[SOLVED] Should I get a mesh wifi-system or a new router?

[orestesdd]

Recently I change to Spectrum ISP which offers a 200 Mbps down service, and while connecting via Ethernet to the modem, it actually delivers 200+ Mbps down. Then, I went and bought a Linksys EA7300 Dual-Band WiFi Router for Home, but the Linksys router seem to deliver a weak signal.

My home is a small one, just 1,400 square foot in size and a two story home. What happens is that the WiFi near the router reaches down speeds about 100+ Mbps while in the rest of the home it is merely 10-14 Mbps, and some time it drops below 5 Mbps. By the way, I only have about 6 devices using the WiFi and not all simultaneously.

So my question is: should I get a mesh wifi system or a new router, say either a TP-Link AC4000 Smart WiFi Router (Acher A20), or a TP-Link AC1900 Smart WiFi Router (Archer A9)?

Will any of these TP-Link router offer me a coverage enough to cover my 2 story 1,400 square foot home? Or will a WiFi mesh system be a better choice?

I am more inclined to go with a new router because my current router mentioned above will be still a bottleneck of any mesh system add-on. So I welcome any hints or comments to help my situation. I'm sorry for the long post, but I wanted to offer as much information as possible about my WiFi situation. Thank you.

 

[kanewolf]

A different router won't probably change anything. They all output at the maximum allowed power. What you need to do is ADD WIFI access points. A mesh system is just WIFI repeaters with some software to simplify setup. To get good coverage and speed, you need multiple WIFI radios connected together with ethernet cabling.

 

[orestesdd]

A different router won't probably change anything. They all output at the maximum allowed power. What you need to do is ADD WIFI access points. A mesh system is just WIFI repeaters with some software to simplify setup. To get good coverage and speed, you need multiple WIFI radios connected together with ethernet cabling.

Ethernet cabling is out of a question in my case. When I was using the AT&T gateway, a router/modem, I didn't have so much trouble. I switched to Spectrum because it was a better financial deal, and Spectrum gives me 200+ Mbps speed while connected via Ethernet (from the new router mentioned earlier or directly from the modem itself). What I think is the my new router WiFi signal gets weaker downstairs as my router is located upstairs. Anyhow, thank you, but your suggestion doesn't make sense to me.

 

[kanewolf]

Ethernet cabling is out of a question in my case. When I was using the AT&T gateway, a router/modem, I didn't have so much trouble. I switched to Spectrum because it was a better financial deal, and Spectrum gives me 200+ Mbps speed while connected via Ethernet (from the new router mentioned earlier or directly from the modem itself). What I think is the my new router WiFi signal gets weaker downstairs as my router is located upstairs. Anyhow, thank you, but your suggestion doesn't make sense to me.

How does it not make sense? A mesh system does what I said is required -- add more WIFI access points. It just does so less efficiently because it uses WIFI to connect the multiple access points. I just said that the best way to implement what you want is with ethernet connecting the access points.
You can try mesh. It might benefit you or you might want to be sure you buy it from somewhere with liberal return policies. There is not sure way to predict the performance of WIFI.

 

[orestesdd]

I agree that, "There is not sure way to predict the performance of WIF", for WIFI sucks. I wish I could use Ethernet all throughout my home, but at this point in my life--I am near 68 y/o--I am not in a position or disposition to run Ethernet cables throughout my home and climb up my attic to run cables. Thus, I wonder if a better WIFI router will solve my issues, but there is no way to find out unless I buy one; the issue is that most stores have these days a re-stocking fee which could be as high as 15-20% in many cases.

 

[kanewolf]

I agree that, "There is not sure way to predict the performance of WIF", for WIFI sucks. I wish I could use Ethernet all throughout my home, but at this point in my life--I am near 68 y/o--I am not in a position or disposition to run Ethernet cables throughout my home and climb up my attic to run cables. Thus, I wonder if a better WIFI router will solve my issues, but there is no way to find out unless I buy one; the issue is that most stores have these days a re-stocking fee which could be as high as 15-20% in many cases.

If you own the home, I would recommend getting 1 or 2 ethernet cables run by a professional installer. Have those cables run back to where your primary router is. Then add WIFI access points using those cables. Adding a couple of ceiling mount "smoke detector style" APs can do wonders for your WIFI coverage.