Replacement router/mesh system

[Burnside]

Just got an email from Netgear informing me that my fairly trustworthy Netgear R8000 router that I bought for £160 seven years ago will shortly be taken out of support. They suggested that a replacement Netgear RS700S at £700(!) would closely match my current model. They did offer a one-time 20% discount that somehow I think I'll be declining...

Given the upcoming Prime Day sale, it probably is time for me to replace that router anyway - although I did get a new VM Superhub 5 recently after the previous hub 3 developed a fault. Haven't tested that to see how its wi-fi performs for my upstairs devices. My Netgear router connects to that in modem mode.

My requirements are I guess modest - I have half a dozen or so ethernet connected devices, and between 30-40 wifi smart home and other devices (and quite a few WiiMs ) split 50/50 on the 2.4gHz and 5gHz networks. Most of the devices are downstairs with a handful upstairs in my average sized 3 bedroom terraced house.

I was thinking maybe an eero mesh system given the amount of echo devices I have, a few of which have "eero built-in" which might help reception upstairs. I thought a two node system would suffice, one downstairs (with a dumb switch for my cabled connections), and the other upstairs for the few echos and other devices.

OK, network gurus - eero or something else?

 

[Skull]

Just got an email from Netgear informing me that my fairly trustworthy Netgear R8000 router that I bought for £160 seven years ago will shortly be taken out of support. They suggested that a replacement Netgear RS700S at £700(!) would closely match my current model. They did offer a one-time 20% discount that somehow I think I'll be declining...

Given the upcoming Prime Day sale, it probably is time for me to replace that router anyway - although I did get a new VM Superhub 6 recently after the previous hub 3 developed a fault. Haven't tested that to see how its wi-fi performs for my upstairs devices. My Netgear router connects to that in modem mode.

My requirements are I guess modest - I have half a dozen or so ethernet connected devices, and between 30-40 wifi smart home and other devices (and quite a few WiiMs ) split 50/50 on the 2.4gHz and 5gHz networks. Most of the devices are downstairs with a handful upstairs in my average sized 3 bedroom terraced house.

I was thinking maybe an eero mesh system given the amount of echo devices I have, a few of which have "eero built-in" which might help reception upstairs. I thought a two node system would suffice, one downstairs (with a dumb switch for my cabled connections), and the other upstairs for the few echos and other devices.

OK, network gurus - eero or something else?

Used eero for a long time now currently on eero 6 pro and they’re excellent
I used to use VM but due to many issues I left them and now have 3 5g bb
I have an error by the back window and get over 200mb down in my garden all over the house I get 300+
That’s conservative speeds I can exceed 400 sometimes not bad for 21 a month
Forgot to mention I am a retired network engineer

 

[hgo58]

I have used the TP-Link Deco M5 for a long time now. Never had any issues and they do what they are supposed to do. It's setup and forget.

Only thing missing is WiFi 6.

 

[Burnside]

Forgot to mention I am a retired network engineer

Good to know - while I would/did consider myself a techie in a few areas, I don't know what it is but always felt networking was a black art that I shunned

A two node eero 6 or 6+ (still trying to figure out the differences) system is coming in around £150 which is fine - I'll hold back till Prime Day itself and see if they come down further in price. Might even consider the pro 6e 2-pack at £260, 35% down from £400...

Thanks for the info

 

[QuarryHunslet]

I have been using a TP-Link Deco S7 AC1900Mbps Whole Mesh WiFi System for almost three years, and have five units, one of which is connected to my BT Smart Hub (WiFi turned off) in my hallway, and another unit downstairs, with the remaining three units upstairs.

 

[Intruder]

I have a pair of Asus routers setup in AI Mesh (RT-AX82U) prefer Asus routers as the configuration they allow is fantastic, especially for VPNs etc etc

 

[Skull]

Good to know - while I would/did consider myself a techie in a few areas, I don't know what it is but always felt networking was a black art that I shunned

A two node eero 6 or 6+ (still trying to figure out the differences) system is coming in around £150 which is fine - I'll hold back till Prime Day itself and see if they come down further in price. Might even consider the pro 6e 2-pack at £260, 35% down from £400...

Thanks for the info

If you ever visit a network engineer irc channel or forum you will find a lot of them use eero because you set it up then forget about it, nothing worse than coming home after a hard day fixing faults and then having to faff about fixing the home network
Also the phone support is excellent oh don’t pay the monthly add on eero+ unless you want to drill down on network usage

 

[Djinn206]

My Mesh-Homenetwork consists of one Asus RT-AX82U main router (around 120€) and 2 Asus RP-AX58 Mesh Extenders (around 60€ each). Very simple to set up the Extenders (one is connected by cable (up to the first floor) and one to the basement (over WiFi)). Full WiFi coverage with great speeds all around our house. So it's possible to get quite a good network home system without speending too much money.

