Good point on the hard speed test; I have done wifi speed tests, just doesn't seem like consistent internet speeds. My neighbor complains as well.

The modem is connected to a cable that is hard wired into a panel on the third floor; this is how it was setup when I moved in 5yrs ago and haven't changed it.

Another vote for the Orbi. I've had it for about 3 months and am very pleased with it. I get great speeds everywhere in my house and out by the pool. It was also very easy to set up...took me less than 15 minutes.

Cappy407 said:

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Orbi is expensive but generally gets the best reviews and ratings. That said, what exactly is the problem with your WiFi? If you're needing someone to come set it up, my guess is you aren't the most tech savvy. Do you need to invest in a mesh network? Or would something as simple as a range extender, better router, etc solve the issue?

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I have Uverse fiber and use their router and have 2 Ubiquiti Unifi Access Points and don't get a strong consitent signal.

I am not tech savvy and probably just need someone to take a look at it.

JAW3336 said:

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Cappy407 said:

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Orbi is expensive but generally gets the best reviews and ratings. That said, what exactly is the problem with your WiFi? If you're needing someone to come set it up, my guess is you aren't the most tech savvy. Do you need to invest in a mesh network? Or would something as simple as a range extender, better router, etc solve the issue?

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I have Uverse fiber and use their router and have 2 Ubiquiti Unifi Access Points and don't get a strong consitent signal.

I am not tech savvy and probably just need someone to take a look at it.

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Do you have the Pace dual gateway/router? I have AT&T fiber as well and want to upgrade our network but can't because the Pace has a known firmware bug that limits speeds to less than 50mbps if you have it paired with your own router. Essentially waiting on the bug to get fixed but it's been a defect for going on 4 months now.

Really freaking blows.

Old School Brother said:

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Anyone with more experience with the smartthings wifi with built in hub? Currently trying to decide between Google wifi and standalone hub or the smartthings system.

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I replaced a Google mesh with the Samsung mesh because my smartthings mesh couldn't make the leap to my detached garage.

But since each Samsung mesh wifi hub doubles a smartthings hub/repeater I was able to expand out my home automation to the garage.

I 2nd the Eero system. It's been flawless since I set it up. I have the main unit and two beacons. I think the best things about it is you just set it and forget it.

Any suggestions for a POE mesh router set up? We do not have that much 110V. I know I asked this awhile back, but it may have been some time ago.

Bradley.Kohr.II said:

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Any suggestions for a POE mesh router set up? We do not have that much 110V. I know I asked this awhile back, but it may have been some time ago.

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Probably something in the Ubiquiti Unifi series.

WhoopRAB said:

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My father in law has horrible coverage even with an WiFi extender. He is really interested in a mesh network. Current internet is U-Verse with a single box for internet and WiFi. I'm not sure of the gateway model number.

If you buy one of these mesh systems and plug the base unit into the U-verse gateway will that disable the existing AT&T U-verse WiFi.?

If not, do you have to log on to the gateway as an Admin and disable the U-verse WiFi? Is this the address for logging into the gateway? 192.168.1.254

Any advice appreciated.

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You will have to manually disable the Uverse WIFI. Just google the make and model of the modem/router and it will give you the admin username and pw.

When I bought the Orbi system I had to disable the wifi on my Surfboard with built in wifi.

I have AT&T and got Google Wifi to extend to all 3 floors on a townhome. It works great as I can stream on the first floor now. (AT&T router is on 3rd)

So I have experimented with turning the original AT&T wifi off and leaving it on. I see no noticeable difference in Google wifi speed with AT&T wifi on or off. In my opinion, you can leave it on if you want to.

aggiedata said:

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I have AT&T and got Google Wifi to extend to all 3 floors on a townhome. It works great as I can stream on the first floor now. (AT&T router is on 3rd)

So I have experimented with turning the original AT&T wifi off and leaving it on. I see no noticeable difference in Google wifi speed with AT&T wifi on or off. In my opinion, you can leave it on if you want to.

