[SOLVED] Need suggestions for faster WiFi Mesh system to replace Netgear AX6000 (RBK852)

[MasterYoda327]

As the title states, I am looking for recommendations for a reliable replacement Wi-Fi mesh system from a reputable and trustworthy Wi-Fi manufacturer to replace my Netgear AX6000 (RBK852) Wi-Fi mesh system that is faster, more powerful, and can handle tasks such as PC and video gaming, streaming 4K movies and shows on multiple streaming TVs and devices, has the option to add more satellite units, and uses the most current Wi-Fi signal standard. Although I am looking at purchasing a VPN service, if the recommended mesh system can have a VPN service easily added to it such as Surfshark or NordVPN, that would be nice. However, the VPN capability is of secondary importance. I am not very knowledgeable on Wi-Fi signals and devices so I would appreciate your suggestions and input.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bill001g]

You pretty much asked this same question 3 months ago and not much has changed.

If you have a fast internet connection then you will have issues running vpn on a router.

What is your actual problem with the current units you have or do you have money in your pocket that you just can not resist spending.

The best solution is going to be to use a wired solution for as much equipment as you can. You can get ethernet cables run for less than what you paid for the current orbi system. You can also consider MoCA if you have coax tv cables in the remote room instead of ethernet and you can consider powerline networks.
Your very last choice should be some kind of silly mesh repeater system. You can use your current remote unit on a cable as a AP instead of a repeater and it will likely greatly increase the speed.

Wifi6 is almost silly to attempt with repeaters/mesh. There is not enough bandwidth to run 1 160mhz signal many times and when you run repeaters you try to get 2. What most units do is drop back to 80mhz channels which is the same as the older 802.11ac. So it maybe called wifi6 but you are not using the key feature that makes
wifi6 faster.

As of right now there likely is nothing better than what you have. The netgear stuff tends to be more stable than some other repeater/mesh systems. Maybe in a year or so there will be more wifi6e stuff on the market. The price will likely come down also. Does not do much good to spend all the extra money when your end devices can not use the feature and by the time you get end devices that work on wifi6e the price of the other equipment will come down.

 

[MasterYoda327]

This request is not for me. This is for my father. He is asking for a Wi-Fi mesh that is faster. Like I said, I don't have much knowledge about Wi-Fi signals or devices.

 

[bill001g]

So how fast is it currently.

The problem most times is the end device and not the router. What type of wifi card is in the device he wants faster.

In general as long as you get say 30-40 mbps it will be more than fast enough for almost any application including streaming netflix at 4k. Spending lots of time and effort to get a bigger speedtest number will not make the applications run better. Most problems with wifi are related to interference coming in from outside the house and there is really no solution for those type of problems. A so called "faster" network only helps for downloading large files. It depends on how much you really do this, how much time in a month will it save.

Just having a mesh system will greatly reduce the speed in most cases. A direct wifi connection to the router will be faster than having to go through multiple wifi hops with a mesh repeater system.

So if the end device is wifi 6 capable device that can run 160mhz the best option is to turn the remote mesh unit off and directly connect to the main router. That will be the fastest you can possibly get with current equipment. Just turning on the remote unit will cut the maximum speed because it will drop to 80mhz. BUT all this doesn't matter if the end devices are not wifi6 capable.

 

[MasterYoda327]

Thanks for the advice. I will take it into consideration.