Wired home - Orbi vs. Router + ?

[adambean]

(tl;dr, mesh or traditional in a wire house?)

Hey all,

When I moved into my house, I made sure we ran ethernet to all rooms. It's a 2,400 sq foot home, minus the basement (which is ... 1,200 I believe).

I've had a few different setups through the years between dual routers, router + ap, router + repeater and just a really expensive router. Sadly, to date, I seem to one way or another, have issues.

Currently, I am running an Asus AC5300 and it covers most of the house and parts of the outside relatively well. As of late, I seem to continually have issues adding new devices (4 in the past week), in that they simply won't connect. This issue may unrelated all together, but, I do want/need better WiFi on 1st and 2nd floors. Recently started playing with baby monitors due to newborn, and solid WiFi is a must right now. I have issues getting a solid connection to 5ghz when on 2nd floor and outside. Streaming videos over WiFi is a hit or miss ... sometimes great, other times awful. This is why I largely rely on everything being wired.

Reality is, just ... frustrated with several failed routers through the years. They've all been Asus, perhaps that's my core issue. Or, I'm just stupid and missing something all together.

Anyway, I just started looking into these new mesh networks and they appear to be very appealing on paper. Quite a few competitors and right now appears Orbi is the best option. Yet, being that I do have ethernet run to pretty much every room, is this a dumb investment? Should I be looking at a different option?

I just pulled the trigger on the Netgear RBK50 + RBS50. It won't be here until next week as they're Warehouse Deals, so I have some time to cancel if this isn't the best choice. Being that I have less than 4k square foot, do I really need that third satellite? I figured, better safe than sorry ... or is that just dumb? Will try without the third on setup to determine if needed.

One last note, we are planning to move in a couple years. No idea if it'll be a new home or not and if the later, what options will exist to run lines. Hard to take that into consideration given the unknown, but part of me does say it leans a little towards the Orbi.

Any feedback is most welcome.

Thanks

 

[netwrks]

The Orbi system is not a meshed system. If you have Ethernet throughout your house, then it would make more sense to use wired Access Points, as that is the best solution. AP options.. there are a few on this site. My preference is Unifi AP's. They have various price points, depending on your requirements.

 

[adambean]

Historically I tried using dual AC66u's, one as router, one as access point. Perhaps issues with the routers, perhaps an Asus issue all together, but did not have great success. Between poor hand-offs and what generally felt like always being on the wrong router, I just didn't have great results. This current router, while relatively good, just feels like a constant fight. I just tried connecting a brand new Wemo smart plug, logitech harmony hub and an iBaby monitor ... none work. Yet, If I use my phone as a hot spot or my dedicated MiFi ... all devices work without issue. So appears to potentially be a Router issue. One way or another, I think I need to be done with Asus routers.

Familiar with Ubiquiti; however, do not want to ceiling mount as I don't want to redo any cabling. Still, it does beg the question. Should I turn off WiFi on my AC5300 and simply connect an AP on the first or second floor and have that broadcast - vs. using the Orbi or one of the new systems?

I see that now that Orbi isn't Mesh - "Ignore Netgear’s advertising: Its Orbi Wi-Fi router is not a mesh network system. Orbi satellites don’t communicate with each other; they send and receive data to and from the Orbi router only. In networking parlance, that is a hub-and-spoke system, not a mesh."

So in essence, isn't Orbi just a router + AP's? Can you hardwire them together or can the satellites only be wireless connected?

 

[thiggins]

Can you hardwire them together or can the satellites only be wireless connected?

Orbi does not support using Ethernet to connect router and satellite.

 

[adambean]

Thanks. I'm definitely open to any suggestions.

I just went to Costco and snagged the Orbi. Overall, it's been a mess. Upgraded firmware, that caused all kinds of issues (well known after I found out) and post downgrading, the whole system is now inaccessible. May go try and swap ... but not a strong sign.

 

[pege63]

I would but a EdgeRouter X SFP and 2 UniFi AP AC PRO

 

[adambean]

I returned the Orbi for a multitude of reasons and picked up the gen 2 eero. It's very limiting overall, but it does get the job done. Unsure yet If I'll keep. I'm really thinking I should just suck it up and put some Unifi AP's in place. The beauty of the eero is its simplicity, yet I can't help but feel ... well, limited.

If I did go the route of some UniFI AP's (probably just start with one?), what's the best course of action?
- Do I replace the router? I have the Asus AC5300 ... pretty heavy duty consumer router.
- If I don't replace the router, do I disable it's WiFi broadcast? Historically I had issues using dual routers, one as an AP (it was an Asus, so it had a built-in mode of being an AP, didn't have to configure)
- What else do I need for a UniFI solution? There's a gateway, a key, switches, etc. Do I need any of it?
- Which UniFI AP(s) should I use?
- If I go with a PoE AP, does PoE carry over keystones? In that, all my termination is to a central location in my basement. I then run cables throughout the host, hitting wall-plates. If at the source in my basement I have a PoE switch, will that carry through or do I need an injector?

Thanks

 

[sfx2000]

Orbi does not support using Ethernet to connect router and satellite.

I thought I saw in another thread that they were either planning to, or in a post-lauch SW release, they might have supported ethernet backhaul...

 

[adambean]

They say the ethernet backhaul is in their plans, but no ETA.

 

[thiggins]

"Plans" are one thing, doing is another.

Connecting Orbi via Ethernet backhaul is a big waste of $. You're paying a lot for those 4x4 backhaul radios and essentially throwing it away.

Big price to pay for a 2x2 AP.....

 

[adambean]

I ordered a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-LR, will be here tomorrow. Figured I'll take that for a spin and learn how to continue to expand into the UniFi world as it appears there are many better options that exist in that arena.

Unsure yet If I need any other devices. I think for the short term, I do not, but open to feedback.

Thanks

 

[adambean]

If I'm going to have a UAP-AC-LR in the middle of the house, on the 2nd floor, do you think there's value in putting the In-Wall (http://amzn.com/B06XZLP8Q6) on the first floor?

 

[adambean]

One more question for now, is there much value in ditching my AC5300 in favor of the UniFi SG + Switch? Just debating If I should go all in at this point ...

 

[tannebil]

What do you find so limiting about the eeros?

What kind of cabling do you have? Are they all cabled from the location of your router?

 

[adambean]

What do you find so limiting about the eeros?

What kind of cabling do you have? Are they all cabled from the location of your router?

Well, the $500 price tag was a bit much. For what it did, the eero was pretty fantastic. Super easy to setup and maintain. Yet, it just lacks most advanced functionality (that reality is, I don't 'need'), like QoS, VPN, mobile only management, no real utilization data, no logging, poor decisions on connectivity, range isn't as good as you'd hope, etc. It's truly awesome for houses that lack proper cabling and/or knowledge.

Yeah, I have dual coax and ethernet runs to every single room in the house. When I bought the house, I had to redo the basement, so I promptly ran cabling before finishing the basement ceiling with drywall (which I now really regret). So anyway, I left an ethernet run to my attic, which I just setup for a PoE UniFi AP. Worked quite well, but the AP is ... underwhelming. Not a huge gain over my basement router, minus a couple key areas. So it did the job, but now I'm going to try using those second coax runs to use WiFI over Coax (basically extend my router antennas) to compare which is better as this new option is silly cheap.