Mesh network recommendations for separated 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands / networks

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Mesh network recommendations for separated 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands / networks

straff

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#285821 19-May-2021 20:51

I'm currently running a Netgear Nighthawk MR60 WiFi 6 mesh network and tbh it's trash. There's minimal configuration capabilities and even though I have a satellite sitting in the office, speeds next to it suck.
The challenge I have is that a fair amount of smart devices now require to only use the 2.4Ghz band. I've been looking through guides for a number of mesh setups, and there doesn't seem anyway that I can select which band a device connects to.

I have the HomePod minis, and they really don't do well having one on 5Ghz, one on 2.4Ghz, and there's no way for me to force them to use one. Even if I setup another network, I can't clarify it's 2.4 or 5 alone.

Any ideas? Would like to future proof with wifi 6, but on rural wireless (and may go starlink), so not great speeds.

sbiddle

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#2709839 19-May-2021 21:01

If you're going to deploy a mesh network, you need to accept that speed will always be the weakest link. That's just the reality of such a setup and why I would never recommend a mesh solution except in the very rarest of situations where no other solution was possible - and then I'd carefully manage it to ensue it was capable of working.

What problems are you seeing? If a device is only 2.4GHz it's only going to connect to a 2.4GHz network and shouldn't be affected by band steering (if the hardware supports it).

straff

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#2709884 19-May-2021 22:22

I’m not fussed about speed, within the network it’s only one stream usually, and external is only 20mbps
The problem is mainly with Apple gear, I have the two minis set up as stereo pair and they just don’t work properly on the nighthawk, with one sitting on 5ghz, one on 2.4 and just not being able to be seen. Turn off mesh and switch on router wifi and everything works peachy. 🤦🏻‍♂️
Unfortunately this also doesn’t stretch out to the shed 4m away by line of sight (has metal walls tho), so I want to be able to run cat5 to the shed and have a wired mesh extender in there. I’m leaning towards the dlink COVR-X1870 as they have 4 Ethernet ports on each extender and you can buy single satellites , but I’ve a question into them whether this can be done.

eonsim

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#2711037 21-May-2021 20:53

Maybe look at ASUS's AI-mesh system for there routers. There are a wide range of different ASUS routers that support it so you can mix and match the units as budget and desire allows.

Also they seem to offer a wide range of the usual configuration opens, I think there are a few demo portals online where you can play around with the interface and the options it offers.

Edit: Here is an example one: https://demoui.asus.com/index.asp

PJ48

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#2711106 21-May-2021 22:55

We have a heap of Apple Gear and it plays nice with the Spark Smart modem and connected mesh units

cyril7

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#2711118 22-May-2021 07:39

Hi I don't understand the 2.4ghz only requirement.

All of the gear mentioned in this thread so far is pretty average stuff, if you want decent wireless spend a bit more on pro sumer or commercial gear.

Also mesh is an over used term but great marketing.

Any successful wireless system will use wired backhaul, any wireless or eop backhaul solution is sub par imho

Cyril

straff

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#2711136 22-May-2021 08:05

I decided to go get myself the D-link COVR. It seems to do what I want but with a noticeable exception (that I’ve managed to work around).
I got a few of the arlec smart powerboards for in the shed and they were easy to setup on the nighthawk but were a complete annoyance on the D-link.
Basically, your phone has to be on the 2.4 network when configuring them even if you provide the wifi credentials. Somy work around was to turn off the nearest mesh extender when till I’m half bars and then attach it to the network. This does mean there’s not much signal for the device, so when it looks like it starts to configure, I switch the mesh extender on and the signal boosts amd nicely connects the device.
So I have a workaround that only took me half hour to figure out but that is why I originally wanted a system that can do.

On other notes the D-Link COVR X1800 isn’t bad at all, and configuration is quite reasonable (except for being able to turn 2.4 / 5 ghz radios off lol)

straff

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#2711139 22-May-2021 08:09

Hi Cyril
I agree that I’m using average consumer stuff and it’s not a proper commercial mesh but I’m doing my parent’s place not mine, otherwise I’d be looking at ubiquiti and having as many wires as I can get tucked away. I did consider it but just was about maintenance and if it has an issue, whether they can easily restart etc

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richms

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#2711240 22-May-2021 11:28

Why not just use a dedicated AP and SSID for the problematic apple gear?

Richard rich.ms

richms

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#2711241 22-May-2021 11:31

straff: I decided to go get myself the D-link COVR. It seems to do what I want but with a noticeable exception (that I’ve managed to work around).
I got a few of the arlec smart powerboards for in the shed and they were easy to setup on the nighthawk but were a complete annoyance on the D-link.
Basically, your phone has to be on the 2.4 network when configuring them even if you provide the wifi credentials. Somy work around was to turn off the nearest mesh extender when till I’m half bars and then attach it to the network. This does mean there’s not much signal for the device, so when it looks like it starts to configure, I switch the mesh extender on and the signal boosts amd nicely connects the device.
So I have a workaround that only took me half hour to figure out but that is why I originally wanted a system that can do.

On other notes the D-Link COVR X1800 isn’t bad at all, and configuration is quite reasonable (except for being able to turn 2.4 / 5 ghz radios off lol)

Just hold the button on the tuya gear for longer so the the light does the slow blink and connect to its AP to configure. The easy configuring stuff is very problematic even when you are on a 2.4GHz only SSID if there are more devices near by. In order to use it I basically have to take stuff out to the shed where there is a single AP visible and it works probably 50% of the time there. Holding the button down to get the slow flash and using AP mode always works fine. Also tuya doenst have tbe bug that other devices have where they assume that only the final byte of the IP address will vary between devices (looking at you magichome) which is another point of failure with easy configuration type things.

Richard rich.ms

steve98

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#2713433 26-May-2021 22:02

I highly recommend ubiquiti unifi AP’s. With those you can tell band steering to prefer 5Ghz for those devices that support it, leaving the 2.4Ghz spectrum to those that don’t or where 5Ghz is giving a device poor performance. Better yet you can set up a separate SSID just for 2.4Ghz devices if you want and put all your Smarthome gear on that, leaving everything else on the “main” SSID.