Mesh system vs AiMesh AP mode vs AiMesh router mode

[nlsquare]

Hello, my friend recently bought a 2 floors house with a basement. There isn't any existing in-wall network, there's only the singular fiber line in on the main floor. He would like to have his, and his wife's, PCs in their office on the second floor. He would be subscribing to a 500mbps internet connection for now.

At first, we thought about using a mesh system, wireless backhaul and then connect a simple switch to a mesh node in the office upstairs. After looking at a few websites and forums... it seems like the speed will be limited to 350mbps max coming out of the node's Lan port. Some sources said that AiMesh from Asus is faster than other mesh systems? And there were also discussion that AiMesh router mode is faster than AP mode?

What would be the best, without breaking the bank, solution for him? I have already stated that the best way would just be drilling holes to run an ethernet cable up to the office. Especially considering if he ever upgrade to a gigabit connection in the future. Thank you for your help

 

[degrub]

drill the holes = one to the basement, one to the upstairs.
keep main router where it is and add two APs.
TPlink Omada is a decent inexpensive system. Or CISCO 150 APs

is there no coax in the house ?
You could use moca if there is rg-59 or rg6 coax and a 2 or 3 moca modems.

many times alarm installers are good at finding a way to route cables without making a mess. relatively inexpensive.

Make sure you know where the APs need to go to get good coverage and not interfere with each other or the main wireless router before you drill holes and run cables.

 

[nlsquare]

drill the holes = one to the basement, one to the upstairs.
keep main router where it is and add two APs.
TPlink Omada is a decent inexpensive system. Or CISCO 150 APs

is there no coax in the house ?
You could use moca if there is rg-59 or rg6 coax and a 2 or 3 moca modems.

many times alarm installers are good at finding a way to route cables without making a mess. relatively inexpensive.

Make sure you know where the APs need to go to get good coverage and not interfere with each other or the main wireless router before you drill holes and run cables.

Yeah I don't see any coax laying around, only a fiber coil in a corner on the main floor. I'm trying to figure out another solution so that drilling holes in his new house is a last option... even though it's the best option haha.

 

[drinkingbird]

Yeah I don't see any coax laying around, only a fiber coil in a corner on the main floor. I'm trying to figure out another solution so that drilling holes in his new house is a last option... even though it's the best option haha.

Sometimes you can fish a wire via the attic down along a chimney or pipe to the basement and drop it into the top and bottom floors but that may be more than you want to do.

Wireless backhaul could theoretically get you over a gig, but it is highly dependent on distance/obstructions/signal. But with the right placement you could probably get near or even exceed the 500M. However that would be if you used two Asus routers with a second 5Ghz radio for backhaul. If you use the same 5ghz that your devices are using that can limit your speed (unless the devices are all wired, then you can get full speed out of the 5ghz backhaul).

Repeaters cut your speed in half, and wireless backhaul sharing the same radio as clients is essentially just a repeater. But the dedicated radio (or if you use the single 5ghz for backhaul only and wire your devices) it should be able to get full speed.

In a way, dedicated wireless backhaul is like an ethernet bridge (or media bridge mode as asus calls it). No repeater penalty, but you can't use that radio for clients. Most brands support ethernet bridge mode and can get full speed that way.

Running an outdoor rated ethernet on the outside of the building is an option, that's what the installers often do, but a lot of homeowners are opposed to doing that. Done right, it can be hidden behind a gutter downspout and not lead to any issues.

If hardwire is not in consideration at all, you may want to consider using a directional wireless point to point setup from the fiber provider's box to the router upstairs. A pair of Ubiquiti Nanostation 5AC Locos and the power injectors they need will run about $130, that serves as a dedicated "virtual hardwire" link for your WAN port down to the ISP fiber ONT box. A bit of toying with the placement of the two antennas can get you pretty good results, better than two routers with omni antennas in many cases. Other companies make similar units, TP Link, TrentNET, various generic brands on amazon, etc. But the Ubiquiti units are pretty tried and true. They are only 2-stream AC so best case 600 megs or so, in reality passing through floor probably 300-500 (no way to say until you try it and fiddle with the aiming of the two units). I'm not sure if anyone has an AX point to point setup yet, definitely not in that price range.

If you're just trying to get from the main floor to the 2nd floor and the floor isn't made of concrete or metal or anything crazy, you may very well be able to get 500 or close to it out of the point to point setups. Two Asus routers with 5ghz-2 radio should almost definitely be able to do that, especially with some trial and error of placement of the units and antennas. Actually, the unit on the main floor, if not going to be used for clients and will only be there to feed the router upstairs, could probably get away with a lower end unit with just one 5ghz radio. In fact if the ISP includes a router, you can use the 5ghz on that to feed the upstairs Asus unit potentially. I'm not sure with the dual 5ghz ones if you can set it in AP or repeater mode and tell it to use 5ghz-2 for dedicated backhaul, I would think so, but never tried.

