Which wireless system do you recommend?

[gebhaard]

Hello.

 

My Wi-Fi at home is not the best at the moment. The house is a two-story family house, which will soon (almost) double in floor area. (ground floor is concrete/brick, first floor is light structure)

At the moment, the networking looks like this:

• ISP [500Mbps/23Mbps service]
  • ISP modem: Sagemcom FAST3686 with ISP custom fw (DHCP on, WiFi off)
    • TP-Link Archer C8 (DHCP on, WiFi: 5G + 2.4 GHz on different SSID) [ground floor]
      • TP-Link 5-port gigabit switch
        • 1 PC, 2 STB, 1 Smart TV
      • TP-Link 8-port gigabit switch
        • TP-Link TL-WR740N (DHCP off, WiFi: 2.4 GHz on same SSID as the Archer) [first floor]
        • 2 PCs, XBox, NAS, 1 STB

The connection is slow on the first floor, and I think the two routers are conflicting.

My family uses 5 phones, 1-2 notebooks, a Chromecast, in addition to the above devices.

 

My question is which brand do you recommend in wireless networking?

I am considering using a mesh system, and these are my options:

• Strong Wi-Fi Mesh Home Kit 1610 (3-pack) [https://www.strong.tv/en/products/wifi-mesh/homekit1610]

Looks okay, tempting because my ISP sells a 3-pack for ~65€, and that's a really great price.

• TP-Link Deco M4 (3-pack) [https://www.tp-link.com/en/home-networking/deco/deco-m4/]

I would prefer this, but this is much more expensive, the 2-pack is 95€, the 3-pack is 145€.

 

The renewal of the house is about 1 year away, so my preference would be to buy a 2-pack Deco M4, and later buy a third one.

 

What are your recommendations building a wireless system?

 

Thanks.

[Falcon1986]

@gebhaard

 

Firstly, to keep things simple, use 1 device to handle DHCP/NAT. Whether it's the ISP gateway or your C8, one will have to be put into "bridge mode".

 

Since you have the existing ethernet wiring (hopefully, good Cat5e quality or better), I'd just wire in a wireless access point to the switch on the first floor, making sure to position it centrally, and call it a day. From experience, a wired backhaul/uplink will always be better than a wireless one.

[HawkJ]

Hey, 

 

So I’ve used many AP brands and I would recommend Ubiquiti APs. You can either use your mobile app or host a controller on VM and unlock advanced features including guest networking features with coupons etc. And as Falcon mentioned, it’s always a good idea to use one device for NAT/DHCP. Can cause unnecessary hops and latency. 

[Brian Blankenship]

On 7/3/2020 at 6:47 PM, HawkJ said:

Hey, 

 

So I’ve used many AP brands and I would recommend Ubiquiti APs. You can either use your mobile app or host a controller on VM and unlock advanced features including guest networking features with coupons etc. And as Falcon mentioned, it’s always a good idea to use one device for NAT/DHCP. Can cause unnecessary hops and latency. 

Can confirm, I love my Ubiquiti network.

 

[gebhaard]

On 7/5/2020 at 2:50 AM, Brian Blankenship said:

Can confirm, I love my Ubiquiti network.

 

What is this WiFi visualizer program called?

[Falcon1986]

On 7/25/2020 at 4:10 AM, gebhaard said:

What is this WiFi visualizer program called?

It's built into the UniFi Controller for management of UniFi devices. Requires you upload a floor plan.

[Mad153]

if you need a more consumer grade solution, the  AmplIFI system from Ubiquiti is also very good and supports hard-line ethernet connections if you don't want to use the mesh, as well as accepting a mix of both hard wired ethernet AP's and mesh points.

 

*cough* I have a review on this *cough*