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Help Decide Mesh/Router Upgrade for Large House with Many devices (40+)

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Nads

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I currently own and have been using an ASUS DSL-AC68U for many years now with TalkTalk Fibre Optic 64mb line.

Most of the time this has worked fine for us, however we have a large house with 3 floors, mostly only require internet on the first 2 floors though and a bit in the back garden for Ring Floodlight Cam and also some signal in the front garden area as that is where the Ring pro is and also my Tesla Model 3 is parked, and i usually need a wifi signal to get a software update at times.

Anyhow most of the time all this works fine, apart from some times the internet browsing just really slows down especially for mobile phones, and also Ring Pro is constantly having issues and always very flaky which is quite weird as the Router is currently sitting in the passage which is like 10 feet from the front door of where the Ring is.

I have viewed devices etc on the router, and we have about 35-40 devices connected at any one time running, sometimes more. I think these are only the wireless ones, there is probably also at least another 10-12 wired ones.

I have quite a few things connected via LAN including a big NAS server with 20TB. Although i don't think that is the cause of any slow down. Apart from this we generally stream 4k content and play online games etc.. Just standard stuff and no im not using any VPN even though i do have a NordVPN account, the NAS would also sometimes torrent some stuff too.

Im thinking that this router device we have is not meant to be run with so many devices, maybe 30 max, but we are going over this limit, maybe thats why sometimes its having issues?

Right now black friday sale is on and im looking for an alternative router, some are crazy expensive have wifi 6 but cost like £300+ and im not sure if they are worth it.

I found this device NETGEAR Nighthawk X6S Smart Wi-Fi Router (R8000P) - AC4000 which is about £150 currently on sale, and can support up to 55 devices it says, it also says that it can run 2 x 5ghz and 1 x 2.4ghz channels, currently on my ASUS im running 1 of each.

So my question is what do you guys recommend? If i buy the above netgear, do you think that would handle the number of devices better in my house? I don't seem to have many signal problems in my house even with the current router, but i think the Netgear will probably even improve that with its 6 antennas.

Or would you suggest that i buy something else completely rather then this Netgear?


UPDATE: So ive just come across Mesh Networks which i had no idea about, ive seen and liked the look of Google Nest Wifi, Eero, Ubliqiti Amplify plus a few others such as TP-Link Deco M9, Orbi etc...

Im really shifting towards just buying the Nest Wifi, because it just looks so nice and easy to use and getting 3 of these units around the house. It looks simple and something that i won't have to waste my time on, i can just set it up and forget about it. Which is what i would really like as i don't have a lot of spare time.

However, i have a few questions, because im using Synology NAS, this requires port forwarding etc,, can i set this up on the nest wifi? Also How about VPN? If for example suddenly my ISP blocks any torrents or anything else for that matter(or i switch to another ISP that has strict rules), and my NAS can not download anymore, can i setup a VPN on the Google Nest to use that to continue downloading?

Please tell me what you would recommend to me? I like the simple setup for the mesh networks which is why my focus has almost shifted to them.
 
Did I read that correctly, you have only 64mbps Download speed service from your provider? No wonder why things slow down to a crawl. Your available bandwidth cannot support your use.

There are no Networking product out there that will solve that. Those speeds are not Fiber, they are DSL. It is not the number of devices on your network that is the problem. It is what you are doing that is using up your available Upstream and Downstream bandwidth that is the problem.
 
Did I read that correctly,
No you didn't read it right. 64 MB = 512 Mbps

The OP has enough bandwidth so a better system will help.
 
It’s with TalkTalk and the max speeds they go up to is about 65-70mbps which is on the fiber optic speeds. Which is surely more then enough? We only used to get around 20mbps in this country a few years back

Anyway, I’ve now actually just ordered the fastest Sky fiber optic package which is itself around 100-200mbps, and also it comes with there skyQ router.

So now all that I’m thinking is to get a mesh system to use in conjunction with the sky router? Should I just buy the google nest WiFi and that should be able to connect to my sky router etc... or should I get something else. I’m going to order today as it’s Black Friday so need urgent input please!
 
are you writing Megabits / sec or MegaBytes /sec ?
If the latter, common usage is as MB/s.

a very big difference for tracking down your issue as the above discussion indicates.
 
are you writing Megabits / sec or MegaBytes /sec ?
If the latter, common usage is as MB/s.

a very big difference for tracking down your issue as the above discussion indicates.

I’m not to sure to be honest, it’s whatever the companies use to advertise there services. They all show the same units just different speeds. I think it’s most likely mb/s.
 
Guys I need to order today, so any urgent help would be greatly appreciated. At the moment since I’m getting the skyQ router I’m thinking of just getting the Eero to add on to this or the google nest WiFi. Although still unsure which would work better in my situation.
 
