9000ft house. Need good coverage.

[jderosa3]

I have a large home that I am being tasked to put a wifi network in - has two stories and a basement.

2nd floor is 1800sf

1st floor is 3600sf

Basement is 3600sf

I am thinking about using 6 of the ASUS AX5700 WiFi 6 routers and setup using the AiMesh system. I tried using retail mesh system like google wifi and they just don't provide the coverage.

Does anyone think that this will give me the right coverage in such a big house if I spread out 6 of these routers in the proper configuration.

 

[sfx2000]

If I had to do it - dedicated router and 16-24 port managed switch, along with AP's (not routers, just AP's) - AP's by themselves are cheap, and you're not spending money on things not used...

Why so many ports on the switch - to do a home LAN right, ethernet drops are very useful...

2 AP's per floor for the 1st floor, 2nd floor might get away with one, but probably 2 - basement, if it's unfinished - drop a 2.4GHz down there and call it done, and one 2.4 for the backyard/patio (discussed below).

Common SSID across all AP's - one for primary LAN, one for IoT, one for Guests perhaps

wireless - my rule of thumb for AP planning - best performance radius around the AP's...

* 750 sq ft for 5GHz
* 1500 sq ft for 2.4GHz
* max of 25 devices max per radio (so a dual band AP, you could do 25 in each band)

Other assumptions - 3 devices per person minimum these days, one could probably double that for the household with smart switches, IOT, etc...

So for a 4 person household - 24 devices as a ballpark.

I usually recommend locating the 5GHz AP's where people stay - family rooms, kitchens, common areas, and bedrooms... anchoring the WLAN is 2.4 that provides the IOT space and Guests, along with backstop in areas where 5GHz is low/missing - thought here is don't light up 5 gig where there isn't anybody using it.

Patios/backyards - 2.4 is the way to go - plan for an outdoor/weatherized unit..

 

[sfx2000]

6 of the ASUS AX5700 WiFi 6 routers and setup using the AiMesh system

no, don't do that...

AX5700's aren't cheap, with taxes and all, that's about $1800 using Amazon pricing...

And I haven't seen AI Mesh scale to that number of nodes (6) - seems awful fragile and a horrible user experience when the AI mesh collapses under load...

 

[Tech Junky]

Seeing posts like this make me wonder where people get the idea that using a router as an AP is a good idea. Is it the "mesh" made stupid simple? Is it all of the propaganda touting Asus? I don't get it.

If you have a 9K sq ft house you can probably afford to do this correctly as @sfx2000 pointed out.

Wire Ethernet to each room and probably at least 2 drops per outlet if you need to switch the cable at a later date due to it not working you don't have to pull another cable later on at a higher cost.

2 AP's for each 3600 sq ft should cover those floors and a single on the 1800 sq ft should work fine as well.

I have an AX AP covering 1300sq ft corner to corner w/ 5ghz and they're only $150/ea - 5X = $750

They work via POE which means they don't need to be located near an outlet like the router as an AP meaning they get powered by the cable plugged into the backside.

Most AP's can be controlled from a Web GUI independently or you can get controller based options if you want to spend more money which shouldn't be an issue if you're spending $2K on routers.

If you want to aggregate the AP's into a single GUI it's an add on ~$150/ea and that bumps your TCO to $1500 + POE Switch + cabling

I would probably stick one of these on each floor to make it simple to drop 2 Ethernet connections down to the main connection point where you decide to aggregate all of the network equipment. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XWKF55C/?tag=snbforums-20 $170/ea POE Switch / 8 ports

So, with 2 switches you're at $1820 or 3 switches ~$2K which is where you were with all the routers but, this setup gets your WIFI clients 1.3-1.5gbps and 2.5GE to wired clients and then you just need an actual router to connect to the ISP

Take off the converged management and you're down to ~$1250 + router / cabling and much happier with performance and stability of your WLAN / LAN.

 

[Clark Griswald]

If you have a 9K sq ft house you can probably afford to do this correctly as @sfx2000 pointed out.

Having a skilled technician/crafts-person is worth the cost for their knowledge and experience! You definately don't require six AX5700s!

 

[Tech9]

I am thinking about using 6 of the ASUS AX5700 WiFi 6 routers

No. Hire a company and tell them what do you need. Plan $4000 budget and up, depending on what has to be done.

 

[KingBravery]

Hire wifi solution company that can provide you Ruckus AP.

 

[L&LD]

6 AiMesh nodes are almost definitely too much WiFi in this size of home.

I would be looking at 2 or 3 GT-AX6000s instead.

Install two on the 1st floor (opposite ends). Put the other one (if needed), where needed.

All via wired backhaul.

No tech company need be involved. Save the balance of the $4K and spend it on BBQs and drinks this summer.

If you need to spend lots, and get great WiFi, go with top end Ruckus gear (only).

 

[Tech9]

Hire wifi solution company that can provide you Ruckus AP.

If we go with Ruckus Wi-Fi 6, 2.5G/10G network, Managed PoE+ switch, x86 firewall, good 4-bay NAS - increase the budget to $9000 to start, hardware only. Netgear XSM4316PA is about $2500 alone, for example. Installation, cables, system setup... extra $3000.

More realistic scenario for home use is mid-tier Omada or UniFi with Gigabit managed PoE+ switch with enough power budget for all APs and number of cameras, SafeStream or EdgeRouter, the corresponding network controller, mid-tier NAS optional. Hardware may fit in $4000.

Asus AiMesh can't compare. Band-Aid solution.

 

[L&LD]

This thread reminds me of a summer in 1970 when a friend wanted 'just a boat' to go fishing with.

Started with $400 for a used boat and trailer. Ended with a brand new $40K+ double deluxe model that was impressive in person as it was on paper.

Guess which one had the best memories attached to it though? Money may buy double deluxe WiFi, but it doesn't buy perfection (ever).

 

[Clark Griswald]

@L&LD
Your friend still owes my golf buddy money for scratching his anchor!

My GT-AX6000 easily covers my 2500sqft single level, and is working well with RMerlin FW.

 

[Tech9]

My GT-AX6000 easily covers my 2500sqft single level

Our matchstick houses here in North America are not the standard definition of residential building. Your GT-AX6000 may be good for a single room only in an European style house. I had a case with -40dBm on one side of the wall and -76dBm on the other. Walls made of YTONG aerated concrete blocks. They are very light, excellent thermal insulator, the construction process is fast and simple in any shape and form. They kill RF very efficiently too.

 

[anotherengineer]

I don't have a mansion/villa like that, but I do have a 2 story. My router is in the basement, well ceiling, I made a shelf below the joists (drop ceiling) so it's basically central to the house, and my old 68u (on balanced power) covers it all no issue, and that's mid-80s style with walls everywhere. If you have open floor plan shouldn't need much to get full coverage with 2.4ghz.

Perhaps before getting in too far, try an existing router or one (1) like you mentioned, and try to get it about center of the home as a trial to see how it works and go from there?