necks you can get rid of the better.

Best thing you can do on the mesh systems is get a 3 pack and put them in the areas your in most like the bedroom, living room, den, etc.

That's what I did. and I'm totally going to hard wire as much as I can at some point. Like you and Ear said, nothing is better that hard wired

 

[EarDemon]

Best Buy?

Dude, I wouldn’t have the geek squad within 500 feet of my house. They know nothing and want to sell you something.

Truer words have never been spoken!

Worked for Best Buy for three months in 2013 hoping to land a position in Geek Squad to use it as a resume builder to get a real IT job. I was told in my interview that they typically don’t hire for Geek Squad, they hire you for the sales floor and if your numbers are good enough you may eventually get the opportunity for consideration to get ‘promoted’ to Geek Squad. It’s not how much product you sell, but your attach percentage for Geek Squad Protection and Geek Squad Tech Support, and pushing and selling other Geek Squad services.

Training was extremely poor, very little of it was focused on products, it was all about how talk customer into buying Geek Squad Services. If a customer came in wanting to buy a computer with an i5 processor, I was supposed to talk him down to buying something with an i3 and then suggest using the savings to get an extended warranty. If I customer said they couldn’t afford an extended warranty or tech support services, I was supposed to push them into signing up for a Best Buy credit card. Best Buy is also scared to death of showrooming, or at least they were back then. During orientation, two hours of it was spent on a video and lecture on was to curb it.

I was taken in the back office three or four times and yelled at for my poor performance, sent home early three times because I was costing the company more then I was making for the company, and was told I was going to be written up my next shift and continued to be written up until I was fired. A couple days later, I went to a different Best Buy, bought a bunch of stuff with my employee discount then went back to my store turned in my one blue shirt and name tag and told them to pound salt. In Computers and Tablets there were seven of us, another guy and myself were the only ones with interested in PC hardware and networking and technology in general, but they moved him against his will to Mobile. No one else I worked with had any interest in this stuff, one wanted to be a teacher, another one was going to school for mental heath, the guy that was hired the same time was me was a full time chef looking for extra money. If I tried to strike up a conversation about the latest Intel processors or debate certain information security philosophies I'd be greeted with blank stares.

Go to a reputable local computer shop, seek out someone you know who has an understanding of technology, but never under any circumstance consult with Geek Squad. When people mention Geek Squad, I immediately tell them I will take on whatever ever they need to the best of my ability for free, just pay me back for anything I need to buy. My payment is seeing you not get screwed.

 

[charlesrshell]

Truer words have never been spoken!

Worked for Best Buy for three months in 2013 hoping to land a position in Geek Squad to use it as a resume builder to get a real IT job. I was told in my interview that they typically don’t hire for Geek Squad, they hire you for the sales floor and if your numbers are good enough you may eventually get the opportunity for consideration to get ‘promoted’ to Geek Squad. It’s not how much product you sell, but your attach percentage for Geek Squad Protection and Geek Squad Tech Support, and pushing and selling other Geek Squad services.

Training was extremely poor, very little of it was focused on products, it was all about how talk customer into buying Geek Squad Services. If a customer came in wanting to buy a computer with an i5 processor, I was supposed to talk him down to buying something with an i3 and then suggest using the savings to get an extended warranty. If I customer said they couldn’t afford an extended warranty or tech support services, I was supposed to push them into signing up for a Best Buy credit card. Best Buy is also scared to death of showrooming, or at least they were back then. During orientation, two hours of it was spent on a video and lecture on was to curb it.

I was taken in the back office three or four times and yelled at for my poor performance, sent home early three times because I was costing the company more then I was making for the company, and was told I was going to be written up my next shift and continued to be written up until I was fired. A couple days later, I went to a different Best Buy, bought a bunch of stuff with my employee discount then went back to my store turned in my one blue shirt and name tag and told them to pound salt. In Computers and Tablets there were seven of us, another guy and myself were the only ones with interested in PC hardware and networking and technology in general, but they moved him against his will to Mobile. No one else I worked with had any interest in this stuff, one wanted to be a teacher, another one was going to school for mental heath, the guy that was hired the same time was me was a full time chef looking for extra money. If I tried to strike up a conversation about the latest Intel processors or debate certain information security philosophies I'd be greeted with blank stares.

