Access point vs Upgrading Router

[rollchatt]

I am beginning to build my home network as we recently moved and my current router will not cover my entire house. My experience is very beginner with networking. I couldn't find a specific answer to my question searching through the forums so forgive me if this is redundant from previous threads

We are fortunate to have fiberoptics and have 1,000 Mbps connection. I am currently running an AC3200 as the primary router upstairs and have set up an older AC1900 as an access point at the other end of the house. I am able to get 400-500Mbps upstairs however downstairs where the majority our usage is I can only get about 100Mbps. There is a wired network connection in the living room and I am not sure if it makes more sense to buy a dedicated access point (if so which one?) vs upgrading the main router (to the AC5300) and using the AC3200 as an access point.

Thanks for the help

 

[degrub]

Your last choice should work on the supply side. It is up to the clients. So if your numbers are from the same clients, then upgrade the AP.

 

[username0475]

I am beginning to build my home network as we recently moved and my current router will not cover my entire house. My experience is very beginner with networking. I couldn't find a specific answer to my question searching through the forums so forgive me if this is redundant from previous threads

We are fortunate to have fiberoptics and have 1,000 Mbps connection. I am currently running an AC3200 as the primary router upstairs and have set up an older AC1900 as an access point at the other end of the house. I am able to get 400-500Mbps upstairs however downstairs where the majority our usage is I can only get about 100Mbps. There is a wired network connection in the living room and I am not sure if it makes more sense to buy a dedicated access point (if so which one?) vs upgrading the main router (to the AC5300) and using the AC3200 as an access point.

Thanks for the help

If the AC3200 was working prior to moving into your new home, then it appears it maybe a configuration & range issue.
The value added way IMO but maybe more effective way would be to add an access point downstairs connected to that wired connection (ethernet backhaul).
I say that because it appears your router is upstairs & can't reach the downstairs effectively.

Also, it appears your config on the -Verizon modem (?) side isn't optimize - which I've seen elsewhere that people paying for 1Gb weren't getting it due to settings mostly either @ the VZ end or the Router side.

I have a 3K sqft house & recently bought into the AP camp totally.
Got a TP-Link EAP225 1350 last month ($69.99) & basically - I repurposed a Cat6 ethernet connection -that wasn't used in my loft upstairs behind a wall mounted TV- with the TP-L access point.
Mounted the AP behind the TV on the wall to supply a cleaner signal to my Ring Doorbell. Getting .001 less than what I paid for wired!
It also gives me more room to grow my WiFi clients list at that side of the house (security cams , switches) without overloading my 5 year old, still going strong Asus RT-AC68U (hacked refurb TMO AC1900).
I'm up to 32 Clients on the Asus & already 8 on the new AP.

If you can do it, it saves money & provides a ton of speed , range & capcity.

btw - I used this articles to kinda kick me off on the AP research:
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-howto/33185-wi-fi-mesh-system-secrets

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/33159-2x2-ac-access-point-roundup

 

[Easy Rhino]

I might be confused, are the AC3200 and AC1900 connected by the ethernet, or is the 1900 working as a wireless repeater/extender?

If it's working wirelessly, then the drop in speed is believable.

If the ac1900 is connected wired, then it's less obvious (like I was able to get 250mbps with a no-name wifi AC1200 usb adaptor I just tried last week) are the clients connecting to the 5ghz band?

Also have you tried taking a laptop with an ethernet cable and plugging it in various places to see where the bandwidth drops?
* directly at the verizion gateway
* plugged into your 5300
* plugged into the living room ethernet port
* plugged into the AC1900?

 

[rollchatt]

I might be confused, are the AC3200 and AC1900 connected by the ethernet, or is the 1900 working as a wireless repeater/extender?

If it's working wirelessly, then the drop in speed is believable.

If the ac1900 is connected wired, then it's less obvious (like I was able to get 250mbps with a no-name wifi AC1200 usb adaptor I just tried last week) are the clients connecting to the 5ghz band?

