Advice on rebuilding home network

[adambean]

Hey all,

I'm currently using 3 Asus routers (GT-AC5300, RT-AC5300, AC66BU1) in an AiMesh setup and I just continue to fight random issues. In the past 6 months or so, I've played with Orbi, Eero, Velop and Lyro. One way or another, I just don't seem to be overly happy with any of these new mesh systems (typically due to range, feature/functionality limitations, wrong node connection or general hand-off issues).

Typically when we walk the house or go outside/inside, either hand-off doesn't occur and we have shirt signals, or hand-off occurs, and we have no connection. It's varied between system and such, but just doesn't feel like these mesh systems are working as planned.

At this point, I'm thinking (maybe) I need to start clean and not break the bank. Sell off my 3 Asus routers and buy something a bit more small business grade. I'm smart enough to be dangerous, but really have only focused on the consumer side of networking. I have some experience with UniFi, but not enough to truly know what I'm talking about.

Some house stats:
- ~3,500 sq ft
- 3 floors
- Wired Cat5e (or 6, don't remember) throughout all of house
- Have wired connections in basically every important area (including attic)
- We use WiFi outside (front and back)
- Roughly ~45 devices, half of which are on wireless
- The only devices that require hand-off are my wifes laptop (rare need) and our two cell phones (S8 and Note 8) - everything else is stationery.

I don't "really" have any needs of what I have to have. I like to be able to monitor by device (utilization, access, etc.), built-in protection (like Asus AI Protection is great), QoS a little bit (my VoiP phone, but not necessary), easily manage/maintain via web browser/app (former preferred), not be overly complex to manage/support.

Better aesthetics would be desirable (the 5300's are just monsters!). I can ceiling mount one AP in the middle of the second floor. First floor it would be sitting on a shelf. Basement (central termination) it would be wall mounted.

The reality is, the Asus AiMesh setup would be great, if it was more stable.

Anyway ... any advice?

Thanks!

 

[netwrks]

Since you have all the cabling in place, I would go with basic Access points, and I would go with the Unifi line up. Overall, it's really not that difficult to set up the access points. They also have outdoor AP's (UAP-AC-M's).

If you just want a basic wireless network in your home, with no guest network, the AP's can be set up with Unifi's phone app (ios or Android flavour) or pick up a Unifi cloud key. If required, you can run the controller on a windows or linux platform. Linux would be the better bet.

If one of those Asus routers you are running supports VLAN's use that as your router / DHCP Server (with its wifi disabled), connect the AP's to the router ports, or to a switch. Just remember, the unfi AP's require PoE, form either a PoE switch, or just the provided PoE power adapters that come with the AP's, until you are ready to further upgrade your network. You can do it piece meal, or in one shot. If you need to replace the router, consider the USG. It is more user friendly the Edgerouter / Edgemax line.

Most user set up issues are typically from incorrect power / channel management. (The custom TX power configuration is a great feature - one of many features). Once they are set up correctly, there should not be any major issues. You won't find yourself constantly resetting your AP's. They just run. I have five Unifi AP's at home, one outside, with a bunch of iDevices, Android, laptops, and no issues at all. Everything roams nicely with Unifi's default roaming enabled and no complaints yet.

If any issues are encountered, there is plenty of support on the unifi forum.

EDIT: Clarification. A router that supports VLAN's is only required if you want to get into using a guest wifi SSID, or other SSID's for different scenarios.

 

[Easy Rhino]

You know, I have a Galaxy S8, and the roaming is pretty terrible. It's very 'sticky'. There are some appps ('wifixer' is one) that monitor the RSSI and will roam to a new AP more aggressively. Something like that might work.

Also, if you have extensive overlap between two routers, you could try dropping the power on them, that will tend to encourage a roam.

 

[Luminair]

> random issues
> an AiMesh setup
> I've played with Orbi, Eero, Velop and Lyro
> Have wired connections in basically every important area

You're overthinking this! Meshes have no place here. They're just for when you can't run a wire and don't have a power outlet that works with powerline ethernet. Tim would say you should directly wire as few APs as necessary (probably 2 here) and call it a day.

Let's say you have a small front yard and a big back yard. You put one AP on a back wall on the top floor, so it blasts your whole back yard and most of the house. You find that reception isn't good enough in the basement or the front yard, so you put one more AP right at the front of the house on the main floor. You test everywhere and it works, so you're done. Just make the 2.4ghz bands separate (channels 1, 6, or 11).

> buy something a bit more small business grade

That's not necessary and it won't help your problem. The business stuff is for blending into office ceilings and being managed from one tool. Two APs are just two tools, or three tools if you use a main router between them and the cable modem.

The best router here ( https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/rankers/router/view ) and in the open source router software communities ( https://forum.lede-project.org/t/whats-your-favorite-enthusiast-lede-openwrt-device/4477 and https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=289788 ) is R7800. Just by luck it ended up being extremely reliable and high-performance, a rare thing for routers! So if you ran two of those I think you'd be fine.

The AC5300 you already have is not known for their reliability. The latest firmware is 2018/07/10 and it says "- Fixed bugs. - Improved system stability." which is not super inspiring for a production device.

Whether you get new routers or reuse the old ones, just getting rid of the mesh stuff will improve your reliability. Also note that the mobile devices decide when to roam, so weird roaming behavior is sometimes not the network's fault.

Summary: Put one router on the back wall, another on the front wall and a different floor. Hide them behind curtains or something. Either make them both APs and connect them to a router, or make one the AP and use the other as a router which then connects to the modem. Done!