Can you mix and match AP and mesh devices from different brands?

[DamageInc]

Hi everyone!

My dad and I want to upgrade our home network to actually take advantage of our 400 Mbps connection overwireless, rather than having a giant mess of ethernet cables scattered through our hallways.

Our house is from the 70s with quite thick walls and stuff, and we get bad wifi in most places. Our current gear is AVM Fritz gear, our main moden/router combo is a Fritz!Box 6490 Cable, we also have a repeater 300 and a Fritz branded powerline.

We have three main important points of interest in the house:

1. In the basement where our coax arrives, this is where our main mode/router is located.
2. Ground floor where our living room/TV room is, our TV box has no wireless so we have it connected via the powerline.
3. On the top floor is a hatch in the ceiling, currently we have a cheap repeater that gives us about 20 Mbps wifi, along with a bunch of ethernet cables coming out of the ceiling hatch scattered into the hallway into each room (3 kids and parents' office).

My dad wants to set up a mesh network, although I am not sure if this is the most optimal solution for both performance and of course price.

My dad and I are rather confused between the differences of the Fritz!Repeater 3000, and the Asus RT-AX92U and RT-AX88U.

We definitely want tto put some kind of box (router/mesh node/access point?) onto the top floor, connected to the main box in the basement via cable through the wall. From my understanding this can be done with any of the devices, but I'm wondering what the easiest way is to set up a mesh network that my dad wants.

If we were to buy two RT-AX92U and put one into the top floor connected to our Fritz!Box, and one into the TV room connected with no cables, how will they all link up?

From my understanding, the RT-AX92U can talk to each other over WiFi 6, so it should be able to project a continuous WiFi mesh over the ground and top floor, right? Will that interfere though with the WiFi projected out from the Fritz!Box in the basement?

I hope this wasn't too confusing, I'll try my best to explain more if it's unclear what I'm trying to do.

 

[ColinTaylor]

No, you can't use mesh devices from different brands. Even within a single brand only certain models are compatible with that brand's mesh system.

If you already have Ethernet connections (at sufficient speed) back to your main router the obvious choice would be to install WiFi access points at the desired locations. Those could be from any manufacturer as they use normal Ethernet connections.

 

[DamageInc]

Yeah my ethernet connection is fast enough for our current 400 Mbps internet.

The problem is, with the main modem/router on the ground floor, and if we put an access point on the top floor, we still run into issues with not having proper internet on the ground floor.

I also understand now that the tri-band capability of the AX92U is only important if we use it as node in the mesh system.

If I had unlimited money I'd tell my dad to put an AX88U into the basement, and then one AX92U each into the ground and top floor, along with the basement to top floor ethernet connection we already have, that should sort us out for a while, but it's also super expensive.

Do you have any recommendations for a simple access point that would work at around 400 Mbps through 3-4 walls wirelessly?

 

[ColinTaylor]

I don't think anyone can tell you with any confidence of any WiFi device that will work through 4 walls at 400Mbps. To gets those speeds you'd need to be using 5GHz, and 5GHz is shorter range than 2.4GHz and much more susceptible to being blocked by solid objects.

Personally I wouldn't pay any extra to get an "ax" class device. I'd look for 2 decent "ac" devices, one to use as an access point (top floor) and the other to use as either a wireless bridge or repeater (ground floor). Something like the RT-AC66U_B1 or RT-AC68U.

It might be prudent to buy just one access point at first and installing on the top floor. Then you can see how it performs and decide where to go from there.

 

[Val D.]

Do you have any recommendations for a simple access point that would work at around 400 Mbps through 3-4 walls wirelessly?

In order to get close to 400Mbps throughput your clients must be at least 2x2 AC and connected to the router with their maximum link speed of 866Mbps. Not possible through 3-4 walls with any AIO router or AP I know of. Keep in mind WiFi is a 2-way communication. No matter how much Tx power the router is pushing, your client device is still the same 5-10mW. It has to return the signal to the router through those very same 3-4 walls. Communication is definitely possible, but won't be what you expect.