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Mesh network or wifi extender for AT&T Fiber wifi coverage for only wireless devices ?

P

pcslookout

Lifer
Which should we do ?

Right now we have all ethernet devices connected by the cord but now we need good wifi coverage for all our wireless devices.
 
I would ask, how many Sq. Ft. is your home, and what kind of construction? Plaster/Lathe, or Concrete/Steel, are some of the hardest environments to "punch a signal through".

If you're already wired, is it wired to most rooms? If so, consider dropping an AP into each room that needs Wireless coverage.

If not, Consider Mesh over an extender, IMHO. Less hassle setting it up and managing it.

Don't forget powerline networking, they make powerline APs.
 
VirtualLarry said:
I would ask, how many Sq. Ft. is your home, and what kind of construction? Plaster/Lathe, or Concrete/Steel, are some of the hardest environments to "punch a signal through".

If you're already wired, is it wired to most rooms? If so, consider dropping an AP into each room that needs Wireless coverage.

If not, Consider Mesh over an extender, IMHO. Less hassle setting it up and managing it.

Don't forget powerline networking, they make powerline APs.
Click to expand...

1900 Sq. Ft. Not sure sorry. Just normal house walls I guess. lol

Wired is to most areas yes but not all.

What is a AP and how much are they ? Do they lower speed any ?

Right now we have one wifi extender from AT&T but I know it is not the greatest.


Also with a wifi mesh network can I still use my AT&T Router/gateway or does the mesh network need to turn into the main router somehow?
 
pcslookout said:
Right now we have one wifi extender from AT&T but I know it is not the greatest.

Also with a wifi mesh network can I still use my AT&T Router/gateway or does the mesh network need to turn into the main router somehow?
Click to expand...
Aye, that's the rub. I've read that the Google Wifi Mesh networking, that the base station likes to be your "main" router.

I'm personally using Asus' AiMesh networking, with a couple of AC68U-equivalent units, and that is not my primary router, it is connected "behind" a FIOS "Quantum Gateway" G1100 router.
 
VirtualLarry said:
Aye, that's the rub. I've read that the Google Wifi Mesh networking, that the base station likes to be your "main" router.

I'm personally using Asus' AiMesh networking, with a couple of AC68U-equivalent units, and that is not my primary router, it is connected "behind" a FIOS "Quantum Gateway" G1100 router.
Click to expand...

Thanks what is Asus' AiMesh networking ?
 
AP == Access Point, in the context of Wifi discussions.

Basically, what people think of as a "Wifi router", is actually, an Access Point (or several, if it's multi-band), a router (with a WAN and LAN ports), and a switch (with all of the LAN ports connected).

An Access Point, bridges between ethernet and wifi, essentially. A standalone one, generally does not have DHCP, WAN routing, or NAT features. You can turn an ordinary wifi router, into an AP, by disabling those features in the firmware settings, generally-speaking.

I believe that most Asus router's running their own AsusWRT firmware, offer the option between Router and AP, as well as Media Bridge and Wifi Client mode, depending on model.
 
If you're only needing 2 areas to be covered by wifi, I would put powerline adapters there or moca if you have cable wires in those rooms and then connect an access point wherever you need wireless. Range and all that jazz won't be an issue since you're only having to cover that room since other rooms also have their own wired connections and can have their own wireless access points.

The key to keeping speeds good is to NOT use repeaters or range extenders that do no have a wired connection back to your router.
 
SamirD said:
The key to keeping speeds good is to NOT use repeaters or range extenders that do no have a wired connection back to your router.
Click to expand...
This. Unless you are using a Tri-Band AC or better mesh system, which dedicates one of the 5Ghz bands to back-haul, that can approximate a wired back-haul, with a dedicated band, but other than that, yes, what you wrote is true.

Without a dedicated back-haul band, normally repeaters halve the connection bandwidth every time they repeat, due to the half-duplex nature of wifi.
 
That is exactly what you do not want as it will be more cumbersome to get working well versus a wired backbone.
 
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