Replacement for iffy fibre modem

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michaelmurfy

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#3505903 24-Jun-2026 16:15

@johno1234 The power supplies on the Smart Modem's die often from experience. If you've got another 12v, 2a power supply then you can quickly test this theory.

Also have a look at Grandstream routers and they're more feature packed than the TP-Link. This wee router (and I mean it's tiny) has great WiFi and can mesh either wired or wirelessly with other Grandstream routers or access points: https://www.gowifi.co.nz/grandstreamnetworks/gwn7062e.html

They're currently on deals at PB for $95.14 each: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETGSM26101/Grandstream-GWN7062E-AX3000-Dual-Band-WiFi-6-Route

You're getting better value for money and more features than the TP-Link routers.

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noroad

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#3505906 24-Jun-2026 16:20

johno1234:

How about tp-link X50 3-pack? https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETTPL6553/TP-Link-Deco-X55-AX3000-Dual-Band-WiFi-6-Whole-Hom?qr=product_option - relatively inexpensive but seems to have been around for a while, is it still decent technology?

These are the X55, which is the updated X50. They will work well. You can start with two (of any x series) and add more if necessary.

johno1234

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#3505913 24-Jun-2026 16:37

michaelmurfy:

@johno1234 The power supplies on the Smart Modem's die often from experience. If you've got another 12v, 2a power supply then you can quickly test this theory.

Also have a look at Grandstream routers and they're more feature packed than the TP-Link. This wee router (and I mean it's tiny) has great WiFi and can mesh either wired or wirelessly with other Grandstream routers or access points: https://www.gowifi.co.nz/grandstreamnetworks/gwn7062e.html

They're currently on deals at PB for $95.14 each: https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/NETGSM26101/Grandstream-GWN7062E-AX3000-Dual-Band-WiFi-6-Route

You're getting better value for money and more features than the TP-Link routers.

Great thanks @michaelmurfy and has 3 ethernet ports vs 2 on the TP-Link.

And in router mode it can connect directly to the ONT and config up for Spark, right?

michaelmurfy

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#3505938 24-Jun-2026 21:21

Yep will work on any ISP you throw it at totally fine.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
Referral Links: Quic Broadband (use R122101E7CV7Q for free setup) | Starlink

johno1234

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#3506452 27-Jun-2026 08:42

Have installed the three Grandstream $99 routers - one as the router and two as mesh extenders.

Oh my, the functionality of these little things, as @michaelmurfy mentioned, is very good. There's a nice looking web configuration page for pretty much everything I could need and it is so much more modern and complete than the old Spark Smartmodem 1 config web page.

Installation was straightforward and intuitive, but because of some bad choices and local complexities I had to go through a few iterations. First I just accepted the new SSID and default network. That left about half of my IOT mix not connecting. Some coped and some didn't. So I changed to the same SSID and password as the old wifi which mostly resolved that but some devices incl a Tapo camera and headless pi-hole steadfastly held onto their original wifi and wired IP network. So changed the router network to match the old one and now I think it is all going. Garage door goes up and down, lights go on and off, automations work.

What I still need to nut out is a separate IOT network but I suspect it will not quite work the way I want. I would like all the IOT devices to be on a 2.4GHz separate wifi... but I think that will cause issues with the AppleTV thread border router being on the 5GHz network.

The wifi signal from the Grandstream router and access points to wifi clients appears to be stronger than the Spark router and Spark mesh units. There is one aspect that seems a bit variable and that is the wireless backhaul strength between the Grandstream and its mesh siblings. That seems weaker than the Spark setup. I know I should wire these backhauls but it will involve drilling holes and crawling around in a dark spiderweb filled basement which is something I've been dodging ever since we bought this house... However if I do the wiring perhaps I could locate one mesh by the AppleTV and wire it as well as leave it on the IOT wifi - wonder if that would resolve the question above?

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#3506842 28-Jun-2026 13:06

I don't think that model has VLANs or a segregated IoT SSID function. If not and you want to keep them separate you could try the Guest Network function for the ioT devices, and that does have the option to broadcast only on 2.4GHz. I don't know whether the other nodes repeat the Guest network but range on 2.4GHz is usually enough.

Check to see what wifi MHz width the the Grandstream is defaulting to. The Smart Modem 1 didn't support 160MHz on the 5GHz, and 40MHz doesn't appear to work on its 2.4GHz. Between broadcast distance and interference the backhaul might improve by changing to a different width.