Also have you tried taking a laptop with an ethernet cable and plugging it in various places to see where the bandwidth drops?
* directly at the verizion gateway
* plugged into your 5300
* plugged into the living room ethernet port
* plugged into the AC1900?

Sorry if I didn't explain this well (like I said I am very much a beginner).

I do not have Verizon. I live in Chattanooga, TN and we have fiber through the city municipality. They a run a cat5 cable from the ONT (where the fiber terminates outside the house) to to a RJ-45 plug. Thus I don't have a modem.

At the plug where the fiber comes in I have the AC3200. The AC1900 is connected to the AC3200 through a wired connection upstairs at the other end of our house (approx 4000 square ft) and I get good speeds in that area. The problem I am having is downstairs, where I have a wired connection available but currently do not have an access point.

When I use a wired connection I can get close to 1,000 Mbps then upstairs throughout I can get from 400-500mbs (using a Lenovo Yoga 900 laptop). My main problem is downstairs the max I can get is 100mb/s

I have tried to play with the channels on the AC3200 to make sure there is not too much overlap but both our neighbors houses are pretty close so there is some interference.

So I guess I'm trying to figure out if upgrading the AC3200 to an AC5300 would help with my upstairs wireless speeds. Then I could use the AC3200 as a wired access point downstairs. Or if I should be happy with those wireless speeds upstairs and instead buy a dedicated access point such as an Ubiquiti AP

Again I am very much a beginner and am going to try and continue to read up on all of this but its easy to get confused.

 

[rollchatt]

If the AC3200 was working prior to moving into your new home, then it appears it maybe a configuration & range issue.
The value added way IMO but maybe more effective way would be to add an access point downstairs connected to that wired connection (ethernet backhaul).
I say that because it appears your router is upstairs & can't reach the downstairs effectively.

Also, it appears your config on the -Verizon modem (?) side isn't optimize - which I've seen elsewhere that people paying for 1Gb weren't getting it due to settings mostly either @ the VZ end or the Router side.

I have a 3K sqft house & recently bought into the AP camp totally.
Got a TP-Link EAP225 1350 last month ($69.99) & basically - I repurposed a Cat6 ethernet connection -that wasn't used in my loft upstairs behind a wall mounted TV- with the TP-L access point.
Mounted the AP behind the TV on the wall to supply a cleaner signal to my Ring Doorbell. Getting .001 less than what I paid for wired!
It also gives me more room to grow my WiFi clients list at that side of the house (security cams , switches) without overloading my 5 year old, still going strong Asus RT-AC68U (hacked refurb TMO AC1900).
I'm up to 32 Clients on the Asus & already 8 on the new AP.

If you can do it, it saves money & provides a ton of speed , range & capcity.

btw - I used this articles to kinda kick me off on the AP research:
https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-howto/33185-wi-fi-mesh-system-secrets

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/33159-2x2-ac-access-point-roundup

Thanks I am going to read these articles now

 

[Easy Rhino]

oh okay, so if I understand correctly:

the internet comes in upstairs. The AC3200 is upstairs. The AC1900 is also upstairs, and they're connected by ethernet. Upstairs you get around 400mbps, which is pretty good.

Downstairs you have no router, but you do have ethernet wiring available.

So, yes, if you put a router or access point downstairs, it should boost wifi speeds downstairs.

However, upstairs, if you replace the AC3200 with an AC5300, it may not boost your speed upstairs at all. We haven't been talking specific models of routers, but the AC5300 is probably a "tri band" router, which emans that the 5ghz is split into two bands, which means that each individual band you could connect to might not be any better.

What are the brands models of your current routers, and what are you using as your major speed testing client? (the yoga 900?)

 

[rollchatt]

oh okay, so if I understand correctly:

the internet comes in upstairs. The AC3200 is upstairs. The AC1900 is also upstairs, and they're connected by ethernet. Upstairs you get around 400mbps, which is pretty good.

Downstairs you have no router, but you do have ethernet wiring available.

