Best 600m2 3 floor mesh system for good coverage

[Maanu1131]

Hello guys ! I m looking to upgrade my Asus RT-AX92U mesh system ( 2 pcs ) to something that can cover all the space . I m not sure if there is something which would be significantly better in terms of coverage than what i currently have . The actual system works pretty good , i have 1 Gbps fiber and i can pull around 700 mbps through the 5 ghz network but it s coverage it s pretty weak . Was thinking that maybe in the next years i ll upgrade to 2.5 gbps if it becomes available in my area but i feel that 1gbps it s more than enough for now . There will be around 20-25 devices connected maximum and the thing i m craving most it s stability as i ve encountered a lot of problems with those firmware updates of the ax92u. . Saw a lot of reviews who are praising those NetGear Orbi's , are they worth it over my current setup ? Thanks a lot !

 

[degrub]

Switch to a SMB grade system instead of consumer if you want stability. Many threads in this subforum about this and suggested brands.

 

[Maanu1131]

Thanks a lot for the recommendation ! Would 2 pcs of Ubiquiti U7 Pro Max fit better ? I saw that Ubiquiti is more used in that enterprise area but i m not sure if i should place the order on 2 U7 Pro Max if their coverage would be drastically better and also if they are plug and play like the RT-AX92U is . I m kinda a newbie when it comes to networking skills . Thanks again !

 

[Tech9]

I m kinda a newbie when it comes to networking skills

Option 1: Stick to AiMesh, Orbi, Deco and it is what it is. Option 2: Pay someone to plan and install SMB system for you professionally.

 

[Tech9]

By the way,,, m2, Europe? You perhaps need minimum 4x access points, nodes, satellites, pods, etc. whatever your manufacturer of choice calls them. And better be wired.

 

[tgl]

You should not expect that brand X APs will have noticeably better coverage than brand Y APs. The limiting factors here are the laws of physics and the regulatory limits on transmit power, and those are the same for everybody. What you need if you have coverage problems is more APs.

I concur with the recommendation to look into SMB-oriented gear, because consumer "mesh" systems are not really meant for more than about two to three APs. They will happily sell you more of course, but you are paying through the nose for it because typically each unit is a full-on router plus wireless AP, with a CPU beefy enough to run a web GUI for administration as well. You only need one router and one administration point (possibly the same as the router). SMB systems are designed around those plus a bunch of nodes that do only the tasks of an access point. An SMB GUI is also likely to be more helpful for tuning transmit power levels, channel choices, and so on, which is an area you really have to deal with if you want decent performance out of a multi-AP system.

The downside though is that SMB vendors tend to assume their users are people who already know what they're doing. I'm currently using Ubiquiti gear, and I like it, but I can see that it'd be a bit of a steep learning curve for someone with little networking experience. The company's own documentation is minimal as can be, although they do have a community web forum that is full of helpful people. I'm not sure if any other brands are markedly better on that score.

I do recommend staying away from Orbi. I had a set of those about two years ago. I recall the web GUI as being clunky and not very configurable --- eg, IIRC there was no way to put the satellite APs on a different wifi channel than the primary, not that I knew then that that would be a good idea. I gave up on them the morning that I awoke to find a forced firmware update had bricked the primary router (this despite having auto updates turned off).

 

[tiddlywink]

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