 

[Doublej]

I recommend Dong Know Tech. https://dongknows.com/ to learn about networking. Dong covers all of the major vendors and discusses features in detail.

Eero's are great except for the privacy concerns. While those Echo devices can be nodes in a mesh network, their speed is not great so you may still be better off adding a eero node instead of using an Echo device as a node.

The simplest solution may be to use the VM Superhub 6 and add one of their extenders if needed.

 

[PIMK]

I'm happy with my Ubiqiti UniFi Devices (Cloud Gateway, some APs and some Switches). I have only one UI for all Devices, the Service ist great.

 

[Intruder]

I recommend Dong Know Tech. https://dongknows.com/ to learn about networking. Dong covers all of the major vendors and discusses features in detail.

Eero's are great except for the privacy concerns. While those Echo devices can be nodes in a mesh network, their speed is not great so you may still be better off adding a eero node instead of using an Echo device as a node.

The simplest solution may be to use the VM Superhub 6 and add one of their extenders if needed.

Agree wouldn't touch Eero with a bargepole ...

 

[Wiimer]

w

Good to know - while I would/did consider myself a techie in a few areas, I don't know what it is but always felt networking was a black art that I shunned

A two node eero 6 or 6+ (still trying to figure out the differences) system is coming in around £150 which is fine - I'll hold back till Prime Day itself and see if they come down further in price. Might even consider the pro 6e 2-pack at £260, 35% down from £400...

Thanks for the info

Is the New eero 7 on your list?
For the day when next-gen WiiM devices support Wi-Fi 7

 

[BEE]

The Eero devices won’t let you split bands nor Wi-Fi channels if that’s required.

I have some here but they just sit unused in their boxes as I have a Unifi system which gives me control (too much possibly) over everything.

Would however recommend Eero for someone who does not like tinkering.

 

[Burnside]

The Eero devices won’t let you split bands nor Wi-Fi channels if that’s required.

I have some here but they just sit unused in their boxes as I have a Unifi system which gives me control (too much possibly) over everything.

Would however recommend Eero for someone who does not like tinkering.

Can that make connecting some smart devices that only use 2.4gHz a bit of a bind? Some of the related apps don't seem too bright in allowing the router to select that band for the devices. Can you temporarily suspend the 5gHz band to force the use of the 2.4gHz band for such devices/apps?

 

[Skull]

Can that make connecting some smart devices that only use 2.4gHz a bit of a bind? Some of the related apps don't seem too bright in allowing the router to select that band for the devices. Can you temporarily suspend the 5gHz band to force the use of the 2.4gHz band for such devices/apps?

There’s an option to disable 5ghz temporarily to connect reluctant 2.4 devices my friend had problems with his cameras but this sorted it
Only issue I have is my doorbell and cameras don’t like wpa3 so disabled it
I have a mix of 2.4 and 5ghz devices never had a problem and I use fixed IPs on all my devices

 

[BEE]

Can that make connecting some smart devices that only use 2.4gHz a bit of a bind? Some of the related apps don't seem too bright in allowing the router to select that band for the devices. Can you temporarily suspend the 5gHz band to force the use of the 2.4gHz band for such devices/apps?

Not found any settings to do that unfortunately. There is an eero subreddit that may shed more light on it. There is a guest network option but never looked into that, of course it would be totally isolated from your main network so probably not much use.

 

[Skull]

Never had to use the myself

 

[Skull]

 

[Burnside]

I recommend Dong Know Tech. https://dongknows.com/ to learn about networking. Dong covers all of the major vendors and discusses features in detail.

Eero's are great except for the privacy concerns. While those Echo devices can be nodes in a mesh network, their speed is not great so you may still be better off adding a eero node instead of using an Echo device as a node.

The simplest solution may be to use the VM Superhub 6 and add one of their extenders if needed.

Yeah, should really try that first before spending any cash. BTW, 6 is a typo on my part - it’s the super hub 5 which I think is their latest model.

I think I do have one of their boosters/extenders in the “shed of forgotten tech” - never used it, it’s still in its original box. When the rain stops, I may venture out for it and give it a go upstairs. I’ll probably have to spend an afternoon going round changing stuff after that as my existing SSIDs, assigned IP addresses, bookmarks etc need changed anyway.

 

[slartibartfast]

Yeah, should really try that first before spending any cash. BTW, 6 is a typo on my part - it’s the super hub 5 which I think is their latest model.

I think I do have one of their boosters/extenders in the “shed of forgotten tech” - never used it, it’s still in its original box. When the rain stops, I may venture out for it and give it a go upstairs. I’ll probably have to spend an afternoon going round changing stuff after that as my existing SSIDs, assigned IP addresses, bookmarks etc need changed anyway.

I was going to remark on the Superhub 6 . One issue with using the built in Wifi of the Superhub 5 is that if there is a problem with the internet connection then the WiFi doesn't work either so you can't play local music from a server. At least that used to be the case with earlier hubs and I don't suppose the latest are different.