[Nuckle]

Looking for suggestions on how to have better WiFi coverage in my home. House is 4400sqft on three levels. When using the built in router from my cable modem I do not get good coverage throughout. I currently have Linksys Velop in place but it is complete and utter garbage. On initial set up it works flawlessly for about 2-3 weeks and then nodes start dropping as well as a severe degradation of bandwidth. I have tried anywhere from 2 to 7 nodes in various locations with the same results. It takes about 1.5-2 hours to reset and set up again. I am just looking for suggestion on a different solution. I see the same issues with other mesh internet systems when reading reviews.

Appreciate any and all suggestions.

Nuck

[archerz]

Had exactly the same thing with the Velops. so went with these instead.

Had no issues for about 6 months now with them.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I use it in bridge mode as i have pi-hole add blocker.

[saeyedoc]

I have problems in my house, not because of size (2250sf), but because of brick walls. I installed and Orbi system and I'm getting very fast wifi everywhere.

[Turkish Pickle]

I think your issue is with using a Linksys product but I'm a big TP-Link fuckboy so there may be some bias in that statement.

Back home I'm using three RE380D repeaters than a mesh network. For 3 floors I figured going with a mesh would not be worth the hassle so I just picked these up. The router/modem is in the first floor, and it's signal is strong enough for that floor so I installed one in the basement and my brother has been fine using it for online gaming with a PS4, and for the top floor I put in two. One stays in my now-empty room because my dad uses it as a study, and the other is in the living room.

Apparently now there's also a RE580D but (from what I know, can be wrong) the difference is AC1900 vs AC1200 which realistically only allows for faster intranet connection between devices in your home. If you have a home-server it might be better to go with 1900 but you won't get stronger "bars" by doing so.

edit: plus, in my experience at least, the networking stuff that's "consumer friendly" rarely works well. the more "commercial" stuff is a pain in the ASS to set up but it works considerably better

[383vett]

Orbi 3 satellite system here too. Great coverage. Bought at Costco.

[Nuckle]

Originally Posted by Turkish Pickle

I think your issue is with using a Linksys product but I'm a big TP-Link fuckboy so there may be some bias in that statement.

Back home I'm using three RE380D repeaters than a mesh network. For 3 floors I figured going with a mesh would not be worth the hassle so I just picked these up. The router/modem is in the first floor, and it's signal is strong enough for that floor so I installed one in the basement and my brother has been fine using it for online gaming with a PS4, and for the top floor I put in two. One stays in my now-empty room because my dad uses it as a study, and the other is in the living room.

Apparently now there's also a RE580D but (from what I know, can be wrong) the difference is AC1900 vs AC1200 which realistically only allows for faster intranet connection between devices in your home. If you have a home-server it might be better to go with 1900 but you won't get stronger "bars" by doing so.

edit: plus, in my experience at least, the networking stuff that's "consumer friendly" rarely works well. the more "commercial" stuff is a pain in the ASS to set up but it works considerably better

If I am reading correctly the devices hook up to the units via CAT5 cables? I would need something totally wireless due to the number of devices that need connecting.

[stevenc]

Originally Posted by Nuckle

If I am reading correctly the devices hook up to the units via CAT5 cables? I would need something totally wireless due to the number of devices that need connecting.

Does your house have cat 5 wiring in the walls? If so your best best is google WiFi (first gen). Three wifi nodes connected to each other via the cat 5 backbone. This would give good wifi coverage while keeping great speed since the nodes would be connected to each other via physical cable.

This is my exact setup.

[Nuckle]

Originally Posted by stevenc

Does your house have cat 5 wiring in the walls? If so your best best is google WiFi (first gen). Three wifi nodes connected to each other via the cat 5 backbone. This would give good wifi coverage while keeping great speed since the nodes would be connected to each other via physical cable.

This is my exact setup.

No in wall CAT5 but I wish it did. Would be pretty difficult to pull that off.

[Turkish Pickle]

Originally Posted by Nuckle

If I am reading correctly the devices hook up to the units via CAT5 cables? I would need something totally wireless due to the number of devices that need connecting.

Nope, all wireless (at least that's the way I've run it since our house was built in late 80s/early 90s).

Here's the manual for the RE580D, go to page 10. Seems like on the 580D as well you can set it up wirelessly. Wired, of course, would be better but that'd beat the point. Also - i just checked prices, the 580D is $20 or so more than the 380D. Might as well grab the better one but as I said unless you have a home server that you stream from or edit video off of etc you can definitely get away with the 380D.

[Nuckle]

Originally Posted by 383vett

Orbi 3 satellite system here too. Great coverage. Bought at Costco.

How long has it been installed? Are your speeds similar to when connected strait to your router?

[383vett]

Originally Posted by Nuckle

How long has it been installed? Are your speeds similar to when connected strait to your router?

Well over a year. I don't remember the numbers, but I am in the upper range of upload and download specs.

[Dpc2u]

I have a 3900 square foot 2 story brick home and I have perfect coverage everywhere using a Luma mesh setup. I also have a node in my detached 3.5 car garage, and it works great out there as well. Had it for a few years with no issues. That said, it is the only mesh setup I have used since it has never given me issues.

[Nuckle]

Originally Posted by Dpc2u

I have a 3900 square foot 2 story brick home and I have perfect coverage everywhere using a Luma mesh setup. I also have a puck in my detached 3.5 car garage, and it works great out there as well. Had it for a few years with no issues. That said, it is the only mesh setup I have used since it has never given me issues.

