Router Advice Needed

[lucrabbit]

Been lurking around for years on SMB and finally registered to join the community LOL

Need some advice whether I need to buy a new router, or the current setting needs to be fine-tuned. Thanks!

Currently using Orbi (1 router 2 satellites) for a 2100 sqft home and guess it's an overkill for such a (relatively) small home - the network performance isn't where I would like to see (I have a 75/15 Comcast business link). I also used a R7000 in the past but it had some dead spots with security cameras installed.

Wireless devices in my household:
- On average 20-25 devices online at the same time, I did look at ALL wireless devices I have and the total # >50 LOL
- 4 x NestCams, 4-5 Phones, 4 x computers, 3-4 x stream devices, NAS, Printers, 10 x smart home devices (TVs, thermostat, doorbell, echo, Google Home, plugs, etc.)

Question:
Shall I upgrade to a single 4x4 tri-band router? or just 3x3 tri-band? I did some tweaks with Orbi but still couldn't get the optimum performance out of the system. My ISP drop is relatively in the center of the house and that's actually causing issue with Orbi - one router can barely cover the whole house (of course most devices on 2.4G) but adding satellite(s) will create too much overlap leading reduced performance. I did try to reduce the transmit power for Orbi but didn't seem to help much.

 

[sfx2000]

I would suggest keeping with the Orbi system - the interference issue isn't as big as it sounds.

One thing though - it's the placement of the satellite nodes, it's kind of important to get the best overall performance, so moving them around might lead to big performance improvements overall...

 

[coxhaus]

Any chance you can run some of your devices off wire to reduce your wireless load.

 

[System Error Message]

you should run your cams off both wire and wireless if possible. Since you already use orbi theres no harm in adding more Orbi but try to wire them to the router and have the router or a switch be a center point. Wire what you can and you dont need to reduce transmit power. Max 5Ghz power, low 2.4Ghz power and set stuff like short preamble and other settings for a high traffic multi wifi setup. I have different DTIM and interval setup. I recommend something like 25 for DTIM and 100 for interval for a faster network that isnt so intrusive of other traffic while also being battery friendly.

you can add other routers for wifi but as long as each orbi has at least 2x2 wifi AC i see no reason why your performance should be low. You also didnt mention what router you were using and more wifi APs definitely will lighten the load. I do wire what i can, for instance my printer is connected via ethernet rather than wifi. Smart home devices should be wired and you should check how much data about you does it send to some remote server as your internet link is very small.

 

[lucrabbit]

Thanks for all the responses!

To sfx2000: I have tried to move the Orbi satellites around but I don't have too many options since the house isn't that big and the cable entrance is in a relatively centered location of the house - one Orbi main router could "barely" cover the whole house, of course most devices are on 2.4G

To coxhaus and System Error Message: I have Nest Cams so they are all wireless cameras with ~300G x 4 upload each month. Not sure this will be considered "heavy" load though. In addition I don't have easy access to run ethernet backhaul to hard wire the satellites to the main router, and I think that defeat the purpose of having a wireless backbone.

Update during Labor Day: I ended up purchasing an Asus RT86U based on the good reviews from the forum, and so far everything works great. The signal coverage is awesome even at 5G (much better than the single Orbi router, of course), and I used two separate SSID for 2.4G and 5G; forced most devices inside the house to 5G including one nearby camera. The remaining three cameras are still on 2.4G due to the limited reach of 5G, and so far so good. I am getting the full speed now.