Tell me about mesh network systems these days.
 

The google WiFi system has been out awhile and I know there are some other systems out there.

I’m thinking I need to head that direction. I my house has a pretty big footprint and my router is on one end of the house. Accordingly getting access on the other end of the house is kind of sketchy.

So do these systems work well? Easy to set up? What brands work better than others?

The last point is I have ATT DSL and the WiFi is built into the modem. It’s pretty much a pain in the ass. Does anyone know if I can use these systems with ATT DSL?

Netgear Orbi and Eros are the two I see most commonly written about as being top performers. Tom’s Hardware offers fairly knowledgeable and unbiased reviews. Here’s their write up on Netgear that also shows some data on Eros. They favor the Orbi.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/netgear...view-4263.html

Most people I've talked to favor the Orbi in terms of consumer-grade gear. I'm still not sold on mesh for home use - I prefer to use wired backhaul but I'm old school.

Smallnetbuilder is my goto for all things wifi. This is a pretty decent article if you're considering mesh networking.

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...system-secrets

I have the Orbi and really like it. It was easy to set up. I have the internet hook-up on the second floor of my house, and my laptop was really lagging when using it downstairs. I got the Orbi, set-up was easy, and now the strength of the WiFi signal downstairs is excellent.

Thanks. Can I ask why you don't like them for home use? Is it just speed of the backhaul?

I just prefer using a solid and stable connection for any trunking. I'm not big on using wireless for anything other than truly mobile devices. Plus the more mesh you use, the more wireless bands you need, and it's just overkill to me, especially if you want dual-band access coverage.

If you HAVE to use wireless backhaul then I guess mesh will suffice but I'd rather run a cable.

Right on. And I agree. I'd just rather pay for mesh than thrash my house to get all the cables run.

Buehler, mesh is just this years cool thing. It’s just a bunch of recievers and broadcasters of your traffic. Not exactly a unique idea. It’s usually more expensive and expands your footprint that can be hacked. Not to get too technical but google man in the middle attack. It uses a different protocol but using that technique, I’ve seen some hackers say they can hack mesh from the street.

I’m with hitsmage, stick with the cable. But if you have to tear up your house, oh well. Get yourself some mesh.

You're better off running a network cable from your router to the other end of the house and installing a repeater at the end of the cable. Usually cheaper, and a much more reliable signal.

Get a long cable: https://www.amazon.com/UbiGear-Ether...+network+cable

And plug something like this into the other end: https://www.amazon.com/AMAKE-Repeate...ss+point&psc=1

Yep. Much more stable and much easier for channel allocation (of course IIRC Buehler is out in the middle of nowhere like me so has no wireless neighbors).

I just noticed that you said the AT&T DSL is also your wireless router - that's a potential problem. If you're going to do mesh or wireless repeating, the first thing you need to do is get all of the wireless and routing functions in that thing turned off so that you can install your own AP's and stuff.

If that's not possible, you're only real option is to use wired backhaul off of that device.

One other thing - make the SSID's (the network names) of all of your radios the same. So if you have a single home network, make the SSID's for every radio on every AP/router "Buehler-Home" or something like that. Most modern devices will roam almost seamlessly between AP's and you'll never notice them switching.

I'm currently using AmpliFi's setup, and like it quite a bit. Have and HDHOMERUN hooked up for OTA channels, and have zero issues using it over some wireless connections.

I've heard good things about AmpliFi.

This is what I do; just happened to read about it while I was researching routers a while back. Have a Nighthawk as my router then a hundred foot cord through the ceiling going to an Asus RT n66 halfway through the house. Have had that set up for about 2 years, I figured it would be temporary until something else came along but I have zero need to change it.

Probably your best solution right there.