[SOLVED] New Networking Plan - Need Input

[rhyalus]

Given the security and firmware issues of my current Netgear R7000 router, I decided it is time to go to Wifi6.

I currently have the R7000 as the primary, and an old Dlink DAP 1522 acting as a bridge in my living room. The DAP feeds a couple of things - a Verizon Network cell extender, and older Xbox and a blueray DVD (yes, I still have one)...

My thought is to get the Asus RT AX88U and use that as a primary, but only turn on the 5GHz band.

I would replace the Dlink with the Netgear R7000 in some mode (bridge?). I would want to use the R7000 for the same wired devices and also 2.4GHz band (AC/AN) for other wireless devices in the house. The location is more ideal for 2.4GHz coverage.

I have three or four devices in the house that can do wifi6, but most are AC or AN.

Any advice?

Thanks,
R

 

[kanewolf]

Given the security and firmware issues of my current Netgear R7000 router, I decided it is time to go to Wifi6.

I currently have the R7000 as the primary, and an old Dlink DAP 1522 acting as a bridge in my living room. The DAP feeds a couple of things - a Verizon Network cell extender, and older Xbox and a blueray DVD (yes, I still have one)...

My thought is to get the Asus RT AX88U and use that as a primary, but only turn on the 5GHz band.

I would replace the Dlink with the Netgear R7000 in some mode (bridge?). I would want to use the R7000 for the same wired devices and also 2.4GHz band (AC/AN) for other wireless devices in the house. The location is more ideal for 2.4GHz coverage.

I have three or four devices in the house that can do wifi6, but most are AC or AN.

Any advice?

Thanks,
R

Do you have a lot of wired devices?
Have you thought about splitting the routing/firewall duties from the WIFI duties? Get a wired router like an edgerouter and separate WIFI access points?

 

[vov4ik_il]

Verizon Network cell extender

That one should be wired to the first router. It does not have WiFi in the first place for a reason, it hates delay and jitter that your wifi adds to.

 

[rhyalus]

That one should be wired to the first router. It does not have WiFi in the first place for a reason, it hates delay and jitter that your wifi adds to.

Thanks for the reply. I am using the latest (?) model which is a 4G version. It has been running on the DAP 1522 for a couple of years without a hitch. As long as the Netgear router was up, the Dlink / VZW extender was rock stable.

Unfortunately, my cable modem is up in my office (corner room of the house on the 2nd floor), and I wanted the Verizon device to be more centrally located in the house.

R

 

[rhyalus]

Do you have a lot of wired devices?
Have you thought about splitting the routing/firewall duties from the WIFI duties? Get a wired router like an edgerouter and separate WIFI access points?

Interesting. I have ~21 devices (max) at this point in time. Usually there are 15-17 devices active at any one time. Most are low bandwidth...only 2 IoT light switches, a printer, a VOiP phone, etc.

Do you think there would be performance improvements?

The main reason for my original message was that I was unsure of the plan of separating the 5GHz and 2.4GHz services...though all 2.4 data flow would actually be going over the singe 5GHz connection to the main router.

The bridge router needs to be in the central part of my house where all those wired devices sit.

R

 

[kanewolf]

Interesting. I have ~21 devices (max) at this point in time. Usually there are 15-17 devices active at any one time. Most are low bandwidth...only 2 IoT light switches, a printer, a VOiP phone, etc.

Do you think there would be performance improvements?

The main reason for my original message was that I was unsure of the plan of separating the 5GHz and 2.4GHz services...though all 2.4 data flow would actually be going over the singe 5GHz connection to the main router.

The bridge router needs to be in the central part of my house where all those wired devices sit.

R

Wired connectivity for either 2.4 or 5Ghz will always be better. IF you have any wired infrastructure you should use that first. If, for example you have a wired connection to a TV or game console in the family room, then add a switch and WIFI access point in the family room. Put the WIFI sources -- yes multiple -- where the devices are most of the time. Then you TURN DOWN the transmit power on the WIFI source to prevent them from connecting to remote devices. THAT is how businesses get great WIFI. They have multiple WIFI sources, connected with a wired infrastructure.

