[SOLVED] Best consumer Mesh hardware for 25+ devices ?

[deluxx]

For the past couple years, I have devices dropping connectivity to my wireless network. The drops are random and only affect a few devices at time. I live in a 2 story house that is about 1,800 sq ft. I had my ISP come out and check the cables/connectors and signal levels (dB) in my house. I also recently upgraded my cable modem to the Arris Surfboard SB8200 from an SB6183. I also upgraded to the Orbi AX4200 (RBK753S) WiFi 6 mesh hardware (3-pack) from Costco.

I am still experiencing these random drops and likely because I have 25+ devices on my home network. Prior to that I had an Asus GT-AC5300 and RT-AC88U (used separately), which still caused devices to drop randomly. My last stable router was when I used a TP-Link C9 about 3 years ago but that broke down and gave me reason to upgrade to new wireless routers. Anyone experience random drops with that many devices on their network? Can anyone recommend a good consumer grade mesh hardware? I don’t really want to buy a commercial grade router and access points or reduce the number of devices on my network. Thanks in advance!

 

[bill001g]

You really should not use mesh systems unless there is no other solution. Mesh systems can be very unstable because of the complexity of the connection and you also have wifi6 which still has bugs although it is getting better.

Your best option for wifi coverage is to connect remote wifi units back to the router via ethernet cables. This is running the remote devices as AP. This is the commercial grade solution, you can use your current equipment or most routers as AP. Mesh is not used in commercial installation.

If you don't have ethernet to remote rooms you then consider other technology that appears as ethernet. The best is MoCA. This uses coax cables to run to the remote rooms. The newest versions can get full gigabit speeds. If you do not have coax then consider powerline networks. The newer models that you see with number of 1000 or 2000 work in most houses but are much slower than moca. You might get 300mbps but they are extremely stable compared to wifi connection back to the main router.

When you are stuck with mesh the largest issues is placement. They must be able to get strong signal from the main router and still be able to provide a usable signal to the remote room. This is very tricky to find since a door open or closed will change things a lot. In some houses if the walls/foors absorb too much signal there will be not good options. The mistake most people make is they place the repeater unit directly in the remote room. The repeater still gets poor signal from the main router as if you connected directly with your end device.

 

[deluxx]

You really should not use mesh systems unless there is no other solution. Mesh systems can be very unstable because of the complexity of the connection and you also have wifi6 which still has bugs although it is getting better.

Your best option for wifi coverage is to connect remote wifi units back to the router via ethernet cables. This is running the remote devices as AP. This is the commercial grade solution, you can use your current equipment or most routers as AP. Mesh is not used in commercial installation.

If you don't have ethernet to remote rooms you then consider other technology that appears as ethernet. The best is MoCA. This uses coax cables to run to the remote rooms. The newest versions can get full gigabit speeds. If you do not have coax then consider powerline networks. The newer models that you see with number of 1000 or 2000 work in most houses but are much slower than moca. You might get 300mbps but they are extremely stable compared to wifi connection back to the main router.

When you are stuck with mesh the largest issues is placement. They must be able to get strong signal from the main router and still be able to provide a usable signal to the remote room. This is very tricky to find since a door open or closed will change things a lot. In some houses if the walls/foors absorb too much signal there will be not good options. The mistake most people make is they place the repeater unit directly in the remote room. The repeater still gets poor signal from the main router as if you connected directly with your end device.

Thank you for recommendations. Unfortunately, the house doesn’t haven’t any a clean way to run coax or Ethernet cables with out being a tripping hazard. Powerline adapters will only work for maybe 3 to 5 devices. Everything else is wireless from cell phones, cameras, smart appliances, and other IoT devices. I stayed away from mesh initially but my prior routers (Asus) were all just dropping connections. I can configure a wireless bridge to get to the wired devices but that can be costly. As for my mesh networks. I have 2 satellites, one is 35 feet away with no walls between the main router and the other is 25 feet away with 1 wall in the way. They are all on the same floor. I could add 2 more satellites on the second floor, one would be directly above the main router to help with reception but I don’t think that will help with the drops. I can be 3ft away from the main router and get a dropped connection.

 

[bill001g]

Actually having more wifi sources in your house can cause the drop. The mesh systems are stupid sometimes and force device off because they think there is a better connection but they don't know what the end device signal levels are.

It could also be interference both from your neighbors wifi as well as all your repeaters. You should not need any form of repeater at 25ft with no walls, you should be able to connect directly to the main router.

They make powerline adapters with wifi AP in the remote device so wifi device can connect to the powerline units.