92U Mesh - Turn off wifi on main unit?

[Arsenalfc74]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a 92u twin pack with the intention of using in a wired backhaul mesh setup. The issue I have is that whilst my house is fibre to property and pre-wired with ethernet, the wiring is all in an under the stairs cupboard which is not the best place to put any wireless router.

For the wired backhaul to work though the main unit has to be in the cupboard to feed the ethernet throughout the house. I am happy to purchase a 3rd unit if needed to make this work but have the following question as I cannot find the answer myself:

Is it possible to switch off wifi on the main unit in the mesh setup? e.g. have main unit in the cupboard with wifi off that then feeds 2 other mesh nodes elsewhere on the wired network

My house has metal stud walls so I do not think wireless mesh will work. If the above is not possible then powerline would be an option too although I am not sure if that will be any better than wireless backhaul?

For background, my house is not huge (circa 1200 sq ft) but is new build and has metal stuid walls that seems to affect the signal. I have a Netgear AX8, it covers the house ok but I am seeing a drop-off in signal in speed upstairs that I would not expect for the size of house and quality of the single router that I do have.

Thanks

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hello all,

I recently purchased a 92u twin pack with the intention of using in a wired backhaul mesh setup. The issue I have is that whilst my house is fibre to property and pre-wired with ethernet, the wiring is all in an under the stairs cupboard which is not the best place to put any wireless router.

For the wired backhaul to work though the main unit has to be in the cupboard to feed the ethernet throughout the house. I am happy to purchase a 3rd unit if needed to make this work but have the following question as I cannot find the answer myself:

Is it possible to switch off wifi on the main unit in the mesh setup? e.g. have main unit in the cupboard with wifi off that then feeds 2 other mesh nodes elsewhere on the wired network

My house has metal stud walls so I do not think wireless mesh will work. If the above is not possible then powerline would be an option too although I am not sure if that will be any better than wireless backhaul?

For background, my house is not huge (circa 1200 sq ft) but is new build and has metal stuid walls that seems to affect the signal. I have a Netgear AX8, it covers the house ok but I am seeing a drop-off in signal in speed upstairs that I would not expect for the size of house and quality of the single router that I do have.

Thanks

Is the ISP fiber/Ethernet WAN connection also in the cupboard?

I don't think you can disable the AiMesh router WiFi, even if using a wired backhaul. You would have to try it to be sure.

OE

 

[Arsenalfc74]

Yeah, everything is in the cupboard. Not useful!

 

[OzarkEdge]

Yeah, everything is in the cupboard. Not useful!

If two Ethernet cables at large are reasonably close, could you run the WAN out on one to the router and a LAN back to a switch in the cupboard? You have probably already ruled this out.

I think I'd try a wireless AiMesh, one up, one down, before I'd bury one in the cupboard or use powerline or buy a third node. May need to spread the two out to reduce the WiFi overlap to aid roaming. Wire the router/root node to a switch in the cupboard... if you can.

OE

 

[Arsenalfc74]

Yes it is not practical to run it. The only thing I could do is drill a hole and wall mount the 92U outside the cupboard. It is really frustrating to have a hard-wired house and for it to be of zero use for wired backhaul! I did try the first unit in the cupboard and worryingly despite a weaker connection speed and signal dBm my clients more often than not chose to connect to it.

Starting to think that returning the 92U and going with a single unit, something like a Netgear RAX120 or Asus GT11000 may be a better option now.

Thanks, appreciate the responses...

 

[OzarkEdge]

Yes it is not practical to run it. The only thing I could do is drill a hole and wall mount the 92U outside the cupboard. It is really frustrating to have a hard-wired house and for it to be of zero use for wired backhaul! I did try the first unit in the cupboard and worryingly despite a weaker connection speed and signal dBm my clients more often than not chose to connect to it.

Starting to think that returning the 92U and going with a single unit, something like a Netgear RAX120 or Asus GT11000 may be a better option now.

Thanks, appreciate the responses...

Given the wired house issue... which seems to be a common problem... can you try your existing Netgear router in the cupboard with its WiFi disabled, and deploy your two 92Us in wireless AiMesh AP Mode with the root node 92U wired to the Netgear router.

Another idea... move the ISP service out of the cupboard to the end of one of the Ethernet cables... and put your mesh router there, wired to a switch in the cupboard.

One router can serve 1200 sq ft, but two spread out might better serve and cover perimeter/exterior areas.

OE