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If they are on the same frequency / channel it could potentially cause you trouble.

dubi said:

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aggiedata said:

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I have AT&T and got Google Wifi to extend to all 3 floors on a townhome. It works great as I can stream on the first floor now. (AT&T router is on 3rd)

So I have experimented with turning the original AT&T wifi off and leaving it on. I see no noticeable difference in Google wifi speed with AT&T wifi on or off. In my opinion, you can leave it on if you want to.

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If they are on the same frequency / channel it could potentially cause you trouble.

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Good point if you have issues. If you turn off your original, you can also find all those things hooked up to it faster. There's no real reason to leave it on, except for trying to figure out out how to turn it off.

Has anyone used the AiMesh option from ASUS? I would love to hear your experience or thoughts on this. I am looking at the different options for routers at my house as me are having connectivity issues downstairs. We currently have an ASUS router, however it is not on the list for this tech, so I will be starting from scratch.

https://www.asus.com/us/AiMesh/

We have a 3,000 sq ft 2 story house with a pretty big yard. I would love to blanket the house and the yard with wifi. My expectation is that I would need some type of mesh system, although I am not sure that I want to spend $250+. This might be a way for me to slowly add a mesh system over several months without doing it all at once.

https://www.amplifi.com/

Anyone used Araknis?

The low-V company for our home build offers Eero and Araknis.

For the initial build we had 3 ceiling WAP points placed. When we move in we'll use our existing Orbi, but at some point will likely install Eero, Araknis, or something along those lines.

WhoopRAB said:

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Thanks all. I just bought a refurbished Orbi RBK50 on woot.com $160 for base and one satellite. It is Tri-band.

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I missed it. It's already sold out. That is a great price.

Flashdiaz said:

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aTm2004 said:

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Reveille said:

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I highly recommend Google WiFi. I have Google WiFi in three homes 6,000, 7,700 and 10,000 sq ft. I use 3, 3 and 4 nodes in my homes with speeds over 250mb/s throughout all of the houses. Coverage is amazing on all floors and in back yard. Might get faster speeds but internet is only 285mb/s.

It's easy to set up and manage. I have been using for 3 years with no problems or complaints.

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You have 3 houses that are each more than double the average home size in the US?

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this was quite the humblebrag.

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I didn't catch the humble part.

aTm2004 said:

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Reveille said:

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I highly recommend Google WiFi. I have Google WiFi in three homes 6,000, 7,700 and 10,000 sq ft. I use 3, 3 and 4 nodes in my homes with speeds over 250mb/s throughout all of the houses. Coverage is amazing on all floors and in back yard. Might get faster speeds but internet is only 285mb/s.

It's easy to set up and manage. I have been using for 3 years with no problems or complaints.

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You have 3 houses that are each more than double the average home size in the US?

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They're probably for the help.

Just got the 3 eero package. Seems to work, but I'm not understanding why I had to set it to bridge mode instead of letting it set itself automatically.

I thought it would just do DHCP connection to the cable modem I have connected to Suddenlink. It's an Arris from a some number of years ago that I can't recall... not built in wifi but I buy my own instead of renting from Suddenlink.

Now I have to set this up

https://support.eero.com/hc/en-us/articles/208315013-Connecting-AirPort-Extreme-Time-Capsule-or-Airport-Express-to-your-eero-network

but I can't find my USB-C to ethernet dongle!

On the ancient Airport network I just replaced, I had set the DNS to use google as the primary instead of suddenlink. Probably need to do that too.

edit to add: we only have one house

Love my new setup. It will set you back some cash, but I am covering 3800sqft with it at amazing speeds.

Grande 600M service
Netgear DOCSIS 3.1 cable modem
Velop mesh (3 nodes)

Here is the speed that the Velop system is spitting out:


Resulting in this bit of ridiculousness from my Samsung Note 8:

Thanks! I ended up getting the rbk40 at a great deal.

I did see this deal on woot today.
https://www.woot.com/offers/netgear-orbi-home-mesh-wifi-system-16?ref=w_cnt_lnd_cat_pc_10_1

Just FYI I saw the Netgear Orbi system had a $40 off coupon on Amazon bringing it down to $227 plus tax. I just bought one for our house.

