WiFi recommendations for long house

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mmuir

32 posts

Geek

#306178 3-Jul-2023 11:45

We will have a new 280sqm house that's quite long so wanting access points at both ends of the house. Are we better off going with 2 mesh nodes or 2 routers connected? sorry if not using correct terminology. There will be wired devices as well as around 20 WiFi devices.

Currently no walls are up so we can run the data wherever its needed. Please recommend some options and models that will work well for our needs.

Edit: We will have Fibre and not sure on the ISP as currently with Spark but looking to change.

mrgsm021

1170 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3098940 3-Jul-2023 12:00

Hi,

You didn't mention who your ISP will be and what type of internet service you will be using? Fibre, VDSL or ADSL?

Most here would recommend APs over mesh nodes, although mesh nodes can be set to run in AP mode, provided each node has Ethernet backhaul to it.

Sounds like you could have Ethernet ports where you intend to place the node so no issues there.

If going with AP option, you'd need to have a router to plug the APs into, either the ISP supplied router or any third party router of your choice.

The mesh option gives you flexibility as generally one of the mesh node can be used as a router.

Also depending on your ISP, some will provide mesh solutions.

Personally I use a third party router with two Asus Zenwifi XT8 units behind it running in AP mode (both have Ethernet backhaul), works well so far.

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mmuir

32 posts

Geek

#3098947 3-Jul-2023 12:07

Hi I have updated the post, we will have Fibre and currently with Spark but looking to change to a different ISP as will be rural.

What is the benefit of access points instead of mesh. What is the benefit of mesh? with either option are they wired together? or connect via WiFi?

We are struggling to get our head around the best solution for us, WiFi currently is terrible at our house, and the new house is much bigger so we want to get it right and have reliable connections.

mrgsm021

1170 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3098955 3-Jul-2023 12:27

mmuir:

Hi I have updated the post, we will have Fibre and currently with Spark but looking to change to a different ISP as will be rural.

What is the benefit of access points instead of mesh. What is the benefit of mesh? with either option are they wired together? or connect via WiFi?

We are struggling to get our head around the best solution for us, WiFi currently is terrible at our house, and the new house is much bigger so we want to get it right and have reliable connections.

With AP, each AP will be connected back to the router via Ethernet, which means each AP would give you the best speed on WiFi.

With mesh, unless each node has Ethernet backhaul, the second node (slave) is otherwise connected to the main node (master) via WiFi (wireless backhaul), so this would impact the speed on any devices connected to the slave, since it needs a dedicated band to transmit and receive data packets.

mmuir

32 posts

Geek

#3098956 3-Jul-2023 12:30

Ok thanks, that makes sense. What would you recommend for good reliable access points and a third party router, otherwise are the ISP supplied routers ok to use with good quality access points?

scuwp

3764 posts

Uber Geek

#3099029 3-Jul-2023 13:14

Our house is long also. Buying a 2 unit mesh system solved all our problems. Easy to set up and use. We just used the system provided by the ISP - Deco x20's. Range is amazing.

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mrgsm021

1170 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#3099038 3-Jul-2023 13:30

mmuir:

Ok thanks, that makes sense. What would you recommend for good reliable access points and a third party router, otherwise are the ISP supplied routers ok to use with good quality access points?

As posted by scuwp, if you were going with One NZ as your new ISP, you can get couple of Deco X20 units, everything is all set up via the Deco app, very straightforward, which is another advantage going with mesh option.