okay...don’t know where to post this...but please weigh in. I need the most reliable Wifi mesh type of network. I need to set up something at my parents house tomorrow? I have google WiFi at my house...the three pack and it is great but it is about a year old. Is there a better option now? They don’t need bells and whistles but they need WiFi calling at home bc they live in a part of a major city where there cell reception stinks. They have a home phone but their AirPort Extreme just doesn’t work well enough to use their cell phones at home. Their microcell died and att won’t replace it. They have parts of the house their AirPort Extreme just doesn’t cover.
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Best mesh wifi
- Thread starter tl01
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Impossible to say without knowing how big the house is, what the layout looks like, any unusual obstacles (e.g. brick walls inside, furnace or other large masses of metal in awkward places, etc).
Lacking any data, I'd agree with Fishrrman, get a Velop or Orbi as both are pretty flexible (more so than the Google mesh) and I think less expensive than Ubiquiti or eero.
Lacking any data, I'd agree with Fishrrman, get a Velop or Orbi as both are pretty flexible (more so than the Google mesh) and I think less expensive than Ubiquiti or eero.
Well, since they are not advanced users...I just decided to keep it simple and do google WiFi. I like the app and can check their status from my phone. I read about all the options last night and just felt like the extra cost of the others wasn’t going to benefit them. They just want to use WiFi calling and their iPads and computers.
The google WiFi app was terrible on my mom’s X. It was hanging up on each step. Even once it was done it wouldn’t acknowledge the set up was done. I logged in on another device and could see all looked good. So I deleted the app and redownloaded it. My dad was totally against the upgrade bc he hates any tech change and anything new. Lol. He was insistent nothing could work better and that this new option would radiate him more. That whole app issue gave him plenty of fodder to prove I was making a bad choice.
Anyway, once I redownloaded the app all was good
. There Wifi is way more consistent throughout the house and way quicker!
Their house is about 5000 square feet. The center of it is pretty open but the base had to be off to a side. No brick walls or anything that would be tremendously problematic for reception. All furnaces are in the attic so no issues there. I think their old AirPort Extreme with the Expresses tied in was just not a good options for their house. WiFi calling was terrible and most parts of the house had slow spotty WiFi. They have 300 mbps coming into the house and downstairs far from the base they now have 50-60 down and 20 up. Woot!
The google WiFi app was terrible on my mom’s X. It was hanging up on each step. Even once it was done it wouldn’t acknowledge the set up was done. I logged in on another device and could see all looked good. So I deleted the app and redownloaded it. My dad was totally against the upgrade bc he hates any tech change and anything new. Lol. He was insistent nothing could work better and that this new option would radiate him more. That whole app issue gave him plenty of fodder to prove I was making a bad choice.
Anyway, once I redownloaded the app all was good
. There Wifi is way more consistent throughout the house and way quicker! Their house is about 5000 square feet. The center of it is pretty open but the base had to be off to a side. No brick walls or anything that would be tremendously problematic for reception. All furnaces are in the attic so no issues there. I think their old AirPort Extreme with the Expresses tied in was just not a good options for their house. WiFi calling was terrible and most parts of the house had slow spotty WiFi. They have 300 mbps coming into the house and downstairs far from the base they now have 50-60 down and 20 up. Woot!
Other options:
Amplifi
eero
long....but good review. Read fairly far down to see UBNT is the best bang for the buck, but not a true mesh system, need to get data cable to each WAP. Love my two UBNT APs, but I have cable in the walls.
Amplifi
eero
long....but good review. Read fairly far down to see UBNT is the best bang for the buck, but not a true mesh system, need to get data cable to each WAP. Love my two UBNT APs, but I have cable in the walls.
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Yesterday I tried replacing two Time Capsules with an Orbi pair. I thought I had it going well but then it started losing internet connection - possibly because my cable router is very old (it will need replacing soon as the Australian NBN is coming to our street).
Also the new network started rejecting passwords from my devices after they had successfully connected previously. That may be because I changed the SSID and password to the ones previously used on the TCs but I don't understand why they worked initially with these settings then the behaviour changed.
Interestingly the signal strength with the Orbi (20m from the satellite) did not seem to be any better than the TCs.
The TCs are now back in action and I am trying to decide whether to return the Orbi for a refund or keep trying when I replace my router.
Also the new network started rejecting passwords from my devices after they had successfully connected previously. That may be because I changed the SSID and password to the ones previously used on the TCs but I don't understand why they worked initially with these settings then the behaviour changed.
Interestingly the signal strength with the Orbi (20m from the satellite) did not seem to be any better than the TCs.
The TCs are now back in action and I am trying to decide whether to return the Orbi for a refund or keep trying when I replace my router.