Resolving WIFI backspots

[Amit GC]

Hi

I have a large hours and my cable connection (ISP Hub in bridge mode) and wifi (Linksys EA8500 ) comes into the study that is the corner of the ground floor, most of the bedrooms have a Ethernet (Cat 5e) connection and I have a Netgear WAC-104 repeater in the bedroom (connected to Ethernet).

Key issues
A. We use a range of devices (PS4, 5 iphones, 4 Win 10 laptops, 4 Smart TVs, Ring Video Camera's, Alexa, Apple TV and more Home Automation on the horizon...) but performance of WIFI is always a problem, particularly in the corner rooms of the house and bedroom.

B. I use Skype for Business frequently and constantly find the connection drops, the problem appears to be my Linksys EA8500

C. We have children in the house so are keen to ensure any solution has the ability for parental controls on web access

D. Devices do not travel between the Linksys and Netgear WIFI points well, I have tried to put them into bridge / repeater modes but may not have done so optimally

Having spent some time today looking at mesh networks I wanted to ask some advise on what the best approach should be.

Questions

1. With the Skype issues and my current Linksys is it better to install a new WIFI mesh rather than buying an extender like the Netgear Ex7500

2. What device /system would you recommend
- I have looked at Amplifi HD (like the size) but it does not support MU-MIMO. Am looking to future proof and want guidance on how important this technology should be

- Netgear Orbi / Linksys Velop also have positive reviews and have good feature sets

3. Would any solution impact the MESH network my Satellite TV provider hardware (Sky Q) creates?

Open to all options, thanks for the expertise.

 

[thiggins]

1. With the Skype issues and my current Linksys is it better to install a new WIFI mesh rather than buying an extender like the Netgear Ex7500

If your Skype problem is due to your current main router, then adding an extender isn't going to fix it.

2. What device /system would you recommend
- I have looked at Amplifi HD (like the size) but it does not support MU-MIMO. Am looking to future proof and want guidance on how important this technology should be

- Netgear Orbi / Linksys Velop also have positive reviews and have good feature sets

MU-MIMO is the last thing you should worry about, at least for 802.11ac. The industry will try again with 802.11ax, but then you'll also need 802.11ax devices. So we go around the merry-go-round again.

Add eero Gen 2 also to your possible list

3. Would any solution impact the MESH network my Satellite TV provider hardware (Sky Q) creates?

My quick duckduckgo says Sky Q uses Wi-Fi. So it will be yet another interfering network.