Question Mesh system - backhaul 3 units or wifi connect 4 units?

[theanimala]

I am not a networking wizard at all. I currently have 3 routers in my house (1 being provided by Verizon Fios 1Gig service) and three different SSIDs. The routers are connected via ethernet. When in one part of the house I'm often connected to a router on the other end of the house and my signal is horrible. Also, they often need to be rebooted. Because of this I've decided to go with a mesh system.

I'm a fan of Costco and I see they have a 3 pack of the AC3000 Netgear Orbi for $299. My house is L shaped, and I could connect all three of these at the ends of the end points of the L on the main floor, using ether net as a backhaul. Hopefully the devices upstairs and downstairs would not have any problem.

Option #2 is the Google Nest Wifi 4 pack for $330. I would place each of these in the end points of the L, as well as place a 4th one in the middle upstairs. These do not have an ethernet backhaul but since there is a 4th unit I'm wondering if it might work better?

I don't care for Google Assistant so I would turn that off. The speaker part on the Nest might be helpful once in a while. But the most important thing is good, solid, RELIABLE coverage. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

 

[razel]

Long time user of Google onHub/GWiFi/Nest WiFi. Nest WiFi has two products, main router and points with GAss. Only the router version comes with Ethernet. They also tend to be more expensive, however the coverage of Nest WiFi is stellar. It and the ridiculus ASUS ROG-AC5300 in my home are the only routers that can get solid 5ghz and fast speeds in a dead area in my home. It's something about their beamforming algorthims... no surprize though, they are a software company with programming prowess. As for the ASUS, well it's got 8 antennas. It's got more chances. Both routers are 4 stream, but I have yet to see Nest WiFi go past 707mb/s over wireless. I think they are only using 2 streams and the other 2 perhaps as backup or for beamforming. Unsure.

I would recommend Google WiFi 3 pack from Google refurb store at $180 for 3. After that the 2 pack of Linksys Dual Band Velop for $100. Velop uses the same SOC and WiFi chips as GWiFi. After that I would go with any ASUS AX AiMesh router that you can find on sale. I would start with two and keep adding as long as you can get them on sale. I would only recommend Nest WiFi once amazon sells the two pack of routers for $200 which was I think last week or so.

By the way GWiFi and Nest WiFi are one of the few AC based routers that support WPA-3.

EDIT: Missing your original question. Ethernet backhaul 3 or as many as you can and optimize placement. The smaller GWIFi pucks are pretty ideal where you'd smoke detectors.

 

[UsandThem]

Here's an article I saved when I was comparing all the various options out there (it's before WIFI 6 began arriving): https://www.techspot.com/review/1892-mesh-wifi-router-roundup/

 

[VirtualLarry]

By the way GWiFi and Nest WiFi are one of the few AC based routers that support WPA-3.

Oh! Now that's interesting. I have no need for "Mesh", in my small apt., but WPA-3, with PFS would be nice.

Do your Wifi drivers have to explicitly support WPA-3, or just the OS-level "supplicant"? (*Win10's Wifi control panel widget.)

This would be glorious indeed.

 

[razel]

On the device end, both drivers and OS need WPA-3 support. Win10 and Android10 already do. I'm sure it'll continue to be added as more time passes and AX (WiFi6) becomes more prevalent.

Also I remember many here being pretty savvy. DD-WRT has had WPA-3 in it's code for awhile now. Not sure if it's matured enough to make it in the GUI yet. Perhaps others can try or chime in.

Also GWiFi and NestWiFi router can be used standalone. So the 3 GWiFi pack can be split between 3 homes.

 

[theanimala]

Thanks for the replies all. Usandthem, that was a great link you shared with me. I ended up doing a 3 pack of the AC3000 that I will backhaul via ethernet. Looks like it should be more than enough to cover my entire property. Luckily Costco has an easy return policy if I need to replace with something else.