topic Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2 in My Router

best mesh kit to use with router 2

dykesy611 — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 12:29:20 GMT

I have moved house and received the latest router from PN.

my old kit (tp-link through the electric system) seems to unreliable.

the house is large, with an office above the garage that (because of weak phone signals in our area) I want to have a decent wifi signal for so I can use things like whatsapp instead. so large extended house, with office over the garage, all need decent wifi.

can you recommend what kit would best suit working with this new router so that I get the best wifi across our house?

is it best to go for mesh?

thank you

Phil

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

dvorak — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 12:43:20 GMT

Moderators Note

This topic has been moved from Broadband to My Router

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

bmc — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 13:34:50 GMT

@dykesy611

Any chance of running internal or even external (get somebody in?) ethernet cable. This gives a solid starting point at where ever you terminate the cable(s).

Brian

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

Dan_the_Van — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 13:38:02 GMT

@dykesy611

Are you Full Fibre or Fibre (copper no landline phone)?

If Full Fibre you will not need to Hub two provided the devices you purchase support PPPoE connection.

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

mystreet1 — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 15:55:12 GMT

I use the BT Whole Home mesh system. Have a garden office and the WiFi was weak in there. Got a 3 disc setup for around the house and added a fourth one from Ebay. Now have strong WiFi everywhere. Several on Ebay right now. Make sure you go for the 2600 series one's

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

dykesy611 — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:01:51 GMT

thanks for your reply

I am fibre, no phone line

dykesy611

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

dykesy611 — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:02:45 GMT

I have an internet cable running to the office - but we need wifi too up there because of the poor phone signal

we tend to use whatsapp to call people

thanks

dykesy611

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

dykesy611 — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:03:26 GMT

thanks

I'll look into that

dykesy611

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

bmc — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:11:41 GMT

@dykesy611

Fibre can be either FTTC or Ful Fibre (FTTP)

For the office all you need is a WiFi Access Point (WAP). If you already use the ethernet cable for something else you would need either a WAP with an outging ethernet port or a powered ethernet switch.

Brian

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

dykesy611 — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:18:20 GMT

thats interesting - I have a TP-Link VR400

could I change the settings to make it an access point, and then provide wifi like that? I think Ive heard you can do that?

is it hard to do?

thanks

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

MisterW — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 16:45:05 GMT

@dykesy611 instructions here https://www.tp-link.com/us/support/faq/2655/ (vr400 will be similar)

Set the vr400 IP address to 192.168.1.1 ( I think that's its default anyway! )

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

bmc — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 17:23:03 GMT

@dykesy611

This may sort your office out but still leaves the rest of the house. If you get the WAP working it may improve things.

If it works and you still have areas of poor signal once again we're back in the can you "run ethernet cable" to provide a starting point for a WAP.

Brian

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

dykesy611 — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 17:44:20 GMT

yes thanks I see that

I think I need a mesh system of some sort for the house anyway...

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

Marksfish — Tue, 25 Jun 2024 19:46:30 GMT

@dykesy611 wrote:

thats interesting - I have a TP-Link VR400

could I change the settings to make it an access point, and then provide wifi like that? I think Ive heard you can do that?

is it hard to do?

thanks

I used these instructions on my old Netgear and Technicolor routers. this video is for TP Link, so should be even easier.:

https://youtu.be/Cg_gGECGLiY?si=f0z2ngNFeAoxUGmL

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

spile — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 06:23:11 GMT

There is a whole thread on the subject at https://www.avforums.com/threads/faq-using-two-routers-together-extending-wi-fi.1554662/

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

dykesy611 — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 18:33:50 GMT

thanks veryone - thats really helpful

I will try and make it work

cheers

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

paul_blitz — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 20:50:58 GMT

Maybe I'm being stupid, but the title of the post says "Mesh". An actual MESH network is very different from a "let's just add another access point to the network".

