Wifi Mesh System (Google Nest WiFi, Eero, etc)?

Discussion in 'The Mainboard' started by laxjoe, Oct 15, 2021.

  1. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Philadelphia 76'ersArsenal

    Yes definitely. I have the UniFi, I never messed with the amplifi.
     
    jorge likes this.
  2. OldazzNinjaman

    OldazzNinjaman Joemoma
    Donor
    Michigan Wolverines

  3. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    Yeah I also have a UniFi set up! Love it. Been think of upgrading to the rack mount dream machine for gigabit IPS.
     
    Willpépé likes this.
  4. BumpingNasties

    BumpingNasties Kissing Babies and Hugging Mommas...the Dabo way!
    Donor
    Clemson TigersAtlanta BravesIndiana Pacers

    Started on Linksys (velop ac2200) and upgraded to their most recent mesh system (velop ax4200). Both sucked imo.

    Now use Orbi ax6000 and it’s been great
     
    laxjoe likes this.
  5. kentucky_dawg

    kentucky_dawg Fan of: Georgia
    Donor
    Georgia Bulldogs

    Going to be in the market for one soon. Probably going with the Orbi
     
    laxjoe likes this.
  6. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Cincinnati BearcatsCincinnati RedsCincinnati BengalsTennisTiger WoodsFC Cincinnati

    Not too pleased with my tplink deco. Got it from Costco so feel like exchange for something else will be easy. Is Orbi or eero better?
     
  7. kentucky_dawg

    kentucky_dawg Fan of: Georgia
    Donor
    Georgia Bulldogs

    Orbi
     
  8. gilstein21

    gilstein21 Tight Rip 26 Seal Right
    Donor
    Auburn TigersSt. Louis CardinalsGreen Bay PackersWyoming Cowboys

    Odd. Two levels, 2600 sq feet and it covers my entire yard too.
     
  9. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Cincinnati BearcatsCincinnati RedsCincinnati BengalsTennisTiger WoodsFC Cincinnati

    I had to switch off 5g bc it kept dropping internet on some devices. Now my garage tv buffers all the time. I’m in 2k sq ft house. I have a deco in living room basement and upstairs bedroom. Idk what’s wrong?
     
  10. laxjoe

    laxjoe Well-Known Member
    Donor
    San Diego State AztecsSan Diego Padres

    This thread was way more popular at than I expected. Love all the recommendations. We move in a couple of weeks, so we’ll see what we need to do abs revisit this thread before making a purchase
     
  11. matistic

    matistic Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesSt. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis BluesChelseaAustin FC

    Depends what model deco you have. There’s like 6 versions, some way better than others.

    generically, Tri band perform better for any brand. I think it’s worth the extra you pay so I’d pay attention to that whatever direction you go.
     
    jorge likes this.
  12. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    You'll get a lot more interference on the 5ghz band, and it wont reach as far. Often you'll get devices that will receive signal from 5ghz, but not have the power to get it back reliably. Often times you'll see better performance if you turn the power of the 5ghz band down. Additionally, make sure its on a different channel than the neighbors.
     
  13. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    At the same time, i still prefer to run RJ45 around, vs wireless.
     
    Willpépé and Name P. Redacted like this.
  14. ramszoolander

    ramszoolander Known for Buns
    Donor
    West Virginia MountaineersBirmingham Legion

    I just bought Deco S4 this past week because we now have a three-story house, and the coax access is on the top floor (idk why). It works flawlessly all throughout the house.

    One thing I was a little surprised about it that it's just AC1200. We've been using an Arris Surfboard gateway for the past six or seven years that is AC1750. It worked really well, just couldn't do the whole new house. Not sure which is faster. For now, just using the gateway as modem.

    In the old house, I was also using RJ45 direct...so even 80mbps is a good bit slower than what I was used to...
     
  15. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
    Donor
    Notre Dame Fighting IrishSan Francisco GiantsNew Orleans SaintsChicago Cubs

    super happy with my orbis that i bought once i moved about 2 years back
     
  16. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Cincinnati BearcatsCincinnati RedsCincinnati BengalsTennisTiger WoodsFC Cincinnati

    I have the M9.
     
  17. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    Maybe exchange it for the WiFi 6 version? Or do you not have any 802.11ax devices?
     
    ramszoolander likes this.
  18. ramszoolander

    ramszoolander Known for Buns
    Donor
    West Virginia MountaineersBirmingham Legion

    I might. But hashtag cheap and this is probably good enough.
     
  19. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    Thats fair. The pricetag also gives me pause.
     
  20. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Cincinnati BearcatsCincinnati RedsCincinnati BengalsTennisTiger WoodsFC Cincinnati

    Are you guys using one of the wireless "pucks" as your router or are you using the ISP router and basically using the "pucks" as access points?
     
  21. LetItSoak

    LetItSoak Well-Known Member
    Donor

    Moving to our new house next month and we have Google fiber. Any reason to not go with their mesh solution?
     