So, yes, if you put a router or access point downstairs, it should boost wifi speeds downstairs.

However, upstairs, if you replace the AC3200 with an AC5300, it may not boost your speed upstairs at all. We haven't been talking specific models of routers, but the AC5300 is probably a "tri band" router, which emans that the 5ghz is split into two bands, which means that each individual band you could connect to might not be any better.

What are the brands models of your current routers, and what are you using as your major speed testing client? (the yoga 900?)

Yes that is correct. The main client I am using is the yoga 900 . Here are the 2 routers I currently have

Main - Asus RT-AC3200
AP - Asus RT-AC68U

By 5300 I was referring to the Asus RT-AC5300

 

[Easy Rhino]

Okay, first I have to disclaim that I'm way less experience than some of the regulars here.

I'm looking at specs for the Yoga 910. The Wifi is a 2x2 client. Probably a qualcomm chipset. This means the max notional link speed is probably ~867mbps. Which means your max practical speedtest speed is probably around ~500mpbs.

https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/yoga/yoga-900-series/Yoga-910/p/88YG9000786

https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/...YOGA-SERIES/YOGA-910-13IKB/downloads/DS119197

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac

The AC1900 is a 3x3 radio, so capable of higher link speeds, like 1300mbps. The AC3200 has two 3x3 radios so it's capable of higher speeds spread across multiple clients.

So in other words, right now you're limited by your Yoga, and it's maxed out when you're upstairs.

If you want to get gigabit speed over wifi on one client, you're going to need a 4x4 client (which are like, super rare to non existent) and a 4x4 router.

the AC5300 is has dual 4x4 radios btw.

But the routers with dual radios might be overkill if you're only running one or two clients. Their whole raison d'etre is for multiple clients streaming at the same time. If you only have one or two clients in use you care about you can probably get a nicer 4x4 router without the extra radio (like AC-86U)

So in conclusion, if you put just about anything that's 2x2 or better downstairs it will help with your current configuration.

And if you want to say you can get gigabit wifi, you'll need both a 4x4 router and a 4x4 client (which would probably be a desktop PCIe card right now?)

 

[rollchatt]

Okay, first I have to disclaim that I'm way less experience than some of the regulars here.

I'm looking at specs for the Yoga 910. The Wifi is a 2x2 client. Probably a qualcomm chipset. This means the max notional link speed is probably ~867mbps. Which means your max practical speedtest speed is probably around ~500mpbs.

https://www3.lenovo.com/us/en/laptops/yoga/yoga-900-series/Yoga-910/p/88YG9000786

https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/...YOGA-SERIES/YOGA-910-13IKB/downloads/DS119197

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac

The AC1900 is a 3x3 radio, so capable of higher link speeds, like 1300mbps. The AC3200 has two 3x3 radios so it's capable of higher speeds spread across multiple clients.

So in other words, right now you're limited by your Yoga, and it's maxed out when you're upstairs.

If you want to get gigabit speed over wifi on one client, you're going to need a 4x4 client (which are like, super rare to non existent) and a 4x4 router.

the AC5300 is has dual 4x4 radios btw.

But the routers with dual radios might be overkill if you're only running one or two clients. Their whole raison d'etre is for multiple clients streaming at the same time. If you only have one or two clients in use you care about you can probably get a nicer 4x4 router without the extra radio (like AC-86U)

So in conclusion, if you put just about anything that's 2x2 or better downstairs it will help with your current configuration.

And if you want to say you can get gigabit wifi, you'll need both a 4x4 router and a 4x4 client (which would probably be a desktop PCIe card right now?)

Thanks! That makes perfect sense. Obviously I have more reading/learning to do.

I clearly do not need 1000Mbs for anything that I am doing at home its more just fun to try and figure this all out and how to optimize it.

So that being said would it make more sense to put another Asus RT-AC68U downstairs or to spend a little more and put a Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO-US there?
I am not only looking for increased speed downstairs but would like to get greater coverage out in our back yard (the Ethernet wiring is by a window on the back wall of the house)