Hi All,
I'm looking for some guidance with regard to a mesh networking solution for my current home with an eye toward future proofing.
A bit about my current situation, I currently live in a ~1700 square foot apartment which is long. I have a 100mbps fiber connection through AT&T which sits at one end of the apartment. At the other end of the apartment, the connection from their provided router tends to drop out occasionally and is slow. The building is a fairly old duplex and I suspect (although can't confirm) there is some concrete and plaster that also interferes with the connection, and there's approximately 4 walls between the main hub and where my and my wife's offices are. My first priority is stability of the wireless connection as we both often have to do work from home, with the second priority being throughput (we do a fair bit of 4k streaming, etc.) and third priority being future proofing.
First, I recognize that a powerful router would probably be an adequate solution for us, however, at some point we will be moving to a bigger home and I would like to get a solution now that would be a generally effective solution for most types of homes. I'm not a power user, but I have a strong appreciation for a fast internet connection. I'm primarily looking at at The 2nd gen eero, Orbi, and the AmplifiHD systems, but am certainly open to other suggestions.
My current thoughts on these systems are:
Eero: I love how unobtrusive the beacons and main router are. I really like that they have a dedicated backhaul channel, and I like that you are afforded a lot of control over the network via an app. I like that it is possible to improve the network in the future by purchasing additional beacons. I like that the devices can be daisychained and do not need to all connect directly to the hub. The drawbacks seem to me to be the lack of ethernet connections at the main hub (I have a smart TV, a chromecast and a blu-ray player at my main access point, all of which can connect wirelessly, but would ideally be hardwired). It also seems suboptimal that a lot of the functionality seems to be dependent on the existence of a company which could, at some point, go under. It's also the most expensive solution of the three I've listed.
Orbi: Seems to be an excellent, if more traditional, solution with great throughput and a dedicated backhaul channel. I like that both the main unit as well as the satellite have a decent number of ethernet connections. It's among the cheapest of the systems I'm looking at, and is also extendable by purchasing additional satellites, if necessary.The drawbacks seem to be that as a system, it is slightly less flexible as its base is two units, so if there are problem walls or areas, it would seem they would theoretically be tougher to get to. It seems like netgear is doing a good job of upgrading the functionality of the devices (ethernet backhaul, daisychaining, etc.) but from my reading, it sounds like every time they implement new functionality, things break temporarily, which would be a real pain. While the design is not ugly, it's certainly more conspicuous than the eero devices.
AmplifiHD: I have a crush on this system's router. I love the look, I love the LCD. The accompanying app seems to be the most powerful and flexible of the three systems. It seems that this is the cheapest solution to extend in the future, as their mesh extenders are cheaper than the eero beacons or orbi sattelites. While not in the consumer space, ubiquiti certainly has a long track record of good quality and is unlikely to go under any time soon. Although less subtle than the eero beacons, I do like that the mesh extenders plug into the wall directly. I also like that the main router has a number of ethernet connections. The main downside to this system, as far as I can tell, is the lack of a dedicated backhaul channel, and the mesh extenders are large and clunky looking.
I've looked into the Linksys Velop system which, for whatever reason, just doesn't grab my attention. I'm certainly open to being convinced. Google WiFi seems like a nice and inexpensive solution, but is less future proof than the others.
I'd love to hear people's thoughts and experiences or suggestions of other systems not mentioned here!
I'm looking for some guidance with regard to a mesh networking solution for my current home with an eye toward future proofing.
A bit about my current situation, I currently live in a ~1700 square foot apartment which is long. I have a 100mbps fiber connection through AT&T which sits at one end of the apartment. At the other end of the apartment, the connection from their provided router tends to drop out occasionally and is slow. The building is a fairly old duplex and I suspect (although can't confirm) there is some concrete and plaster that also interferes with the connection, and there's approximately 4 walls between the main hub and where my and my wife's offices are. My first priority is stability of the wireless connection as we both often have to do work from home, with the second priority being throughput (we do a fair bit of 4k streaming, etc.) and third priority being future proofing.
First, I recognize that a powerful router would probably be an adequate solution for us, however, at some point we will be moving to a bigger home and I would like to get a solution now that would be a generally effective solution for most types of homes. I'm not a power user, but I have a strong appreciation for a fast internet connection. I'm primarily looking at at The 2nd gen eero, Orbi, and the AmplifiHD systems, but am certainly open to other suggestions.
My current thoughts on these systems are:
Eero: I love how unobtrusive the beacons and main router are. I really like that they have a dedicated backhaul channel, and I like that you are afforded a lot of control over the network via an app. I like that it is possible to improve the network in the future by purchasing additional beacons. I like that the devices can be daisychained and do not need to all connect directly to the hub. The drawbacks seem to me to be the lack of ethernet connections at the main hub (I have a smart TV, a chromecast and a blu-ray player at my main access point, all of which can connect wirelessly, but would ideally be hardwired). It also seems suboptimal that a lot of the functionality seems to be dependent on the existence of a company which could, at some point, go under. It's also the most expensive solution of the three I've listed.
Orbi: Seems to be an excellent, if more traditional, solution with great throughput and a dedicated backhaul channel. I like that both the main unit as well as the satellite have a decent number of ethernet connections. It's among the cheapest of the systems I'm looking at, and is also extendable by purchasing additional satellites, if necessary.The drawbacks seem to be that as a system, it is slightly less flexible as its base is two units, so if there are problem walls or areas, it would seem they would theoretically be tougher to get to. It seems like netgear is doing a good job of upgrading the functionality of the devices (ethernet backhaul, daisychaining, etc.) but from my reading, it sounds like every time they implement new functionality, things break temporarily, which would be a real pain. While the design is not ugly, it's certainly more conspicuous than the eero devices.
AmplifiHD: I have a crush on this system's router. I love the look, I love the LCD. The accompanying app seems to be the most powerful and flexible of the three systems. It seems that this is the cheapest solution to extend in the future, as their mesh extenders are cheaper than the eero beacons or orbi sattelites. While not in the consumer space, ubiquiti certainly has a long track record of good quality and is unlikely to go under any time soon. Although less subtle than the eero beacons, I do like that the mesh extenders plug into the wall directly. I also like that the main router has a number of ethernet connections. The main downside to this system, as far as I can tell, is the lack of a dedicated backhaul channel, and the mesh extenders are large and clunky looking.
I've looked into the Linksys Velop system which, for whatever reason, just doesn't grab my attention. I'm certainly open to being convinced. Google WiFi seems like a nice and inexpensive solution, but is less future proof than the others.
I'd love to hear people's thoughts and experiences or suggestions of other systems not mentioned here!
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