Buying New Gear * tested a few already and want your advice. Xt12, xe12, wait for wifi 7 or different equipment.

[bobzond]

Looking to upgrade from my google wifi mesh system and have tried a few things, but the more i read the more I am lost.

Currently have 1gb fiber service going to 2.5 shortly.
i live in a two story brick home around 3500 sqft with about 50 clients, 3 gamers. And multiple 4k streaming tvs. All likely running at the same time.

Modem is at one end of the home first floor. Getting to the far side of the house 2nd floor with 2 gaming pc’s has been a challenge. However I am now connected via moca and is working great.

I have and seem to get best results not perfect with my current setup of two xt12’s. One main modem and one wired backhaul with moca at the other end of home. Everything in between picks up wifi from either xt12.

I have tried et12 but its finicky and i drop alot in the middle of the home.

option 1. - stay with xt12’s moca backhaul
Option 2. - buy main modem ax11000 pro and use both x12 as nodes so i can wire more devices directly. What cheaper main modem would work with xt12
Option 3 - figure out how to make 6e work might need a third main router and use et12 as nodes.
Option 4 scrap all of it and wait for wifi 7
Option 5 - save money and dont get such expensive stuff.

Tell me what to do guys!!! Please i am getting sucked into this

Thank you

 

[Talat]

I am in a similar situation trying to upgrade my home network to either wifi 6 or 6e and yet we dont have many clients devices that support wifi 6 or 6e with exception to my main pc, laptop and mobile which support 6e.

Having wifi 7 coming in near future it is kind of confusing what to upgrade to

 

[bobzond]

Hey i didnt get a response here but direct messaged another member and i think my plan was accurate.

Depends on your home structure and wiring. I ended up with the xt12 two of these and a wireless backhaul. Even tho i have a wired back haul the wireless seems evem more stable since my wires are thru moca. The two xt12,s are amazing and much more stable than the et12 for me. Also much greater distances.

My future plan is two get the new asus quadbamd wifi7 and use it as a main router and us wireless backhaul for two xt12 whenever that happens. Wifi is pretty slow to adopt and i think using the dedicated 5ghz band as a wireless backhaul might be a solution for a long time if wired isnt ideal. 6e to me is useless for distance

 

[L&LD]

The range/distance between 5GHz and 6GHz is minimal (within an enclosed area, such as in a home). Everything will depend on the specific implementation of the model/unit in question.

With WiFi 7 on the cusp of release, buying anything better today is kind of wasted money when you have a working setup already.

WiFi 7 isn't an unconditional upgrade though. Just as with every router before, it needs to be tested against what is currently working in your environment today and the final/total cost balanced against any benefits (perceived or real).

And, as history has proven, those first-generation WiFi 7 routers will be easily surpassed by Gen 2 equipment in short order. That is the batch of hardware I'll be waiting for. After they have proven themselves for a while too, of course.

As can be seen from the above; no rush at all at this point. The only sense to buy new equipment today is if you are setting up a new network (with no old hardware), or your current hardware has had a catastrophic breakdown. And even then, a couple of GT-AX6000 on RMerlin firmware will be very hard to beat (in wired backhaul mode over their 2.5GbE ports).

 

[Talat]

The range/distance between 5GHz and 6GHz is minimal (within an enclosed area, such as in a home). Everything will depend on the specific implementation of the model/unit in question.

With WiFi 7 on the cusp of release, buying anything better today is kind of wasted money when you have a working setup already.

WiFi 7 isn't an unconditional upgrade though. Just as with every router before, it needs to be tested against what is currently working in your environment today and the final/total cost balanced against any benefits (perceived or real).

And, as history has proven, those first-generation WiFi 7 routers will be easily surpassed by Gen 2 equipment in short order. That is the batch of hardware I'll be waiting for. After they have proven themselves for a while too, of course.

As can be seen from the above; no rush at all at this point. The only sense to buy new equipment today is if you are setting up a new network (with no old hardware), or your current hardware has had a catastrophic breakdown. And even then, a couple of GT-AX6000 on RMerlin firmware will be very hard to beat (in wired backhaul mode over their 2.5GbE ports).

Dear L&ld what you are saying makes full sense but until wifi 7 2nd genration arrives I expect it would take a year or 2 at least, so what would be the smart decision, wifi 6 or 6e or non??!!!

 

[L&LD]

WiFi 6 is more than enough today (at least, for me). (I am currently on 1Gbps symmetrical ISP and looking at greater than 2.5Gbps speeds in the very near future). And I'm not looking to upgrade my GT-AX6000 or RT-AX86U either when/if I get those speeds.

I also don't expect WiFi 7 to take that long at all. I expect WiFi 7 Gen 2 to be available next spring, if not announced earlier.

 

[Talat]

Hey i didnt get a response here but direct messaged another member and i think my plan was accurate.

Depends on your home structure and wiring. I ended up with the xt12 two of these and a wireless backhaul. Even tho i have a wired back haul the wireless seems evem more stable since my wires are thru moca. The two xt12,s are amazing and much more stable than the et12 for me. Also much greater distances.

My future plan is two get the new asus quadbamd wifi7 and use it as a main router and us wireless backhaul for two xt12 whenever that happens. Wifi is pretty slow to adopt and i think using the dedicated 5ghz band as a wireless backhaul might be a solution for a long time if wired isnt ideal. 6e to me is useless for distance

You seem to have a good plan than mine, my Home is a large villa of 3 stores and 7 bedrooms and kids all over the place LOL

I do have cat6 wired to all rooms including guests rooms, but currently there is a router or AP in very room and i wish i could get red of the extra equipment for wifi at least.

 

[L&LD]

With wired backhaul, you have even less need for WiFi 6E.

Test by taking out every second AP for adjacent rooms. The performance may even be better.

Too much WiFi is just as bad as too little.

 

[Talat]

With wired backhaul, you have even less need for WiFi 6E.

I think you are right, I may go for an rt Ax6000 to upgrade my ISP router which is only AC until wifi 7 relieable routers comes out