Go to a reputable local computer shop, seek out someone you know who has an understanding of technology, but never under any circumstance consult with Geek Squad. When people mention Geek Squad, I immediately tell them I will take on whatever ever they need to the best of my ability for free, just pay me back for anything I need to buy. My payment is seeing you not get screwed.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Best Buy. I take the Geek Squad with a grain of salt. Their consultant guy service is free so I don't mind them coming, might learn something new. I have studied up enough on Mesh systems so will kind of know if they are blowing smoke or not. If not sure I will check with Dr Google and SatGuys members if I have doubts about something. I do think Best Buy has pretty good extended warranties for their TVs. I think they are just about the only ones that cover TV burn-in issues. Their extended warranties have saved my butt on two TVs now.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with Best Buy. I take the Geek Squad with a grain of salt. Their consultant guy service is free so I don't mind them coming, might learn something new. I have studied up enough on Mesh systems so will kind of know if they are blowing smoke or not. If not sure I will check with Dr Google and SatGuys members if I have doubts about something. I do think Best Buy has pretty good extended warranties for their TVs. I think they are just about the only ones that cover TV burn-in issues. Their extended warranties have saved my butt on two TVs now.

The extended warranties are garbage.

Bought one on a digital camera for $120 that covered everything.

Well the LCD screen broke and they refused to cover it claiming customer abuse.

Went round and round and round with them for over an hour until the manager came over.

They tried refunding me on the warranty several times but I wasn’t accepting the money back because then they really where not covering it.

So towards the end the manager got the wise idea to look up the repair costs and refund the warranty so I could put it towards the repair.

It was $60 to repair the screen.

So I was like, refund my money for the warranty and I’ll pay $60 for the repair.

That’s what he did, and handed me $60 back and sent the camera in for repair.

They are so stupid. I’ll never buy an extended warranty from them again because of that.

I hate buying anything from there, but every time I do they try to sell me the dam warranty.

I just tell them this story, and they back off and don’t even bother pitching it.

The only time I might consider an extended warranty on a $3000 Tv. Most of the time on the smaller things like a router, it either goes obsolete before I get the full usage out of it, or when it goes bad I forget I bought the warranty and it’s easier to just buy a new one because I need it ASAP.

I really didn’t care much when Radio Shack went out of business, used to love that place as a kid. However before they closed, everything was over priced and it was just nothing more then a sprint cell phone.

My last straw with Radio shack was when I needed a $3 cable, and couldn’t check out because the old lady ahead of me needed a battery for her cordless phone, and the sales guy was trying to talk her into getting a cell phone.

Don’t blame him for the sales pitch, but please take my $3 and cash me out before you waste 20 minutes of my time

 

[Cypresstree]

I went the route of 5 unifi AP’s and the security gateway. All Aps are powered over Ethernet. 3800 sf home - very cut up - with 5/8” Sheetrock.

I have the 2.4 g radio (necessary for certain wireless IOT devices) active on only one of the five access points. 5g supports maximum throughput.

I repurposed all existing cat5 phone lines in the house for data only. Wifi is used only when necessary.

If you are able - a wired backhaul from each of your nodes is the only way to go.




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[Cheddar_Head]

I love the new mesh networking products but one word of caution, most will default to using the same SSID for the 2.4g and 5g bands (makes roaming more seamless), some devices do not work well with this scheme. Early Sony Android TVs really did not like this along with a couple of no-name tablets I had. Easy fix is to manually give each band a distinct SSID but initial troubleshooting was a beast.

 

[Cypresstree]

I love the new mesh networking products but one word of caution, most will default to using the same SSID for the 2.4g and 5g bands (makes roaming more seamless), some devices do not work well with this scheme. Early Sony Android TVs really did not like this along with a couple of no-name tablets I had. Easy fix is to manually give each band a distinct SSID but initial troubleshooting was a beast.

I can appreciate your response - but I definitely do not recommend unique SSIDS as it makes seamless handoff (the unique and necessary feature of a multiple AP/ node deployment) very problematic.


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