Mesh n(e)twork routers. :)

Choderboy wrote in post #19185457
The thread title is very appropriate for us: here, it notwork!

indeed - I'm seriously considering changing my work e-mail signature to reflect a notwork engineer status...

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #19185450
With repeaters, you had to disconnect and the reconnect to each repeater,. with mesh, it's all the same so moving from one place to another is seamless.

Thx to all contributing to discussion of benefit of mesh.

Since almost all of our computing at home is within range of our 1GB cable modem-router/wifi, and we seldom ever use the network repeater already in the house, there seems to be little reason for us really to spend money on upgrade to a mesh, at least judging from the descriptions so far.

Wilt wrote in post #19185777
Thx to all contributing to discussion of benefit of mesh.

Since almost all of our computing at home is within range of our 1GB cable modem-router/wifi, and we seldom ever use the network repeater already in the house, there seems to be little reason for us really to spend money on upgrade to a mesh, at least judging from the descriptions so far.

If you have good coverage throughout your home and always have three or four bars out of four for Wi-Fi and zero dropouts then I agree that there is no real reason to upgrade. My Wi-Fi using just my router was really good until about a month after the pandemic started, then my family (who use Wi-Fi ... I'm pretty much always using ethernet) started complaining about continuously losing connection. When I did some digging I found that the signal from my system was completely overwhelmed by my neighbors, and al lot of them were using overlapping channels that results in a bit of interference. I suspect with people working from home many upgraded their internet and network.

After upgrading to my mesh system my signal is now by far the strongest across my fence line. I haven't had a single dropout or connection problem since installing it. My Wi-Fi is also strong enough in my back alley that my daughters can use their smartphones to open the garage door (they don't have data on their phones).

Range extenders are terrible and powerline devices are reliable but can really limit data transmission speed. If you ever have enough issues that you start needing to rely on those kinds of devices either get your house wired for ethernet or put in a mesh Wi-Fi system.

CyberDyneSystems wrote in post #19185458
The set up we just installed today is also "Wifi6", yet another thing I knew nothing about, but when upgrading wanted to future proof.

It's only been half a day, but the coverage is just seamless throughout the property and much faster and even. Full bars everywhere is what it looks like.

Set up was a cinch, no issues. All three little units did there firmware update. the Android app seems to work just fine.

When i was reading the reviews, "TP Link" was yet another new to me aspect. and I just kept seeing these routers being highly rated. I'm really glad I did my research as the first two comparison sights were NOT comparing mesh routers,. if I'd stopped there I'd have another regular router and be looking at repeaters.

Personally, I don't rely on Wifi much, as my workstation is wired. But the rest of the family, and yes, my god damn vacuum cleaner, rely on wireless!

For work I also don't use W-Fi. We did a reno of our home a couple of years ago and I had the Electrician fish Cat 6a (more heavily shielded than Cat 6 and can get 10 Gbps for up to 55 meters) to my office, kitchen pc and to our smart TV. I also have Cat 6a wall connectors at those locations. It should be several years before home networks are typically 10Gbps so this should be good enough until I hit my expiration date.

I ran speed tests on my phone via the new wifi, and my desktop via wired ethernet... the phone won!
(only by a few bits, but it won both up and down. )

This is fast wifi!