Add More Capacity

[Blueduck3285]

My router, c7000v2, has a capacity of 30 devices. I currently have 32 and will be adding more. Do access points or network extenders help with capacity?

[The_russian]

Access points are for giving you wifi, extenders are for extending the signal. They will not increase your capacity. The 30 devices is probably a recommendation, if you go over your router may have a higher load than designed and either start having problems or overheat. If you are not having problems with over 30 devices, I wouldn't worry too much about it, but if you do start noticing problems, you will need a new router to increase the capacity. I would recommend a separate router and modem since they don't overheat as easily. 

[Blueduck3285]

Just now, The_russian said:

Access points are for giving you wifi, extenders are for extending the signal. They will not increase your capacity. The 30 devices is probably a recommendation, if you go over your router may have a higher load than designed and either start having problems or overheat. If you are not having problems with over 30 devices, I wouldn't worry too much about it, but if you do start noticing problems, you will need a new router to increase the capacity. I would recommend a separate router and modem since they don't overheat as easily. 

I do have issues with devices dropping when the load picks up, which is now higher more often since my wife and I are working from home.

 

I went with a combo as it was cheaper than two separate devices.

 

If I could find a modem with docsis 3.1 and a router that could handle up to 50 devices for under 200 total, i could convert.

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Blueduck3285 said:

I do have issues with devices dropping when the load picks up, which is now higher more often since my wife and I are working from home.

 

I went with a combo as it was cheaper than two separate devices.

 

If I could find a modem with docsis 3.1 and a router that could handle up to 50 devices for under 200 total, i could convert.

how many of these devices are on wifi? can you move any more to wired?

 

If your limited by wifi, then better access points will help.

 

A router is normally not rated by devices, there rated by sessions and bandwith, so this is probably a wifi limit.

[Blueduck3285]

Just now, Electronics Wizardy said:

how many of these devices are on wifi? can you move any more to wired?

 

If your limited by wifi, then better access points will help.

 

A router is normally not rated by devices, there rated by sessions and bandwith, so this is probably a wifi limit.

30 of them are wifi (light switches and garage door opener and cameras) no moving them to wired.

[TylerDurden!]

can you

16 minutes ago, Blueduck3285 said:

My router, c7000v2

this is a dual band router, try putting some of your "devices" on a different band if possible.

[Blueduck3285]

Just now, TylerDurden! said:

can you

this is a dual band router, try putting some of your "devices" on a different band if possible.

They are already about half and half. Still have disconnect issues during high use.

[TylerDurden!]

55 minutes ago, Blueduck3285 said:

They are already about half and half. Still have disconnect issues during high use.

I would just put a better router behind the combo router you got there.  I never use the router that comes with the ISP modem/router, I always use my own routers

[Escapenz]

99% the ones they supply barely can use the connection they supply to its fully. Aftermarket always the way to go

[Blueduck3285]

5 minutes ago, Escapenz said:

99% the ones they supply barely can use the connection they supply to its fully. Aftermarket always the way to go

I purchased my own as I hate renting.

[Blueduck3285]

1 hour ago, TylerDurden! said:

I would just put a better router behind the combo router you got there.  I never use the router that comes with the ISP modem/router, I always use my own routers

That's a good idea, I could get one that has the features I want that the one I have now didn't have.

[Lurick]

6 hours ago, Blueduck3285 said:

That's a good idea, I could get one that has the features I want that the one I have now didn't have.

Don't get a router, just get a dedicated access point instead. You'll either turn the router into an AP anyway by disabling all the routing, DHCP, NAT, etc or risk causing a double NAT scenario.

[Blueduck3285]

4 hours ago, Lurick said:

Don't get a router, just get a dedicated access point instead. You'll either turn the router into an AP anyway by disabling all the routing, DHCP, NAT, etc or risk causing a double NAT scenario.

Do you have a recommendation on a good wireless ap that can handle large number of devices?

[Lurick]

2 minutes ago, Blueduck3285 said:

Do you have a recommendation on a good wireless ap that can handle large number of devices?

Most of the Ubiquiti stuff is pretty robust, I think 100+ devices and easy to manage.

[Blueduck3285]

1 hour ago, Lurick said:

Most of the Ubiquiti stuff is pretty robust, I think 100+ devices and easy to manage.

Something like the US-AC-LITE-US? It's a bit slower on the 5ghz than my current router but can handle a boatload of clients.

[Lurick]

22 minutes ago, Blueduck3285 said:

Something like the US-AC-LITE-US? It's a bit slower on the 5ghz than my current router but can handle a boatload of clients.

Yah, that should do nicely.

[beersykins]

Move all of your IOT crap to the 2.4G band if you're having issues on the 5G band.  You can leverage that airspace instead for those devices since they don't require a lot of bandwidth, but will impact an existing frequency with additional beacons and similar.

 

An additional access point would provide you more airspace/wifi aggregate bandwidth

[fredrichnietze]

i have used that ubiquiti/unifi for small and medium sized business with anywhere from a few dozen to 500+ employees with a dozen of them scattered throughout the building. can recommend, it has a good ui and is very good for creating large networks with a single password/username seamlessly switching between the closest AP as you walk around even with hundreds or thousands of devices. never hit a device limit on any of our clients. 

[Blueduck3285]

On 4/21/2020 at 11:29 AM, Lurick said:

Yah, that should do nicely.

Pulled the trigger on the Unifi AP AC lite. I love it. It has made my life easier and I don't get devices randomly dropping. The features on this thing are fantastic.

 

Thanks everyone