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sidefx

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#323966 10-Feb-2026 08:51
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Below is my current setup for home network, but I've been having a fair number of problems with it. The bottom ethernet connection goes to a switch with a few more ethernet devices, and the repeater has a couple of ethernet connections off it too. 

 

 

 

Basically during the weekend, evenings there tend to be a LOT more wifi devices connected (kids + all their friends, etc)  and sometimes things don't run too smoothly. I think most of the issues are wifi related as ethernet devices rarely have issues. 

 

 

 

I also have it setup so that the "standard" wifi profile (that the kids and all their friends end up connected to by default)  blocks late night wifi access but SWMBO doesn't want to turn off MAC randomisation on her phones\tablet and so sometimes the fritzbox seems to think her devices are new devices and blocks them late night. 

 

 

 

I think part of the problem might also be that the 2 devices below are at opposite ends of the house and sometimes wifi devices roaming\switching between them isn't all that smooth? 

 

 

 

Any recommendations for low setup\friction mesh replacements for these devices? Or just one router that I can put in the middle of the house with very good coverage? It is unfortunately a big long house so a bit tricky to cover fully with a single device.  I have not kept up with recent IEEE wifi standards so not sure which I should be looking at. 

 





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freitasm
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  #3460137 10-Feb-2026 09:44
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The 7490 is a bit old now - what kind of broadband plan you have? If you have lots of devices with constant use it might not enough power to switch all those packets flying around fast enough.

 

How large is the house? Any chance a single device in the middle of it could cover the entire area?





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sidefx

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  #3460139 10-Feb-2026 10:08
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That's what I was wondering too.  With the 3 active access profiles\filters and a lot of known devices the UI gets very slow.  I cleared out the known devices recently but it's back up to 75+ already.  I'm on 2 degrees "Unlimited Fibre 500 Broadband" with a static IP. I think I got the 7490 during snap days, or maybe very early 2 degrees days - I guess I could ask 2 degrees for a newer device.

 

 

 

I would happily put the router in middle of house but it is a long house and when I've tried that previously with 7490 it did not hack it. 

 

 

 

Interestingly, I also sometimes have issues which someone said sounded like port exhaustion (there are torrents occasionally running on the network)  While checking what plan I'm on I saw that Port filtering is on... any idea if turning this off might also help things??    EDIT: I'm assuming not as looks like port exhaustion is local network ports but filtering only affects external ports? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





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  #3460140 10-Feb-2026 10:18
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I recently replaced a Fritz!Box + mesh at home with a Grandstream setup. GWN7002 wired router with a couple of meshed GWN7604 access points. I'm cautious about recommending it. In theory they've got great specs and the setup should be a breeze. It's not really a breeze, and I still haven't managed to get it to do seamless hand-offs between the two meshed APs.

 

 





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freitasm
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  #3460141 10-Feb-2026 10:20
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Port filtering shouldn't impact anything. More information: https://help.2degrees.nz/Slingshot/Broadband/Port_Filtering

 

The torrents would be something to manage - do clients have large list of Linux ISO being shared, or just the most recent downloads? Do clients have a limit on number of active torrents, or a limit on peers per torrent?  Managing a large number of torrents, with a large number of connections is not only a heavy activity for your computer but also for the router, which needs to keep tabs on all connections. Limiting torrents, blocking the slowest peers is also advisable, as these are open connections the router maintains but can take a lot of time to clear.

 

Either way, I think the 7490 is too old and slow for these tasks now.





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sidefx

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  #3460158 10-Feb-2026 12:15
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freitasm:

 

Do clients have large list of Linux ISO being shared, or just the most recent downloads? 

 

[...]

 

Either way, I think the 7490 is too old and slow for these tasks now.

 

 

Just most recent Linux ISOs and fairly short lived seeding in general. Though there is also gaming + 2 people WFH with different VPNs etc. 

 

 

 

Point taken on the 7490 - question I'm asking myself now is do I:

 

  • Look at signing up to another 12 months with 2 degrees and ask for Orbi Wi-Fi 6 (EDIT: I think this is the current one they offer?) as part of contract? i.e. is it significantly better in terms of handling these tasks.
  • Buy a mesh router package and stick with the "Both ends of house" approach
  • Buy a single buty router with better wifi\attenna\etc to go in middle of house
  • Look at another ISP with good supplied router and other new customer benefits? :D

 





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  #3460408 11-Feb-2026 07:01
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If you go with the Orbi from 2degrees it now costs you $5.00 a month.

 

I bought a Frit!box 4060 from PB Tech and what a difference. Good thing with it is Wi-Fi 6 and has duel channels.

 

 

 

Cost around $300.





Smithy


 
 
 

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sidefx

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  #3460849 12-Feb-2026 08:40
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Looks like pbtech doesn't have the 4060 any more, so I'm looking at a few TP-Link options. Area I'm trying to cover is roughly 240m3 but larger if you include deck which we spend a fair bit of time on so would be nice if wifi was decent out there too. 

 

Anybody with real-world experience on how much better 802.11be is than 802.11ax?  





"I was born not knowing and have had only a little time to change that here and there."         | Octopus Energy | Sharesies
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Smithy47
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  #3461052 12-Feb-2026 17:41
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Search for "Fritz!box" they are $302.00

 

 

 

Collect on the 24th Feb according to their site.





Smithy


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