I think you are approaching small bus territory with your requirements. I think a couple of Cisco WAP581 wireless APs Ethernet backhaul will work and give you plenty of growing room. I recommend the Cisco RV340 router to run them. You should be able to isolate your Iot devices from the rest of the network with this setup.

One WAP581 will carry the load but because you specified a large house 2 is better.
 
I think you are approaching small bus territory with your requirements. I think a couple of Cisco WAP581 wireless APs Ethernet backhaul will work and give you plenty of growing room. I recommend the Cisco RV340 router to run them. You should be able to isolate your Iot devices from the rest of the network with this setup.

One WAP581 will carry the load but because you specified a large house 2 is better.

hmm, it just looks too complicated for me, im not a network expert and i just don't have the time either to be messing around with none plug and play devices, which is why the eero and nest systems feel much more appealing to me. Ofcourse they won't be as customisable, but as long as they get the job done without much hassle then that would be a big win right? or am i unlikely able to benefit from one of these mesh systems?
 
The Cisco WAP581 is pretty simple to setup as you have a wizard which does it. Multiples are simple also.

I think T1 speeds are going to be a problem for that many devices.
 
Guys I need to order today, so any urgent help would be greatly appreciated. At the moment since I’m getting the skyQ router I’m thinking of just getting the Eero to add on to this or the google nest WiFi. Although still unsure which would work better in my situation.
100 to 200 mbps is not Fiber Optic Speeds. With what you have going on on your network, those low speed packages are not fast enough to handle the bandwidth that you are using. Even a Mesh network is not going to fix your bandwidth issue.
 
If you only have T1 speeds then you barely have enough bandwidth for your mobile phones. Turn everything else off and use mobile phone APPs.
 
I think you guys are getting confused, probably my fault. Im not sure what T1 speeds are but yes talk talk offer 68mb which is there fastest line. I have now switched to sky's fastest fibre optic package available which promises 100mb minimum but up to 150mb. Please see screenshot, these should definitely be enough bandwidth for all my devices.

Screenshot 2019-11-29 at 14.46.07.png
 
that promise is for the first 30 days according to their website. So as they add users or share their total bandwidth with your neighbors, it may go down. Or not. Who knows.

You need to work on your wifi physical distribution to solve those "connectivity" and "speed" issues.
If you have gigabit ethernet to the right spots in your house, either several APs or mesh using the wired backhaul connection can work. Key is getting the APs / mesh in the right locations. Trial and error testing for consumer installs.

You may not need a wireless router if you use the AP or Mesh approach. Just a good wired only router. You can turn off the radios in that AC router you picked.
 
that promise is for the first 30 days according to their website. So as they add users or share their total bandwidth with your neighbors, it may go down. Or not. Who knows.

You need to work on your wifi physical distribution to solve those "connectivity" and "speed" issues.
If you have gigabit ethernet to the right spots in your house, either several APs or mesh using the wired backhaul connection can work. Key is getting the APs / mesh in the right locations. Trial and error testing for consumer installs.

You may not need a wireless router if you use the AP or Mesh approach. Just a good wired only router. You can turn off the radios in that AC router you picked.

Yes i understand its all a bit trial and error but if you think a mesh approach would work, which one would you suggest out of Google Nest Wifi and Eero Pro? Those are the two im kind of liking the best at present. Eero pro is not an issue because i can order from amazon and if it doesn't work as intended after my sky broadband is installed then i can just send back to amazon for a refund. The issue is with Google Nest Wifi, i was thinking of buying that from Argos with the current black friday offers/deals they have on going today, but the problem with Argos is that if i open the box and try it then i don't think Argos would take the product back.
 
then i would go with Amazon or other supplier that you have confirmed will. Be sure to check who is supplying the gear as the return policies vary.

Mesh has been oversold a bit, but it can work. Wired backhaul or excellent dedicated radio wifi connection is required. Wired is preferred as there are many environmental conditions that will degrade the wireless backhaul.

Personally, i use Cisco SMB equipment - RV320 + 2 AP371 on a two story wood constructed house typical in the US. i have good 2.4 GHz wifi 20-30 feet outside the house and some 5GHz band closer in. Configuration is not easy, but it is straightforward. And there are wizards you can use for the basic setups. Plus you have folks like coxhaus here that are pros. Same goes several other brands here as well.

if you don't have the time to learn, then stick with the more "no configuration required" marketed systems. There is a penalty though without the ability to work the details.
 
Cool thank you, Netgear Orbi AC3000 also looks nice but they have a massive footprint and also the specs just says it can support 25+ devices which doesn't give me much hope, there newer device releasing in a few days with Wifi 6 has support for 60+ devices but then that is priced at £780 which is ridiculous! So i think the Amazon Eero sounds the best for me. I have ethernets going to the rooms where i want to install the Access Points, so that should be fine for me to wire the Eeros up.
 

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