I need a new solution to my networking issues. I have a 2 story house with a finished basement. Currently I have Att gigabit fiber connected to a Netgear Nighthawk R7500v2 and Netgear WAC124 Wireless access point. The router is on the main floor with the access point on the 2nd floor. I think the router is just showing it’s age with random dropouts and we have always had certain locations with spotty wifi.
I have ethernet run to 3 locations in my house, one on each floor. I have been looking for a networking solution that would be low maintenance and solve our wifi coverage issues and dropouts. Mesh systems seem like they would be the easy answer, but I know that easy isn’t always best. I only want to spend around $300-400, so I think most Ubiquiti or enterprise level stuff is out.
Would a $100 Asus router on each floor be the best solution, or is there a better option? Thanks!
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Ubiquiti USG with a couple WAPs is the answer. I have a 3000sq dwelling with plaster walls. It’s glorious.
Get a second R7500, install OpenWRT, and set up a mesh system a fair bit better than off the shelf.
If you have wired backbone, you don’t need mesh.
Mesh is for people without wired interlinks.
Just put the same “migrate-able” SSID on all the access points on the same subnet. Your devices will eagerly migrate as you move around. You can tweak settings in access points (in OpenWRT) to make this happen smoother.
Additionally, you can add specific SSIDs to specific APs if you find “hoppy” zones. “hoppy” zones and devices happens when a device just migrates poorly and seems to end up on the worst possible AP it can be on. Usually the one without “kick on low ack” support. You can use specific SSIDs for those devices.
I have a lot of SSIDs and APs. I have even taken to hidding them just so I don’t flood the neighbours Wifi lists.
lan - house wide, all APs, all frequencies and channels
guest - house wide, all APs, all frequencies and channels
og5 = office guest 5g to force laptops to stay on the Linksys at near Gb speeds and not migrate to the hallway 5G.
o5 = office LAN (same reason)
ds24 = downstairs 2.4Ghz for the Shelly which is trying to have an affair with the AP in the garage, 3 brick walls away when there is a Nighthawk a 2m away!
dsg5 = downstairs guest 5g (used for work laptops only really, guests just use “guest”)
and so on and so forth.
Not all devices have access to all SSIDs. IoT and guest SSIDs are VLANed. etc. etc.
It requires support from multiple bridged virtual interfaces per radio, so you need a capable AP or one with OpenWRT installed.