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Time for a new MESH setup

Killerbob

Killerbob

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jan 25, 2008
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After 5 loyal years of service, my LinkSys Velop MESH system is starting to show its age. Our house is on three levels, 1500sq. ft. each, and my ISP Modem is installed in the basement.

I have hardwired a QNAP 10G Switch to the ISP router and my office is wired (Mac Pros, Mac Studio, and QNAP NAS). Everything else is on WiFi, and at any moment in time about 30-50 devices connect to my MESH satellites. I have three Velop nodes, all hardwired to the ISP router.

My problems started when I added 6 Sonos speakers and a new 4K Apple TV to my Entertainment Center - speeds are slow, as in real slow.

I have checked out the MESH offerings, and it is a bit crazy how many systems there are. I am looking for:
  • WiFi 6e - iPads, iPhones and TV would use 6e
  • 2.5G Ethernet on the base unit at least, 2xGigabit on the satellites - One for backhaul, and one for wired Ethernet to my alarm and to a backup NAS set up elsewhere in the house
  • Decent Bridge mode as my ISP modem performs really poorly in Bridge mode
Any suggestions and/or experiences?
 
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According to Netgear I “need” the 960-series. CAD1800 for a 3-pack… Probably a bit overkill for me…

Any other experiences?
 
Killerbob said:
According to Netgear I “need” the 960-series. CAD1800 for a 3-pack… Probably a bit overkill for me…

Any other experiences?
Click to expand...
You don’t have to take their recommendations. That’s the nice thing about mesh, you can add on as necessary.
 

I recently bought this setup, it is wifi6 not 6e but I am fairly sure the newer models have support. You might want to check them out as an alternative to NetGear, I am done with them and will probably never purchase another one of their products.

Edit: this one offers 6E

 
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My 3 months usage report is:

I bought a DECO setup: 2 x XE75 Pro and 1 x BE63/65.

The BE63/65 is the Router connected to my ISP Gateway. I picked the BE63/65 because it has 4 x 2.5GbE ports and one is connected to my ISP Gateway, one is connected to a 10GbE QNAP Switch, and the remaining two are connected to my XE75 Pro nodes.

The XE75 Pros, with their one 2.5GbE port and two Gigabit ports, ensure a hardwired and consistently stable backhaul for the MESH system.

On average, I have 60 devices on the system, with 8 of these hardwired to the Switch.

Since I started running this setup, I have only had stable WiFi throughout the house. My Apple TV 4K consistently gets 500Mbps, and my iPad Pro is in the 900-1100Mbps range. My Mac Pro and Mac Studio are getting 1550Mbps on my 1500Mbps ISP connection.

My only issue is that every time I run the Network Optimization in the DECO app the 6GHz WiFi is changing from channel 69 to 86, or the other way around. Every. Single. Time.
 
icanhazmac said:

I recently bought this setup, it is wifi6 not 6e but I am fairly sure the newer models have support. You might want to check them out as an alternative to NetGear, I am done with them and will probably never purchase another one of their products.

Edit: this one offers 6E

Click to expand...

what was problematic with netgear?
Also why did you choose Deco tp link over Asus
 
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MacBH928 said:
what was problematic with netgear?
Also why did you choose Deco tp link over Asus
Click to expand...

Over the previous 2 Netgrear routers I owned I had intermittent drops requiring reboots and lots of problems with firmware updates. The last router I had to keep on the firmware that came with the unit as every attempt to update caused connectivity issues.

TP vs Asus... boiled down to a couple of friends had TP stuff and never had issues.
 
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Killerbob said:
After 5 loyal years of service, my LinkSys Velop MESH system is starting to show its age. Our house is on three levels, 1500sq. ft. each, and my ISP Modem is installed in the basement.

I have hardwired a QNAP 10G Switch to the ISP router and my office is wired (Mac Pros, Mac Studio, and QNAP NAS). Everything else is on WiFi, and at any moment in time about 30-50 devices connect to my MESH satellites. I have three Velop nodes, all hardwired to the ISP router.

My problems started when I added 6 Sonos speakers and a new 4K Apple TV to my Entertainment Center - speeds are slow, as in real slow.

I have checked out the MESH offerings, and it is a bit crazy how many systems there are. I am looking for:
  • WiFi 6e - iPads, iPhones and TV would use 6e
  • 2.5G Ethernet on the base unit at least, 2xGigabit on the satellites - One for backhaul, and one for wired Ethernet to my alarm and to a backup NAS set up elsewhere in the house
  • Decent Bridge mode as my ISP modem performs really poorly in Bridge mode
Any suggestions and/or experiences?
Click to expand...
Some inexpensive suggestions that may help your existing mesh network:
  • Check ISP speeds, could be time for an upgrade.
  • Connect the Apple TV4K to an Ethernet port vs. wireless.
  • Move one or more of the Velop devices closer to your Sonos system if possible.
  • Add another Velop device to your existing mesh network.
However if you’re redesigning/replacing your network to achieve your bulleted goals, that’s a far far bigger investment and my experiences fall short of being of help to you there.

Just as a datapoint, I have a 4700sq.ft. home on two levels, built in 1905. The plaster/lath walls make each room almost a Faraday cage killing WiFi at every turn. To mediate I have a mesh network with eight (yeah, eight) eeroPro routers (no extenders, just routers) spread throughout the house and garage. These are the early versions, WiFi5. I have about 65 connected devices including two iPhones, three iPads, an iMac, two AppleTV4Ks both with the typical streaming services and usage, a Tesla, three thermostats, irrigation system controller, some appliances, and lots and lots of (allegedly) smart devices, all of which work very well with a 300mbps ISP connect. I have a switch connected to the gateway eeroPro with Ethernet leads to the AppleTV4ks, the iMac, the garage eeroPro, and one other eeroPro. All else is wireless. We consume almost a terabyte/month downloading, and about 100GB/month uploading so not idle.

I keep looking at the “deals” offered frequently to upgrade our eeroPro 5’s to the 6, 6e, 6+, 7, whatever else, and I just cannot find the justification to spend that much money. But that’s our needs. I wish you well, and please let us know how your system evolves.
 
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