Whole home mesh wifi

Jamesdeer001

Hi
I have a huawei 4g/5g router with an unlimted EE sim in that I use for my broadband. It's also a 5g router and will get 5g data once it comes to my area in the next few months.
I would like to get mesh wifi to cover my house (as the router needs to be in the best place to get EE signal).
With a budget of up to £300, what mesh wifi systems would you recommend. Are the google and amazon systems the best in that price bracket? I need 3 discs, with one in my home office so I can have an ethernet connection for work.
Appreciate recommendations thanks

Fly100

I use Unifi AP ( the AC Lite) you can wire them or wire one and use it to feed the others. You can also plug one into your Router and

feed the rest of that. Id suggest turning the Router Wifi off. Unifi AP's can have multiple SSIDs and band steering etc.

fred246

I have a Tenda MW3 which is £60 for three. They have been great. My internet is only 36mbps though so not sure how good they are at higher speeds. The MW6 has faster chips. When you set them up you have to avoid double NAT. You have to have Tenda in DHCP and connect nothing else on the router or have it in Bridge mode and let the router do all the work.

MattMattMattUK

I use Google Nest Wifi as a Mesh and it is great, the coverage it solid, it is easy to set up and works seamlessly, the only issue you will have is that the individual points do not have ethernet ports, so if you wanted a wired connection they you will need to look at other options. It is also powerful enough that you might not need three "discs", a friend moved from needing the hub plus three "discs" from BT wifi to cover his house, to using just the wifi router and one point from Google Nest Wifi and his coverage is better and signal stronger than the BT option. 

If you want wired connections and more advanced options then the Netgear Orbi stuff is probably the best bet, you do not need the Wifi 6 version, so it would be around £300 for the whole home kit. Each point has four ethernet ports and the coverage from each device is again far better than the BT "discs". 

fred246

If you want to investigate this sort of product you have to investigate which chips they use because they are basically a little computer all on the one chip eg Realtek vs Qualcomm. Just like graphics cards or mobile phones etc etc

bob_a_builder

Another Tenda MW3 user here - I get my full 67Mb Internet thru mine and they were a bargain @ 3 for £60 - they do have ethernet ports too 
But think they are discontinued now , you can still get MW5's from Currys for £80 
Although not sure if MW5 have the network points, if thats important

But can certainly recommend as a brand -

mgfvvc

I've got the TP-Link Deco M5. It was £150 for 3 last time I looked. It's been very reliable, unlike the BT Whole Home Mesh I had before it.

CoastingHatbox

James,

Question:
Is your home large enough to require multiple wireless access points? Or is it the case that you are trying to extend the WiFi coverage of a 4/5G hotspot to cover an average size home of relatively modern construction?

Suggestion:

I'd suggest cracking out a WiFi Analyser app on your phone and doing a WiFi survey of your home first. A mesh WiFi network will need a clear WiFi channel for its backhaul as well as a good clear channel for devices to connect to. They typically use one of the WiFi bands (either 2.4Ghz or 5GHz) for the backhaul and the other for connections from devices. If there is a lot of WiFi contention in you area with no clear channels, then Ethernet backhaul might be a better option. Or perhaps powerline adapters.

Someone near me recently installed a mesh network and it has caused a considerable amount of contention as it is using multiple channels/wide bands, so this is worth checking out.

Ballard

I previously lived in a flat but the Wi-Fi couldn’t penetrate the walls. I could stand at the bus stop 100m away and just about get a signal but not in the next room. I bought BT Whole home for £170 and placed the three discs strategically and it worked perfectly so would recommend. As far as I’m aware additional discs can be purchased if needed. 

alan_d

I'm also using the TP-Link Deco M5 system with 3 units, works well.

Sandtree

Jamesdeer001 said:

 I need 3 discs, with one in my home office so I can have an ethernet connection for work.

Why do you need the ethernet connection? The signal will still be going via wifi from that node to the one on the router.

We have a Linksys Velop setup and it appears to work well with two nodes. Not sure the timeline for 6e devices to start appearing in material numbers but it will inevitably drive down the prices of older options when they are no longer the latest and greatest.