  22. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
    Donor
    Notre Dame Fighting IrishSan Francisco GiantsNew Orleans SaintsChicago Cubs

    With the Orbi system you really dont even have a choice, so there is one router and a few satellites (as many as you need, i have 2). Dont forget to put your ISP modem in bridge mode or have your ISP do it for you. Otherwise you will lose a bunch of the speed that is in there by itself
     
    ramszoolander likes this.
  23. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Cincinnati BearcatsCincinnati RedsCincinnati BengalsTennisTiger WoodsFC Cincinnati

    So I have my ISP modem, but did not get the ISP router... So I'm using one of the Deco's as the router. Do I still need to put the modem in bridge mode? I'm moving pucks around in my house to see if it helps but I'm still having some issues. Might just return this to Costco and get something else if it doesn't' get better.

    I have spectrum internet, so not sure how to log into the modem. I'm reading you can't.
     
    #73 Baron, Oct 18, 2021
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2021
  24. NYGator

    NYGator Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Florida GatorsNew York YankeesNew York KnicksNew York GiantsNew York IslandersNew York City Football ClubTottenham HotspurUnited States Men's National Soccer Team

    The drawbacks of Google(Nest) mesh are that it is made for beginners so they don't give you a lot of access to customize the routing and setup. That is my biggest gripe.
     
    LetItSoak likes this.
  25. Wicket

    Wicket Fan: ND, PSV, Pool FC, Cricket, Urquel, Dog Crew
    Donor
    Notre Dame Fighting IrishSan Francisco GiantsNew Orleans SaintsChicago Cubs

    i dont know for the deco but for my orbi id still put the ISP modem in bridge mode (aka, do nothing mode). Otherwise what your basically doing is putting a wired connection between the mesh router and the ISP modem but still having the ISP modem quality signal between the 2. In bridge mode it makes things just reach peak potential.

    so again, dont know with the decos but i think you can do a wired backhaul between the different pucks, if there happens to be a wired connection between 2 different spots in the house that might be a way to boost performance a bit
     
    jorge likes this.
  26. gilstein21

    gilstein21 Tight Rip 26 Seal Right
    Donor
    Auburn TigersSt. Louis CardinalsGreen Bay PackersWyoming Cowboys

    I have one of the pucks hard wired into my ISP modem. WiFi on the modem is turned off. This is in the back corner of the house. Another puck (not wired to anything) is in a front corner of the house on the same side. The other puck (not wired to anything) is in the bonus room above the garage, far corner away from the wired puck. This also gives me full coverage on our 1/3 acre lot.
     
    Willpépé, Baron and jorge like this.
  27. LetItSoak

    LetItSoak Well-Known Member
    Donor

    0% chance I'll use advanced settings so it should be good. It's a 2 story house so nothing too crazy
     
    Willpépé likes this.
  28. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    Bridge mode basically passes the DHCP lease from the ISP to the router or device. Two routers performing routing functions will make a new network inside the old one. Bridge mode generally shouldn't be needed for a modem, since normally its a function to turn a router into a bridge/switch. If you have a modem without a router, it should pass the lease to the next router, so you're pretty much right, but needing bridge mode seems to conflict with Baron saying they did not get the router.

    Can you give me the modem model?
     
  29. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Cincinnati BearcatsCincinnati RedsCincinnati BengalsTennisTiger WoodsFC Cincinnati

    Technicolor ET2251
     
  30. momux

    momux AFAM Scholar
    Donor
    North Carolina TarheelsCarolina PanthersChelseaFormula 1

    Dropped in an Orbi about 18 months ago and have been super happy with it. One satellite and I get comprehensive coverage throughout the house and onto the back patio.
     
  31. bigred77

    bigred77 Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Texas Tech Red RaidersTexas RangersSan Antonio SpursDallas CowboysKansas City ChiefsAustin FCTexas Tech Red Raiders alt

    I just did what the eero app told me to do
     
    Willpépé likes this.
  32. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    Looks like this is just a modem, so you shouldn't need to worry about bridge mode. Could you let me know what issues you are having specifically? Drops or you can't connect at all?
     
  33. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Philadelphia 76'ersArsenal

    i put in two of the deco solutions and their customer support is not horrible. Call them and explain what is going on and I’d imagine they could solve his problem pretty quickly.
     
  34. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Cincinnati BearcatsCincinnati RedsCincinnati BengalsTennisTiger WoodsFC Cincinnati

    I moved the upstairs Deco to another side of the main floor. So I now have 2 on the main floor on opposite sides and it seems to be working fine so far.
     
    Willpépé likes this.
  35. WillySaliba

    WillySaliba Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Philadelphia 76'ersArsenal

    Yeah but seriously if something isn’t working right just call. It’s a pretty quick process. Their first level is reading through a script so you have to sit through that, but that’s troubleshooting. I never had to wait in some 30-40 minute queue and all mine was nights and weekend.
     
