Virgin Media Community

[Mark0405]

Hi,

I'm a reasonably tech savvy person but mesh networks really have me stumped.  I've always lived in modern new builds where the standard OEM wi-fi hubs have been sufficient.

I now live in a three storey Edwardian town house with very thick walls.  My Hub 3 is in the living room at the front of the house and wi-fi in there is fine.  I've used the Connect app and all rooms say they are fine, expect that the. wi-fi is much slower.

I am on the M100 package and by the router I get 100MB+ speeds.  However in my study, which is on the top floor at the back of the house I am getting 10-20MB, sometimes less than 10MB.

Would a mesh network be advisable, if so which is likely to suit me the most?

Best wishes in advance,

Mark

[tehwolf]

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@Mark0405 wrote:

Would a mesh network be advisable, if so which is likely to suit me the most?

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Probably.

What’s the budget?

Tri-band mesh units are better than dual band (they use a dedicated radio for backhaul). but they come at a premium.  You also need to decide whether you’re happy with AC speeds or whether you want to future proof a little and buy a Wi-fi-6 version, again, comes at a premium.

ASUS & TP-Link are well regarded around here.. Netgear and Zyxel too but not as popular as the first two..

expect to pay £100 for an entry level dual-band mesh system from TP-Link all the way up to £500 for a top of the line Wi-fi-6 mesh from ASUS.. with varying prices in between..

the alternative, and gold standard, would be to run ethernet cables to a couple of suitable places in the house and attach wireless access points.. but this is (relative to deploying a mesh) a lot of effort routing and terminating cables etc.. which is why mesh systems seem to be a popular alternative...

[Mark0405]

Thanks for getting back to me.

Tri-band seems fairly sensible.  I don't want to break the bank but equally I do need a good reliable connection in my study as I am teaching lessons all day on Zoom at the moment.

[tehwolf]

ASUS Wifi-6

ASUS AC

TP-Link Wi-fi-6

TP-Link AC

[Mark0405]

Thanks.  And is it pretty simple to set them all up and get cracking?

[tehwolf]

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@Mark0405 wrote:

Thanks.  And is it pretty simple to set them all up and get cracking?

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So i am led to believe, yes.

You will want to put your hub into modem mode, which can be a bit fiddly as there’s a specific sequence to doing it all, but once that’s done, it should be plain sailing 🙂

[Mark0405]

Thanks again.

I'm a little unclear how many packs I should go for.  Would two suffice do you think or is three more sensible?

[Adduxi]

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@Mark0405 wrote:

Thanks again.

I'm a little unclear how many packs I should go for.  Would two suffice do you think or is three more sensible?

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You need to plan this out yourself as you need to consider the following;

1 - Every unit will need to be within wifi distance of the next.

2 - Every unit needs to be beside a power socket.

3 - The main unit needs to be near the VM Hub (in Modem mode) for ethernet cable attachment.

So, with this in mind, you can decide if 2 or 3 units will do the job.  It may be you will need one on each floor for best performance. Remember walls and internal wooden doors can block wifi signals.

As previously mentioned, it may also be worthwhile to consider if you can cable any of the remote units back to the main one, as a cable "backhaul" will never be affected by wifi interference.  Remember cable can be routed outside and up walls, it does not have to be internal. 

[Mark0405]

Thanks. Problem is it's a rental property so I can't get any cable through to the outside.

One on each floor probably isn't an issue.