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roilaa's avatar
roilaa
Joining in
12 months ago

Advice re WiFi Pods vs Mesh

So I recently upgraded to the Volt 1gb package and I'm awaiting the WiFi pod that they are sending out. Over WiFi I am getting around 300mbps in most rooms, though one room was less than 30mbps, hence the pod.

However, I have a mesh system that I've not yet set up, and I'm wondering if it is worth using still or if the router + WiFi pod will be better. I think the mesh is Linksys Velop Ac1300. The one thing I've noticed since I got the new 5.0 router is that it has a smart switching feature to be between 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands. I think I would lose this feature with my mesh system as it is only a basic setup with 3 nodes.

What would you all advise? How good are the pods? Thanks in advance.

4 Replies

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  • carl_pearce's avatar
    carl_pearce
    Superstar
    12 months ago

    That Linksys is Wi-Fi 5 so you're technically going back a step since the HUB 5 is Wi-Fi 6. You'll also lose some of your bandwidth if putting the HUB in modem mode as the Linksys will have GIgabit ethernet ports, so around 940Mbps across your devices rather than 1130 (1152) Mbps.

    If they are the black pods then they are also Wi-Fi 6 so 'should' allow for a decent connection and speed.

  • Client62's avatar
    Client62
    Alessandro Volta
    12 months ago

    "smart switching feature to be between 2.4ghz and 5ghz bands"

    Your devices are responsible for switching between bands,  this is not a feature of any VM Hub.

    • big-luap's avatar
      big-luap
      Superfast
      12 months ago

      Hubs 3,4, & 5 have all used concurrent for WiFi when channels are set to auto. Your device will connect to the strongest signal.

      Manually selecting the channel for 2.4 & 5,0 causes them to operate separately. 

       

  • Tudor's avatar
    Tudor
    Very Insightful Person
    12 months ago

    One thing to consider is also Wireless Access Points wired back to the hub.

    "Your devices are responsible for switching between bands,  this is not a feature of any VM Hub." not strictly true. The hubs/access point needs to support 802.11r fast roaming.