Multiple routers or mesh?

[filiptepper]

Hi!

I’m looking to up my wireless game and I hope I can get some recommendations for decent hardware.

My current setup is Netgear R6400 (I’m quite happy with it) + Powerline in another part of the apartment with WiFi (same frequencies and network names as Netgear).

Since powerline is not really cutting for me I now have a proper Ethernet connection to that location - with routers in location A (Netgear) and location B (powerline WiFi to be replaced) I know I have good coverage around the whole place.
Which router would you recommend for location B? Should I replace old Netgear with something different that would allow for wired mesh - so buy 2 devices? Or will another R6400 (or something newer perhaps) suffice? Do I want a Unify? Would rather spend less than more, but I also want to make sure that it works for years, so willing to pay extra to get decent quality.

I don’t have any preferences in terms of brands.

Devices that need to be handled are 4 phones, 2 tablets, 3 laptops, 1 desktop (wired), 3 game consoles, TV, a couple of IOT devices and that’s about it. Netgear and TP-Link Powerline handled that fairly fine, except that powerline rarely ever delivers more 20mbit.

 

[Trip]

@filiptepper - Welcome. Many here would tell you to just add another R6400, or any old all-in-one router running in "AP mode", or whatever brand extender or standalone AP, or even consumer mesh that supported wired backhaul (Asus AiMesh, Deco, Orbi, Eero, etc.), and while any/all of those would suffice, I'd opt for small-business grade, controller-based access points. You'll get PoE capability, VLAN support and better long-term ROI, plus a network that runs more like an appliance and less like a toy.

In your case, I would disable wifi on the R6400, essentially turning it into just a wired router (and switch), then drop in a pair of ceiling-mounted Cisco CBW140AC's (~$110 each, $220 total), or if wall plate form factor works better, two CBW145AC's (~$150 each, $300 total). The controller software is built into the APs, so no extra controller installs or appliances to run (like you'd have to with UniFi or TP-Link Omada), and they're very easy to setup and administrate. Do note: they don't come with AC adapters or PoE injectors, so I'd buy a small gigabit managed PoE switch (example - $69) or two gigabit PoE+ injectors (example - $18 each) to power them. The switch would be a bit more streamlined.

In the future, if routing and/or certain features on the R6400 ever fall short, I'd replace the Netgear altogether with a small-biz/community grade wired router and, if you choose PoE injectors initially, a managed PoE switch for your LAN and powering your APs.

So that's the route I'd take with your upgrades. Any questions, feel free.

 

[Klueless]

Trip always comes up with the best solutions. Me? I come up with cheap.

If it's just two wireless nodes (wireless router and AP) I usually just go with an AP. If it's three or more nodes I start looking at MESH. If you were happy with the powerline (save for the backhaul) you could keep the router and simply replace the powerline with something like a Netgear 6150 (AC1200)? That would also keep the learning curve to a minimum.

 

[Clark Griswald]

@Klueless
I agree that Trip is a Helpful Resource of this Forum!
I learned to choose Inexpensive, instead of Cheap

 

[Trip]

If you really need/want cheap for the sake of cheap, while still getting the same result, buy two used Ruckus R500's off eBay, often listed for ~$50 each (here's an example of two for $39 each), then flash the latest Unleashed firmware for the R500 (free download, just have to register a Ruckus account). Then go through the <10-minute setup, and voila. You have yourself a bullet-proof two-node wireless network for $78... Can't get any better bang for the buck than that, to say nothing of the fact that you're basically using what were (at one point) $600 APs, and an enterprise code base with hundreds of hours of development (and stability) behind it. If you have to go a ton cheaper than that, well, then yeah, I suppose you could just throw a $20 Tenda or TP-Link AP, or a Netgear repeater, in the remote location and hope for the best.

One thing is for sure, ditch the powerline adapters since you now have ethernet; they're hardly ever worth the trouble, and should only ever be relied upon as a stop-gap measure, if that.

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for that tip @Trip . Now if Ubiquiti would do the same thing, it would expand the options for inexpensive APs for people who just want simple setup and management.

 

[Trip]

@thiggins - Very welcome, and you're not kidding. I can't for the life of me understand why Ubiquiti, or Omada, or any other clone, hasn't introduced an embedded controller option by now. I'd presume it's simply because the code base is too fat and/or exists in a language/architecture that aren't easily ported, but it just streamlines everything so nicely, that simply must figure out a way to do it.

 

[filiptepper]

Thanks for all the tips!

One thing I forgot to mention is that I'm located in Poland and neither Cisco CBW140AC or Ruckus devices are widely available (new or used).

Right now I have a very temporary solution - a new modem / AP from my cable provider and R6400 as an AP at the other end of the apartment. While Netgear works good enough as usual, provider's modem requires a hard reboot pretty much every day (too many devices I guess), so I'm thinking that I should probably get some sort internal networking done anyway. So cable modem -> netgear -> additional AP.