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#3508237 3-Jul-2026 07:44

johno1234:

Have installed the three Grandstream $99 routers - one as the router and two as mesh extenders.

Any idea what the range on a single one is? And is wifi "roaming" from one to another pretty good? I still need to replace 2x old fritzbox 7490s in mesh setup at either end of our house, which seem to cause issues in the "middle" of the house when I suspect devices fail to switch from one to the other.

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nitro

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#3508246 3-Jul-2026 08:16

sidefx:

Any idea what the range on a single one is? And is wifi "roaming" from one to another pretty good? I still need to replace 2x old fritzbox 7490s in mesh setup at either end of our house, which seem to cause issues in the "middle" of the house when I suspect devices fail to switch from one to the other.

grandstream APs support 802.11k/r/v... but so do most of the fritzbox routers. the decision to hop on to the better AP is made by the device not the AP, which merely provides the info. what devices have you been having problems with?

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#3508249 3-Jul-2026 08:58

sidefx:

johno1234:

Have installed the three Grandstream $99 routers - one as the router and two as mesh extenders.

Any idea what the range on a single one is? And is wifi "roaming" from one to another pretty good? I still need to replace 2x old fritzbox 7490s in mesh setup at either end of our house, which seem to cause issues in the "middle" of the house when I suspect devices fail to switch from one to the other.

Range is so dependent on what’s in the way but I can get a useful connection out in the garage with is about 25m from the ap and through two partition walls and glass.

sidefx

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#3508262 3-Jul-2026 10:08

nitro:

sidefx:

Any idea what the range on a single one is? And is wifi "roaming" from one to another pretty good? I still need to replace 2x old fritzbox 7490s in mesh setup at either end of our house, which seem to cause issues in the "middle" of the house when I suspect devices fail to switch from one to the other.

grandstream APs support 802.11k/r/v... but so do most of the fritzbox routers. the decision to hop on to the better AP is made by the device not the AP, which merely provides the info. what devices have you been having problems with?

Hmm, thanks good to know - couple of clients are relatively recent android phones and 7490 at one end of house + repeater 3000 at other end. Problem mainly seems to be when moving from repeater 3000 end of house towards 7490 end of house. Disconnecting from wifi then reconnecting seems to "fix" them.

Used to work better with 7490 at one end of house then repeater 3000 in middle of house so perhaps I just need to go back to that setup (looks like 7490 has k/v while repeater has k/v/r - reckon that would make much difference?)

PS: Management of the parental controls\access filters also seems very slow on the 7490 UI so if that's better on Grandstream device, major bonus....

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nitro

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#3508328 3-Jul-2026 11:50

sidefx:

Hmm, thanks good to know - couple of clients are relatively recent android phones and 7490 at one end of house + repeater 3000 at other end. Problem mainly seems to be when moving from repeater 3000 end of house towards 7490 end of house. Disconnecting from wifi then reconnecting seems to "fix" them.

Used to work better with 7490 at one end of house then repeater 3000 in middle of house so perhaps I just need to go back to that setup (looks like 7490 has k/v while repeater has k/v/r - reckon that would make much difference?)

PS: Management of the parental controls\access filters also seems very slow on the 7490 UI so if that's better on Grandstream device, major bonus....

not all devices are as good at managing this. signal levels at the intersection points might also be a factor.

802.11r makes its presence felt when transitioning between APs while in an active voice call. so it might not make much difference depending on your use case. probably another test you can do. also, considering when the 7490 was released, you may have already had your money's worth. i would expect current devices to be better at these things.

Samsung has a pretty good paper on this - Samsung - Enhanced roaming algorithm

i'm on this thread because i'm considering grandstream for my in-laws. at the moment it's a mess of netgears that are a total mess, and grandstream's single management pane for the router and 1 or 2 APs might be the right solution.

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#3508344 3-Jul-2026 13:01

nitro:

802.11r makes its presence felt when transitioning between APs while in an active voice call. so it might not make much difference depending on your use case. probably another test you can do. also, considering when the 7490 was released, you may have already had your money's worth. i would expect current devices to be better at these things.

Yeah that's what I was thinking. Interesting point about voice calls, we're also in a bit of a vodafone deadzone so I end up on wifi calling quite a bit, which sometimes isn't very clear. And have also noticed on teams calls, it often goes from other person sounding like they're at the bottom of a well, then switches to quite clear sometimes with dead air or a click. I wonder if it's all related... Anyway, pretty sure I'm gonna go the grandstream route.

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