smelck:

 

Hi all,

 

Relative novice and seeking some advice.

 

Just upgraded to Smart Modem from old faithful 659b - nice and easy, firmware upgraded great and noticeable improvement in wifi signal and speed.

 

I have a relatively small house / section (110 sqr mtre / 840 sgr mtr) - and coverage inside is fine - but have always had issues with signal outside.

 

I previously used an extender (linksys) which I placed in the shed (about 15 mtrs from modem / router through a couple of windowed walls) but signal was spotty as it was on the very edge of its range. I also had issues with some devices switching between inside and ext signals.

 

Having a wired option is also work in progress :)

 

Looking at using nodes now - how many might i need? I'm getting a good 2/3 bars mid garden from the smart modem. If I need 2 is piggy backing nodes ok ? (appreciate it will impact speed / strength)

 

On fibre max and get expected speeds wired at modem. I understand without seeing the layout its just advice. 

 

Cheers

 

I would recommend 1 mesh node, given your only really looking for the outside area.

have a play with it, you might find it works well where your old linksys existed, 15M doesn't sound too bad (although depending on what's inside these walls your experience may differ)

The mesh node will work with Wireless or Wired backhaul, so you can always use it wireless and once you have a wired option just hook it up.

In terms of roaming between networks, It opperates are true "mesh" network, so instead of you having multiple Wireless networks that you connect to (or different broadcasted channels) there is a single one and a bit of smarts indicates which AP the device should hop to.

Personally my probably about the same size as yours, but i've got 2 stories. the lower story used to be under the place before stairs where added, as such there is alot of underfloor shielding.

to work around this i've got 1 mesh unit sitting on my desk downstairs, over Ethernet backhaul. That gives me Excellent coverage everywhere i go except for the garage (Detached and distant from the house)

What would happen is i'd get home and my devices would initially go onto 2.4ghz as i'm driving in then roam to 5ghz when bandsteering comes into play. This works pretty well, but I didn't really like the experience.

so ended up putting a mesh node in my garage, It's right on the edge of signal coverage, so does drop to 2.4ghz backhaul sometimes. However, this means in terms of my devices, they are always on a 5ghz wifi so they don't have to deal with interferance etc.