 

[L&LD]

Run the wires. Do not run just the wires you need today (run at least two, I prefer to run 4 cables when possible. The labor cost is the same, and the wire is inexpensive, but the results will give you options far into the future).

Ideally, I would run 4 or more cables to the main floor and situation the main router there. Less (routers/nodes) always gives better performance, as long as the coverage/range is acceptable.

I would get a few long cables and test where the optimum locations will be. If wired nodes are needed, remember you don't want the main router in the center either.

AiMesh Ideal Placement


You may also consider using Media Bridge mode for your wired-capable office PCs too. That will not require any cable runs and will give a much better and more stable WiFi experience for all the other wireless devices you have too.

Media Bridge Mode

 

[nlsquare]

Sometimes you can fish a wire via the attic down along a chimney or pipe to the basement and drop it into the top and bottom floors but that may be more than you want to do.

Wireless backhaul could theoretically get you over a gig, but it is highly dependent on distance/obstructions/signal. But with the right placement you could probably get near or even exceed the 500M. However that would be if you used two Asus routers with a second 5Ghz radio for backhaul. If you use the same 5ghz that your devices are using that can limit your speed (unless the devices are all wired, then you can get full speed out of the 5ghz backhaul).

If you're just trying to get from the main floor to the 2nd floor and the floor isn't made of concrete or metal or anything crazy, you may very well be able to get 500 or close to it out of the point to point setups. Two Asus routers with 5ghz-2 radio should almost definitely be able to do that, especially with some trial and error of placement of the units and antennas. Actually, the unit on the main floor, if not going to be used for clients and will only be there to feed the router upstairs, could probably get away with a lower end unit with just one 5ghz radio. In fact if the ISP includes a router, you can use the 5ghz on that to feed the upstairs Asus unit potentially. I'm not sure with the dual 5ghz ones if you can set it in AP or repeater mode and tell it to use 5ghz-2 for dedicated backhaul, I would think so, but never tried.

So with that in mind, if I were to use a tri-band mesh system like the TP-Link Deco XE75 (AXE5400)... it would use the 6ghz as wireless backhaul and should theoretically have better speed. From the configuration of his house, 1 would be at the corner of the main floor, the other would be in the middle of the house on the same side so the distance between them should be within optimum range. That should, in theory, be able to push past 350mbps?

Run the wires. Do not run just the wires you need today (run at least two, I prefer to run 4 cables when possible. The labor cost is the same, and the wire is inexpensive, but the results will give you options far into the future).

Ideally, I would run 4 or more cables to the main floor and situation the main router there. Less (routers/nodes) always gives better performance, as long as the coverage/range is acceptable.

I would get a few long cables and test where the optimum locations will be. If wired nodes are needed, remember you don't want the main router in the center either.

AiMesh Ideal Placement


You may also consider using Media Bridge mode for your wired-capable office PCs too. That will not require any cable runs and will give a much better and more stable WiFi experience for all the other wireless devices you have too.

Media Bridge Mode

Media Bridge mode is different from regular Bridge mode? looking it up seems to indicate primarily Asus routers having Media Bridge mode?

 

[drinkingbird]

So with that in mind, if I were to use a tri-band mesh system like the TP-Link Deco XE75 (AXE5400)... it would use the 6ghz as wireless backhaul and should theoretically have better speed. From the configuration of his house, 1 would be at the corner of the main floor, the other would be in the middle of the house on the same side so the distance between them should be within optimum range. That should, in theory, be able to push past 350mbps?




Media Bridge mode is different from regular Bridge mode? looking it up seems to indicate primarily Asus routers having Media Bridge mode?

Unfortunately no way to say for sure. 6ghz has an even harder time than 5ghz penetrating walls and floors, but it isn't actually that much higher in the frequency spectrum, and along with its higher throughput ability and less congestion on the band, may give very good throughput. Obviously the TP-LInk would need to support a mesh or wireless bridge mode using the 6ghz radio so just confirm it can do that (don't see why not but they may be reserving that band for 6e clients or something). The fact that the routers won't be directly above/below is good, and you'll want to play with antenna placement, at least two antennas should be at opposing 45 degree angles on both routers in order to give good signal between the two floors (and even on the same floor it helps).

Media Bridge is just what Asus calls wireless bridge, same thing. The limitation of bridge mode is that device cannot serve wireless clients, its wireless radio is dedicated for backhaul. Wired clients can be connected (one of which could be an AP/router to serve wireless clients). But the tri-band setup (either dual 5ghz or 5ghz and 6ghz) is probably cleaner and easier.