[SOLVED] Mesh vs. router

eliot22

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Feb 6, 2013
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I have a cable modem connected to a wireless router in room A, but the signal in room B is week. I have been advised to replace my router with a mesh network that places node 1 in room A (wired to the cable modem), and node 2 in room B. So in theory my device, while in room B, will connect to node 2 for a nice, strong signal.

My question is, how is the signal from node 1 able to reach node 2 whereas my router's signal was not able to reach that same room?
 
Solution
I have a cable modem connected to a wireless router in room A, but the signal in room B is week. I have been advised to replace my router with a mesh network that places node 1 in room A (wired to the cable modem), and node 2 in room B. So in theory my device, while in room B, will connect to node 2 for a nice, strong signal.

My question is, how is the signal from node 1 able to reach node 2 whereas my router's signal was not able to reach that same room?
That is the limitation of mesh. If you can't get a signal today, you may not be able to get a signal to the mesh node.
If you have a coax infrastructure in your house, you may be able to use MoCA networking.
Otherwise I would recommend using powerline network adapters...

kanewolf

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Moderator
I have a cable modem connected to a wireless router in room A, but the signal in room B is week. I have been advised to replace my router with a mesh network that places node 1 in room A (wired to the cable modem), and node 2 in room B. So in theory my device, while in room B, will connect to node 2 for a nice, strong signal.

My question is, how is the signal from node 1 able to reach node 2 whereas my router's signal was not able to reach that same room?
That is the limitation of mesh. If you can't get a signal today, you may not be able to get a signal to the mesh node.
If you have a coax infrastructure in your house, you may be able to use MoCA networking.
Otherwise I would recommend using powerline network adapters. Look at units marked as "AV2 MIMO" for maximum performance.
 
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Solution
I really wish more people asked that question. So many people think mesh is magic and it will work when other wifi will not.

Mesh is a repeater system really. What you would do is place the unit 1/2 between the router and the remote room. In theory at least it should be able to get signal from the router and also be able to send signal to the remote device. I would not recommend it unless you have no other options. As mentioned above try moca and/or powerline networks.
 
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RealBeast

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The above two answers are 100% correct and excellent advice -- avoid the pain and go with their recommendations.

We get loads of people trying to use whole house mesh wireless after they buy it, only to figure out that it works poorly due to high latency and often limited bandwidth.
 

eliot22

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Feb 6, 2013
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18,510
I really wish more people asked that question. So many people think mesh is magic and it will work when other wifi will not.

Mesh is a repeater system really. What you would do is place the unit 1/2 between the router and the remote room. In theory at least it should be able to get signal from the router and also be able to send signal to the remote device. I would not recommend it unless you have no other options. As mentioned above try moca and/or powerline networks.

Thanks, I hadn't even thought about a powerline network. I'm going try that.
 

eliot22

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Feb 6, 2013
10
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18,510
That is the limitation of mesh. If you can't get a signal today, you may not be able to get a signal to the mesh node.
If you have a coax infrastructure in your house, you may be able to use MoCA networking.
Otherwise I would recommend using powerline network adapters. Look at units marked as "AV2 MIMO" for maximum performance.

I'm going to try that, thanks for your help.