Maybe I just chose poorly by going with Velop. If I do a fresh install I get 300mbps plus when connected directly to my router or Velop in any part of my home. After about 2-3 weeks speed is the same on direct connected but Velop is 25-80mbps and requires resetting and reconnecting nodes. Finally after a longer period of time Velop speeds are pretty much sporadic from 0-40. I can't begin to tell you all how frustrating this system has been. To add to the frustration we have poor cell service and must use WiFi calling so I drop work calls daily.

Lots of good options so far and I really appreciate it.

[zx10guy]

Have you tried doing a firmware update?

[Nuckle]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Have you tried doing a firmware update?

Yes sir, it does them automatically. I actually think the system is worse now than in the beginning. I have had it installed for 2 years. Forgot to mention that in the beginning.

[zx10guy]

That's unfortunate.

Another option for a mesh system if Eero.

But I did a search and it seems Ubiquiti has a mesh system. It's really meant for outdoors but I don't see why it couldn't work as an indoor system. There's cult following with Ubiquiti by many network nerds. From what I see, Ubiquiti is a pretty solid system with Enterprise features but at pretty affordable prices.

As an aside, there's a lesson to this situation for those doing renovations or buying new construction housing. Everyone thinks about wiring up the house with structured wiring but never think about the wireless aspect. While having rooms wired gets you partially there with being able to implement a proper wireless system, the complete setup is to have cabling pulled to ceiling boxes where you would optimally place an AP. I have my house pretty much fully wired and have a centralized managed wireless system that has 4 APs. While the system works flawlessly, it's not optimal as the APs are placed near where I have available network drops. The APs are not placed for optimal wireless performance. Fortunately, I can run cabling and such to locations where they are optimal as I have a 2" conduit going from the basement all the way up to the attic. I haven't done it yet as I've been just too lazy to start the project.

ETA: Forgot to elaborate on outdoor APs. The only differences with outdoor APs and indoor APs are as follows:

1) Obviously they're built to withstand being exposed to the elements in addition to having internal heating for cold weather operation.
2) External antennas. This is done to allow flexibility in the mode of operation of the AP for servicing wireless clients with omnidirectional antennas or with directional antennas for point to point bridging.
3) Higher RF output. The FCC allows APs which are for outdoor use to output more RF power due to the intended use case.

[dreamingat30fps]

Interesting I have the Velop also and it has worked great for me. Only about 2200 sqft on 1 floor though. Been running since like November of last year.

Both my nodes are fairly close to each other maybe like 30ft apart. No issues at all. Have you tried their support?

[Nuckle]

Originally Posted by dreamingat30fps

Interesting I have the Velop also and it has worked great for me. Only about 2200 sqft on 1 floor though. Been running since like November of last year.

Both my nodes are fairly close to each other maybe like 30ft apart. No issues at all. Have you tried their support?

To be honest I have only scoured their Forums, I guess to be fair I need to call them. There are tons of threads describing my situation and none of them that I have seen led to resolution. The biggest issue is that if you reset it then it's fine for weeks then has issues. I have tried moving nodes around and I have added them to a total of 7 nodes. Currently running 4 because I didn't link them all back up after the last reset.

[Stubbie Blue]

I got a TP-Link Archer A7 AC1750 router for $50 and TP-Link RE220 AC750 OneMesh range extender for $23. My house is not that big, 2750 sq ft 2 stories, but I needed the extender to pass through my concrete block walls for my Ring doorbell. Works perfectly and very inexpensive.

[zx10guy]

Range extenders/repeaters should be avoided like the plague. They're the worst device you can add to any wireless network.

I'd use a powerline Ethernet bridge and slap an actual AP on the other end before even considering the use of a range extender/repeater.

[Nuckle]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Range extenders/repeaters should be avoided like the plague. They're the worst device you can add to any wireless network.

I'd use a powerline Ethernet bridge and slap an actual AP on the other end before even considering the use of a range extender/repeater.

Can you explain in more detail? I'll need it in simpler terms lol.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by Nuckle

Can you explain in more detail? I'll need it in simpler terms lol.

A repeater sits on your main wireless network more or less as another wireless device. It just plays the proverbial telephone game between your main access point and the wireless devices that are talking through it. The problem this introduces into your network are these:

1) Increased latency. Looking at the communication session of one wireless device. The wireless device sends a chunk of data to the repeater. The repeater then sends the data to your main AP and then it gets sent to where ever: your internal LAN, Internet, etc. Now with a single device, the increase in latency most likely isn't a big deal. Now add more devices on the other end of that repeater. Every one of those devices will need to wait their turn to transmit their data until the device that is currently talking to the repeater finishes. Now, this is just in one direction. When communications goes back the opposite way, you're dealing with the same issue. With what I discussed so far is only looking at the communications between the AP, repeater, and wireless devices associated to that repeater. Now add in other wireless devices that are associated to your main AP. Those devices are also fighting for air time to talk to your main AP as the repeater is also fighting for the same air time. You can see how this latency issue can get out of hand very quickly as many people have IOT devices in their home.

2) Speed degradation. When you insert a repeater, you divide your effective operating speed in half. Say you insert a repeater that supports 802.11n. And your effective speed to that repeater is say 144Mbps. What your max effective speed along the entire wireless path is going to be half of that at 72Mbps. Now tie this back to the above talking point about latency. Wireless currently is a half duplex technology; meaning only one wireless device can talk on the wireless network at any given time. Part of the reason why faster wireless technologies keep coming out isn't just for the sheer speed of transmitting data. It's to help in getting a wireless device to talk on the network and get off of it as quickly as possible to reduce over all network latency. This was an issue with wired networks back when Ethernet was first created. Ethernet devices were connected together via hubs. When switching hardware was created/introduced, this was the game changer in making Ethernet as successful as it is today and its ability to support the crazy fast speeds we see today.

Hope my explanation makes sense to you.