Question Wifi Mesh

[bjb21]

Hello,

I am new to the forum and have a quick question. I am wondering if a wifi mesh system would work for my setup. What I would look at doing is having a 3 pack system. I would have the main router in the middle of my house and then about 50 - 60 feet away I would put an AP and then I have a garage about 80' from my house. Would I be able to reach the mesh system in the garage and then put another AP in the garage to give me coverage in the garage? Unfortunately I don't have cat 5 in my garage to hook into. Any help or suggestions on other setups would be great.

 

[VirtualLarry]

In theory, it could work. In practice, it depends on the distance, frequency used, and the obstacles (walls, trees, etc.) between the mesh nodes. Mesh nodes work best when they are sort of equidistant between the client wifi and the base router. Meaning, that you need a good enough signal, from the base router, to reach the mesh router, and vice-versa with more mesh routers stringing out from there. You can't just plop one down at the "edge" of coverage, and expect it to function well.

That said, is there line-of-site between the house and the garage, 80' away? That's a bit far for mesh, especially if it has to traverse two walls (house and garage). It may be doable with Mesh, but have you considered a point-to-point link, using two "Nanostation Locos"?

You might even consider trenching, and using direct-burial fiber-optic cable between the locations. That would likely be the most reliable solution (wired), but it does entail some effort and expense. (Be sure not to affect any other utilities going between locations as well, don't hit any electrical or phone cables. Call DigSafe.)

 

[bjb21]

Between the house and the garage would be clear sight and the router and AP in the house would be on the same level. The best option would probably be a bridge just running the wiring would be the issue that I am trying to avoid.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Amazon.com : nanostation loco

 

[Eric Fazekas]

I use Linksys Velop nodes to do exactly what you're saying. I have three that use a wired backhaul in the house, but the one on the west side of my house communicates wirelessly to a fourth Velop node. It's about 85 ft from node to node. Direct line of sight it goes through two brick walls, but there are windows near both nodes (the nodes are not in the windows). There are some times when the Velop node in the garage displays an orange light that means it's at the edge of the effective range, but most of the time it's a good Blue idicator light.

 

[bjb21]

I use Linksys Velop nodes to do exactly what you're saying. I have three that use a wired backhaul in the house, but the one on the west side of my house communicates wirelessly to a fourth Velop node. It's about 85 ft from node to node. Direct line of sight it goes through two brick walls, but there are windows near both nodes (the nodes are not in the windows). There are some times when the Velop node in the garage displays an orange light that means it's at the edge of the effective range, but most of the time it's a good Blue idicator light.

Excellent this is what I am looking for. These would be going through normal wood walls and I could put them in a window which may help as well.

 

[Eric Fazekas]

For visual...there's actually and elevation change (house is higher) that adds a foot or two.

 

[bjb21]

For visual...there's actually and elevation change (house is higher) that adds a foot or two. View attachment 17494

That is about the same setup as mine.. My house would be a little higher. For my type of setup I would want a 3 pack system is that correct?

 

[Eric Fazekas]

That is about the same setup as mine.. My house would be a little higher. For my type of setup I would want a 3 pack system is that correct?

My house is 110 feet from side to side (one side is an in-law apartment) with a metal roof and some second story areas. I had the house built. When we first moved in I had one pretty stout wireless router in the middle "comm closet", but I still had some low-signal spots on both sides of the house. That's when I bought the 3-pack velop system. I put one in the central comm-closet, and one on each side of the house. It's possible that two would have done the job if I placed them on opposite sides of the house, but I never tested it. Rather than mess with what was working I just bought a 4th node for the detached garage.

This worked for me. I'm sure the more nerdy (no offense) on this forum would have better ideas, I just want it to work.

 

[bjb21]

That is what I am looking for is just something to work without having to try and run cabling through attic and crawl spaces! I have been looking at the TP-Link Deco units as well.

 

[mxnerd]

My thoughts. All TP-Link products.

Maybe one TPLink Deco set + one TP-Link CPE210

Deco inside of the garage
------- CPE210 outside of the garage
~~~ Deco inside of the house( but beside of a window that faces garage)
~~~ Deco in the middle of the house.

where ------- means wired, and ~~~ means wireless.

If you don't have a window facing the garage, you probably need a pair of CP210, one on the garage side and one on the house side facing each other.

You probably can't avoid drilling for the outdoor CPE210(s).

 

[sdifox]

You want a wifi bridge, not a mesh.
So two units facing each other, forming a connection in your two network.

You can run mesh in the house if you want, but for that link it is better to have hardwire to wireless bridge.

Main diff is wifi bridge is directional, giving you better connection.

 

[Eric Fazekas]

Just an additional piece of information. My connection in the garage with the Velop set-up is strong enough/fast enough that I'm able to plug in a PoE switch to one of the ports on the bottom of the Velop and run two PoE 1080p cameras that connect to my Lorex NVR and record 24x7/365. The benefit to me is it extends my IP range to the garage so the NVR is able to find the cameras. I'm sure all this is possible with other set-ups, but I'm just adding validity to my real-world example.

 

[mxnerd]

Seems TP-Link Deco M5 can cover a pretty big area and maintain very good speed. OP probably can get away without using CPE210.

 

[bjb21]

Thank you for all of the input. I know the bridge would be the best option but running cable in my house would be a little bit of an issue. I have also looked at the netgear orbi units which seem to have very good range as well.