If you're up for a rebuild so to speak, you can look at the ubiquiti line-up. You can run their controller hardware (UDM/UDMpro) or host it yourself on your own pc/linux/pi device. (Personally, it's an appliance, I ran it on a pi for a while, then bought the UDM, then bought the UDM pro - it just works). They keep on bringing out new features for hardware/software, so it's dead simple. Their storefront for those: https://ca.store.ui.com/ca/en?category=all-unifi-cloud-gateways You can add access points as you see fit to fill in any weak/dead spots.

I have a UDMpro at home with separate switches for POE injection to the access points in the house - yes, the more the merrier :-) What I really like is just the networking console with visibility on all my AP's and clients/etc.

Dan.

On Tue, 27 Feb 2024 at 04:53, Trevor Cordes trevor@tecnopolis.ca wrote:

On 2024-02-26 Kevin McGregor wrote:

...

I have a Netgear Orbi mesh (1 base + 1 satellite) in my house. They're about 6 years old and don't support Wifi 6 (802.11ax?).

I've noticed that in my basement it works pretty well, but upstairs the effective data rate drops off VERY quickly when I move away from the router (satellite). I figure this is because of the large number of wifi routers in my neighbourhood competing for the same bandwidth.

Would upgrading to a Wifi 6-capable router help? Any other suggestions?

Your WAP / extender may have options to boost the signal (they may be set low due to "apartment friendly" defaults). You can also look for options to change the channel, trying "weird" ones. Or enable an auto-scan-and-pick-least-used-channel mode.

If you're doing house wiring, ditch the extender and install a standalone WAP in its place. Extenders have the massive problem of needing to have a clear channel for both extender-to-device *and* extender-to-base. Thus your difficulty in finding free(er) channels is doubled! A wired WAP solves this problem. It won't be as "meshy" but if you put both WAPs into your devices (phones) on auto-connect, they'll just switch to whatever works if the other barfs out. And you can scale to even more WAPs if you want.

You can even do PoE to the WAPs with the right switch (expensive) or standalone injectors (cheapish!) and supported WAP (or cheap de-injectors!), if the desired location isn't close to power...

Ironically, I find that as the Wifi specs get better, their ability to hold signal gets worse! My best signal ever is still my G one I relegate my visitors onto... maybe all the wifi progressions are just a scam??! _______________________________________________ Roundtable mailing list Roundtable@muug.ca https://muug.ca/mailman/listinfo/roundtable

On 2024-02-27 Adam Thompson wrote:

Mesh != Extender. More precisely, mesh deployments *can* use all-wireless extenders, but are more commonly deployed with a mixture of wired-where-possible and wireless-where-not.

Some mesh products exist that don't allow extra wired nodes - avoid these.

Otherwise, the "mesh"-ness means 100% seamless handover between the APs as you walk around the house with your phone.

Ya, I was taking liberties with definitions a little bit. However, my point still stands that if his "extender" is wireless (most are), it could be part of the problem, not the solution. If his extender is wired, then my point is moot. Ideally you'd have the best of both worlds by having wired extenders and mesh-y WAPs. If that's what Dan's solution can do (and it's cheap(ish)) then that sounds like a winner.

Yes, mesh-y has the advantage of the seamless handoff that JBOW (just a bunch of waps, hehe) would lack. However, the phones are pretty quick to change to a different auto-connect WAP as soon as they get the exclamation mark barf-out.