Mesh Network vs Moca/APs

[DthAngel]

I need to upgrade my network. Right now I have an old Asus RT-N66U as my main router, but most of my wireless is being handled by a Meshforce M3 setup (4 base units, one dot). While it gives connectivity around the house, it's not giving great speed. My N66U will allow for about double the speed on 5ghz, and since I can't separate the 2.4/5 SSIDs I have some devices that are negotiating at 2.4 when they're only 5 feet away from a base. The backhaul on the M3s doesn't seem to be that strong either, as there's a fairly steep dropoff on speed when I'm not connected to the main base. 

 

My house is 5500 Sq Ft, and unfortunately, the places I need the speed are fairly spread out. 

 

Trying to decide if I need to scrap the M3s for a better mesh system. Upgrade the main router to something a bit more recent (my N66U is at least 5 years old, probably closer to 7), and build off of that. etc etc. 

 

Any help would be appreciated.

[TheBean]

for a larger scale network depoyment its best if you hard wire all of your APs. unless you want to spend a shit ton of money buying expensive mesh stuff for 5500sqft, using ethernet for the APs with a switch is your best bet for the most reliability and speed

[Falcon1986]

34 minutes ago, DthAngel said:

My house is 5500 Sq Ft, and unfortunately, the places I need the speed are fairly spread out. 

Please clarify if this is a single level or multi-level home. A floor plan sketch of your house which highlights the position of your ISP modem/gateway, ethernet runs and other existing network hardware would help a lot.

 

For such a large area, you’re better off mounting multiple wireless APs across the property and wiring them directly to the router/AP.

 

The router does not have to be a wireless router that you have now. It can be a wired-only one since your APs will be handling WiFi and the router will only be handling NAT/DHCP.