[SOLVED] TP-Link WiFi 6 Mesh WiFi, AX3000 Whole Home Mesh WiFi System (Deco X60) vs Meshforce M7 Tri-Band, Gigabit Mesh

[askinquestions]

Hi. I'm trying to decide between the two above.:

Hi. I'm trying to decide between the two above.:

https://amazon.com/dp/B08LNN5372/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_REZQQPA705YDW1851XPN?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Vs
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0889Q6...abc_JCNM726DZN1RVAFXPH7Z?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

My ISP speed is 1gb.

Seems as thought both would be able to get the max of what my isp, buy there are differences and I'm not tech savvy enough to know the difference and how it would affect real world use.

Opinions/recommendations would be most welcome.

Thank you

 

[bill001g]

First question is have you explored every other possible way to extend wireless. Things like moca and powerline networks connected to AP work much better.

Both these systems are the cheap versions that are basically renamed repeaters. Repeaters have all kinds of issues in general but the ones that have extra dedicated radio chips to communicate between the units work much better. This of course increases the cost quite a bit.

You almost can't compare these because one is wifi6 and only have 2 units and the other is 802.11ac and has 3 units. That is way to many variables that will determine what "better" is. Most the wifi6 models are extremely new and still have issues. I know many do not actually use the full 160mhz of bandwidth that makes wifi6 faster. I am too lazy to read the specs on those units to know for sure.

I would not buy either. Some of the orbi units that have the dedicated radios tend to have the best performace.

Still I would never use them if you have any other option. Again look at moca if you have tv coax and powerline units before you decide to go with any form of repeater system. It takes a lot of work to get the units placed correctly. You can not just put it in the remote rooms and it magically solves the wifi problem. Wifi placement is going to take a lot of experimenting to find the proper location.

 

[askinquestions]

Never heard of moca till now! I do have access to coax on most rooms, and can probably run and Ethernet cable to a central location ( now all i have is at one end of a70 ft run).
I'm not a complete newbie, but not very advanced. Just a homeowner.
For someone in my position, what would you recommend i do? What/where would be a good resource on how to do about it?

Thx

 

[bill001g]

The newest version of moca is extremely fast. Some of the most popular units are made by gocoax. You should be able to actually get gigabit rates and if you run more than 2 units they have a total of 2.5g of bandwidth shared between the ports.

What you would do is hook 1 moca unit to your router and place moca units in remote rooms. That will be all you need to do for devices that can connect via ethernet. If you need wifi in the remote rooms you buy a very inexpensive router and use it as a AP.

This should give you excelent wifi performance and since it is using a wire to get back to the main router you should have little interference and none of the strange issues you get using wifi repeaters.

 

[eldridgep2]

Hi. I'm trying to decide between the two above.:

Hi. I'm trying to decide between the two above.:

https://amazon.com/dp/B08LNN5372/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_REZQQPA705YDW1851XPN?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Vs
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0889Q6...abc_JCNM726DZN1RVAFXPH7Z?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

My ISP speed is 1gb.

Seems as thought both would be able to get the max of what my isp, buy there are differences and I'm not tech savvy enough to know the difference and how it would affect real world use.

Opinions/recommendations would be most welcome.

Thank you

Have to disagree with the statement Bill is making that Mesh systems are just a wi-fi repeaters they are much smarter than that statement suggests and whilst I do agree with him that a cabled configuration is usually better than wireless I draw the line at powerline / homeplug adapters which are the devils own invention and should be uninvented. If you can have Cat 5e/6 cabling in your house great, never used moca so can't comment on that but in my experience meshed wi-fi is far superior to jury rigging powerline adapters around your house. Also disagree on just using cheap routers to acts as WAP's it's simply not the same thing as having Mesh and the benefits it can provide.

I work in IT and we generally use commercial style points like Ruckus/Ubiquiti/Meraki/Datto so can't comment on the ones above directly and have done installations in offices, warehouse, museums, visitor centres etc. Wireless technology has come on leaps and bounds and what Bill is saying about repeaters used to be true but as I say a true Mesh network is much more than that.

When Covid hit I was working from home full time but on a budget and I replaced my existing router/homeplug setup with a TP-Link Deco system and it was pretty much game changing. Have full coverage throughout the house 2 kids home schooling, myself living of teams and the wife on social media. There are features of the system I would like to change (unable to manually select wi-fi channels?!) but it's pretty much been solid for the last year and I've got coverage to the bottom of my garden (about 100ft) and I connect to wi-fi before I pull into my drive on the other side.

In short direct cabled (not homeplug) is superior to wireless but the new Mesh systems would have no problem covering a house. The key issue is positioning the WAP's in the correct locations to ensure that can see each other and give you the coverage you need. Also plan to have even more than you might think you need to build more resilience in the network so even if one point does go down for any reason it will link you via an alternative route. I have a typical 3-bed UK semi and use 3 WAP's two downstairs and one upstairs and I could happily survive any one point failing and still cover the house. Commercial buildings concrete floors, lift shafts and large amounts of steel work make this even more important.

With the TP-Link's I have I disabled the router and put them into AP only mode as I'm quite happy with my existing router and what it can do.

 

[Oasis Curator]

I think this is the thing here in the UK, MOCA units are £80 odd but a Mesh network can be had for £150 - £200.
While someone said they're just fancy names for access points, I'm starting to think more and more that it'll solve my wifi black spot (in one room), plus speed up my dismal 10Mb download speed through the home plugs I have because of the way my house is set up. It also means I'd likely get wifi across my garden, which currently, I do not have.

Positioning will be key though as I need the second downstairs unit to be quite far from the existing router, which means the first unit downstairs needs to be half way between the router and the position for the second unit but not sure if it can communicate with the router or whether I really need to plug one in to the router directly.