    Baron likes this.
  36. ramszoolander

    ramszoolander Known for Buns
    Donor
    West Virginia MountaineersBirmingham Legion

    I appreciate the reminders about bridged mode. I knew there was a setting I was supposed to change in the gateway, and that was it!
     
  37. Baron

    Baron Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Cincinnati BearcatsCincinnati RedsCincinnati BengalsTennisTiger WoodsFC Cincinnati

    I was just about to post how moving that Deco to another side of the house was working so great, then my tv in my garage started to buffer and say no internet. WTF. Was working fine all day yesterday with NO issues at all and same things using internet.
     
  38. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    Nice. Thats good news.

    Have you done a walk through with a scanner? You can try using WifiMan or a wifi scanner on the app store.

    In general if I'm having issues I run down a few options:
    • Are the APs too close together? (Clients Roam too much)
    • Are the APs too far apart? (signal holes)
    • Is the AP signal strong enough to reach the devices?
    • Is the device signal strong enough to reach the AP?
    • Is there interference from other APs?
      • Neighbors Wifi?
      • Are all your APs on the same channel? (they shouldn't be)
    I may be forgetting a consideration or two, but for the most part if you've checked on those its not the wifi signal itself that is the issue
     
    Willpépé likes this.
  39. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    I'm jealous of your firewalla gold.
     
    matistic likes this.
  40. matistic

    matistic Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesSt. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis BluesChelseaAustin FC

    Firewalla are really slick little devices, much easier than setting up a server and manually ARP poisoning your network. Helped me spot a couple devices that were constantly trying to send data to China for no good reason.

    And also the daily “your sons computer is watching porn” alerts.
     
    Willpépé and bigred77 like this.
  41. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    I really need a devices that can do IPS at gigabit speed. Firewalla Gold and Unifi DreamMachine Pro are the only two I've seen remotely close to my price range, and the latter isn't a great for the spot in terms of size.
     
  42. matistic

    matistic Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Florida State SeminolesSt. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis BluesChelseaAustin FC

    Yeah this video was where I learned of the Firewalla, figured I’d just spend the money rather than their home brew setup, but it’s an option if you have an extra system laying around.

    https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/webcast-no-span-port-no-tap-no-problem/
     
  43. Parab00n

    Parab00n Well-Known Member
    Donor
    Alabama Crimson Tide

    I've been using Unifi since 2015, its a great option. I run it at my home, business, parents, and in-laws.
     
    Willpépé and jorge like this.
  44. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    Yeah it's great. I use the EdgeMax line at home, but unifi for my parents. However, while I wouldn't say you need a CCNA for Unifi, I think some people may struggle with it. It's super simple on the surface, but theres so many features that can break the network for older devices, which a lot of people have at home. When I first turned on the Wifi AI optimizer, it created a huge mess. I feel like that one would be bait for the average home user.
     
    Willpépé and Parab00n like this.
  45. TYdeFan05

    TYdeFan05 gOATS ™
    Donor
    California Golden BearsAlabama Crimson TideAtlanta BravesTampa Bay Buccaneers

    I’m not sure how to ask, so if you want to point my dumbass to a subreddit or something it’s all good.

    I use an xfinity modem/router and I had to disable the firewall to be able to sign into my work VPN. At one point I read instructions on how to white list that VPN and the firewall still wouldn’t allow me to connect. Is this firewalla configurable to a point where I could whitelist a specific connection and still protect all the other bullshit air fresheners in the house that my wife thinks need to be on WiFi so it can automatically buy more refills?

    edit to add: I’m getting my new modem/router from Xfinity today since we got notification on Monday that Gig speeds are now available in my area. I have to keep the modem active to maintain my grandfathered in unlimited data package but could potentially turn off the router I think? I know next to nothing when it comes to networks.
     
  46. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    Yeah so you probably don't want to run without the firewall at all, so it's good you are looking to address that, but yes a firewalla will let you do that. Gold would probably be overkill for you. You could just use the xfinity gateway as your modem, and use a different router with more fully featured firewall capabilities. It's a little odd you would have to disable the firewall to reach out to an external resource though. Usually with home devices, firewall rules only match on inbound connections.
     
    TYdeFan05 likes this.
  47. TYdeFan05

    TYdeFan05 gOATS ™
    Donor
    California Golden BearsAlabama Crimson TideAtlanta BravesTampa Bay Buccaneers

    Decent chance (>90%) I’m the issue.
     
  48. jorge

    jorge Founder of Post ITT if your team sucks
    Donor
    Penn State Nittany Lions

    Congrats. Admitting this to yourself is the first step in becoming a networking enthusiast. This feeling doesn't go away.
     
  49. construxboy

    construxboy xenForo is the new TMB
    Donor
    North Carolina TarheelsPenn State Nittany LionsBuffalo BillsBuffalo SabresArsenalCharlotte FC

    Sounds like Firewalla is sort of what Gryphon is doing in their routers. Probably not quite as good, but they do have this HomeBound service that puts all your devices through the router even when on different or cell networks. I figured that was overkill so I don't use it.