If you just "add another AP", then the device's (let's call it a mobile phone) current wifi link has to have almost died before it will switch to another AP... you'll get this if you walk around your home.

As I understand it (and please correct me if I'm wrong), a "mesh" is more dynamic, more agile, so if you start to loose signal, and another AP is stronger, it will move across to the second AP, much quicker (and before you start to lose bandwidth) than if you were just running independent APs.

(technical point: when you link to a wifi AP, the phone will use the best speed it can at the time. If the signal gets worse (you walk away from the AP), the bandwidth will reduce, if the signal gets better, then the throughput will go up)

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

greygit1 — Wed, 26 Jun 2024 21:48:39 GMT

I'm not correcting you. I just have my own questions (prompted by your potential stupidity ) Just exploring the technical meanings of 'agile' and 'dynamic'.

How does a wirelessly connected end device ascertain that that it is operating in a 'mesh' rather than an assembly of wireless access points and chose to move? Or does the mesh force the end device to another of its own access points? And how?

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

paul_blitz — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 00:44:54 GMT

I'm still trying to get my head around the whole way mesh networks work, but, you are right, an endpoint device just thinks it's talking to a simple AP. Or DOES it? Do modern devices (=phones) have 'extended wifi protocols' that make them work better with a mesh network? That would mean that for older devices, the wifi signal strength to a mesh is no better or worse than simple APs. But as devices get replaced, they can possibly do more clever stuff.

[5 years ago you might have asked "why would I buy an AP with 5GHz, phones don't support it"... well, now they do.]

Of course, a lot of the 'intelligence' can be in the mesh itself, rather than the device (kinda like GSM phones handing off between cells: the network did the hard stuff, the phone just 'did what it was told')

The big problem is that good clean tech-speak is hard to find. Over at https://www.netgear.com/uk/hub/technology/wifi-extender-vs-mesh-wifi/ it says "As you can see, the difference between the two is that Wi-Fi extenders are used to rebroadcast your home router’s Wi-Fi signal. The main drawback is that your devices will not switch between Wi-Fi broadcasts automatically and you experience a disconnection while switching manually. Mesh Wi-Fi uses multiple nodes to create a single, big and seamless Wi-Fi network that covers your whole home. Your devices will connect to the closest node automatically and without any disruptions as you move around your house." (Not seeing anything there about "when will my phone jump from using one AP to another, within the mesh)

Then over at https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Can-I-point-a-device-to-a-specific-mesh-point/m-p/87333, it's saying: WiFi devices decide which access point to connect to and when to switch between them. Google/Nest WiFi does provide client devices with some extra information that can help them make better decisions, but many devices don't support the standards that are used to provide that information. Those devices are on their own, and they can end up getting "stuck" to an access point that still works even when a better option is nearby. You may get them to switch by turning their WiFi off briefly (or just rebooting them).

So, that's sort of supporting my idea above: more modern wifi protocols allow the wifi network to 'share its experience' with the phone. I read somewhere on my search that there are technical settings (probably hidden from us mere mortals!) that define the signal levels at which a device would flip over to a different AP.

It seems that https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11s IEEE_802.11s (which is all about mesh networks) mandates the use of something called "HWMP" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_Wireless_Mesh_Protocol, whilst also allowing vendor-specific stuff. Have fun digging further!

But, of course, the phone isn't PART of the mesh, it just needs to connect and be able to jump around the network. And I'm seeing little info about that side of things. (If anyone finds a good article on this, do share!)

At home, I have 2 wifi's (actually different SSIDs), one upstairs, one downstairs, and I regularly find that my phone / tablet is on the furthest (and weakest) wifi, because that's where I was 10 minutes ago.

Re: best mesh kit to use with router 2

dykesy611 — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 08:04:43 GMT

yes I agree with your comment

I have 2 challenges 1) getting an access point so that wifi works in my office (above garage) , 2) having a mesh system in the house itself

so apologies for not being clear enough