 

[rhyalus]

Wired connectivity for either 2.4 or 5Ghz will always be better. IF you have any wired infrastructure you should use that first. If, for example you have a wired connection to a TV or game console in the family room, then add a switch and WIFI access point in the family room. Put the WIFI sources -- yes multiple -- where the devices are most of the time. Then you TURN DOWN the transmit power on the WIFI source to prevent them from connecting to remote devices. THAT is how businesses get great WIFI. They have multiple WIFI sources, connected with a wired infrastructure.

Yup, unfortunately, wired networking is not an option in my house. At least I do not believe that the effort / cost is worth the benefit.

I have 300MB/sec internet service and do very light "internal" data transfer between systems. So 5GHz AX and 2.4GHz AC with a bridge seems like a reasonable and less expensive approach.

R

 

[kanewolf]

Yup, unfortunately, wired networking is not an option in my house. At least I do not believe that the effort / cost is worth the benefit.

I have 300MB/sec internet service and do very light "internal" data transfer between systems. So 5GHz AX and 2.4GHz AC with a bridge seems like a reasonable and less expensive approach.

R

You and I will disagree on the benefit. It is ALWAYS worth it. Wired is the gold standard for home networking.

 

[rhyalus]

No - we don't disagree that wired is better. But I am getting ~250-300 Mb/s wifi throughput with my current setup that does not require me to hire a contractor to dig into my walls and re-wire my house. I have 300MB service from my provider so I am pretty close to ideal.

Of course there is security to consider, exposure to radio transmission in close proximity, etc.

But putting aside this wired discussion, what do you think of my plan with the Netgear AC router and the Asus AX router? Does it make sense? I guess my option is to just use the AC router as a bridge, and do all wifi through the AX router.

R

 

[DeauteratedDog]

If you can wait, I would suggest waiting for Wi-Fi 6e; we should be about 6 months out for it and it should be a worthwhile upgrade.

 

[rhyalus]

If you can wait, I would suggest waiting for Wi-Fi 6e; we should be about 6 months out for it and it should be a worthwhile upgrade.

You are killing me Dawg....

I have not read anything about 6e..... I'll do a quick check. It turns out my Netgear R7000 is apparently stable with the new firmware. If 6e comes out, will the routers support it quickly, or will it be a year before they are on the market, I wonder.

EDIT: I read up the 6e adds the 6GHz band, but it will be some time before the routers are out, and even more importantly, the clients that can make use of it. I do remember hearing about this, but I think this tech is best for dense environments / shorter range, if I understand correctly. Thanks for the reminder!

R

 

[bill001g]

The likely will not be a significant difference between the performance on 5g and 6g. The top range of channels on 5g is very close to 6g t anyway frequencies anyway. You are likely thinking about 802.11ad which runs on 60ghz and pretty much only works in the same room.

The huge advantage is there is room for multiple users to run 160mhz 802.11ax connections. In the 5g band there is really only 1 option without the messy weather radar avoidance. This means running wifi6 you are guaranteed to overlap anyone else use any form of wifi on the 5g band.

This will for a while at least let mulitple users co-exist without stomping on all their neighbors. The major problems with current wifi are not coverage and speed it is that everyone is attempting to use all the bandwidth for themselves.

I suspect in the long run someone will come up with a way to use 800mhz of bandwidth and again stomp on everyone. For some time at least we should get good performance on wifi again.

 

[DeauteratedDog]

I think Broadcom is already shipping chips for 6e and I assume the manufacturers are probably trying hard to be on the shelves by Christmas shopping season.

I expect 6 GHz ranges to be pretty similar to 5 GHz, but the huge amount of spectrum made available will actually make 160 MHz channels viable - even in the enterprise. I'm pretty excited.