I love mine.

AdamsBQ06 said:

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I love mine.

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Glad to hear it. It seems to be the most well reviewed of the major brands. Plus I don't care if it's slightly more expensive as long as I only have to buy one once.

Wildmen03 said:

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AdamsBQ06 said:

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I love mine.

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Glad to hear it. It seems to be the most well reviewed of the major brands. Plus I don't care if it's slightly more expensive as long as I only have to buy one once.

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Tip to everyone with a mesh system...

Many devices (like the 2nd gen firestick, Roku, Echos, etc) have the ability to connect to 2.4ghz and 5ghz wifi. A mesh system comes with default wifi settings that put both on the same network name. If you leave it that way, your devices are likely to connect to the 2.4 and leave you with very limited bandwidth. If you log directly into the wifi modem, you can change the network for the 2.4ghz and power up your devices.

Just put in Linksys Velop 2 channel system (AC3600). Walmart ran a special for $150 for AC3600. Replaced a single AC instance. Wifi strong around whole home and outside.

If you have Sonoff devices and not tech savvy (likely if you have Sonoff you know what you are doing), be prepared for some reconfiguration.

Having a bit of trouble with port forwarding, ended up configuring bridge mode for now with AC router and radios turned off.. All traffic seems to get blocked by the Velop, even with port forward configured.

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Edit: Got Sonoff devices back in service. Just redid the sign on to eWeLink.

All in all, looks like this will be solid service for years at the house. Reality is about 20 minutes setup per node as firmware has to update and reboot. If you use port forwarding, DHCP reservations be ready for more time. If you are just a home user and want to improve WiFi coverage, seems to be a good product. If I remember, will post a 3 or 6 month follow up.

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Edit another follow up.

Port Forwarding worked as advertised out of the box. Never did determine why it failed initially.

Summary: Velop works fine and if you don't do anything special like port forwarding, reserve IP Addresses and similar setup will likely be about 20 minutes per node. (5 minutes is possible without a firmware update). This is a reasonable replacement for a single WiFi access point without having to think about the details. I wanted and got "Whole House" coverage. The garage works, the patio room works, the outdoors around the house works and no more slow spots in the house. Easy to turn on guest network. My Amazon Firesticks have come to life. Apple TV is snappy. There are now zero Ethernet wired devices except for the gateway Velop node to the cable modem.

My Broadband provider is Xfinity at 65Gbs capped at 1Tb / month. That is quite sufficient for just wife and and I. Speed test confirm the service via Velop.

I got that Velop system over the weekend. I had everything set up within 5 minutes.

Wildmen03 said:

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Just FYI I saw the Netgear Orbi system had a $40 off coupon on Amazon bringing it down to $227 plus tax. I just bought one for our house.

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Just used the $40 coupon to get a 3 unit Orbi for 3000sf and back yard(hopefully).
Will need to run a Ethernet to centralize the main router but should not be a problem.
Thanks for the heads up.

Read this thread, got the Orbi, LOVE IT!!!! Had NetGear before and this is the EASIEST and FASTEST thing around!!! Total whole house coverage, 2600 sq ft, go Orbing!!!

Looks like the Amazon coupon applies to the RBK23 model and not the RBK50.

Is there much of a difference?

We have a 1,900 sq ft home and 200mbps.

Gigem314 said:

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Looks like the Amazon coupon applies to the RBK23 model and not the RBK50.

Is there much of a difference?

We have a 1,900 sq ft home and 200mbps.

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Looks like the 23 has smaller units and being a previous model might not be as fast as the 50. The 50 has larger units, meaning better antennas, and newer internals. So you get more coverage with one less unit. That being said, unless you have to have the premium model, save yourself a few bucks and go with the 23. The average user won't notice a difference.

Really dumb question on my part. I have the xfinity supplied router. I use that because if I use another type and have connectivity issues I am afraid xfinity will not help me.

I work out of the house and need support quickly when there are problems. At the same time my coverage in an 1,800 sf House is poor.

Can I safely jettison the xfinity router and get. Something else?