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As above really. Running Google Mesh around the house, but for work (Mrs and I mostly work from home) and the TV, it feels I need to look at more robust solutions like hardwiring.
Any top tips from folks who have done it? And how do you keep the network extensible (e.g. might want to add NAS in due course).
I assume there will be a ton of good advice on YouTube?
I ran some cables when I was renovating and it was easy. I wouldn’t bother making a mess just for them.
As above really. Running Google Mesh around the house, but for work (Mrs and I mostly work from home) and the TV, it feels I need to look at more robust solutions like hardwiring.
Why ? We are on a mesh network and have loads of stuff going on without any issues.
Is your initial Mbps coming in and out not enough?
I fully wired out house about 10 years ago. Wasn't too bad as ceilings were down etc.
However, I'd barely bother now. TP link mesh is fast, reliable, and way easier. Only reason for it now is that I have a mesh node in the garden/garage which is wired with Ethernet backhaul as the nodes can't span that distance. (Really weird garden arrangement!)
My hardwiring currently involves ethernet gaffa-taped to the wooden floors & walls in certain places. Your mrs may not be as forgiving 😂
I think to properly retro-fit it neatly actually would be a massive pain tbh!
As above, WiFi can be extremely fast/robust these days (although don't know about Google Mesh specifically), we don't have any problems & all our telly/music streaming is over WiFi. (Unifi setup)
The server stuff is hardwired to the router but it all sits in a little cabinet where the fibre comes in so not an issue.
Hmm. Might be worth looking at a couple of additional mesh points then to make it a tighter network.
We have EE broadband which tops out at 65MB at the router, and my wife will frequently find herself with just 2MBP at her laptop. Moving around the house does help to an extent.
I've turned off the broadcast from the EE router, so everything goes through the Mesh and we have two networks running - is that potentially the problem? (ie an us network, and a guest or persistent thing network).
Would a better modem to plug into the Mesh make any difference? We do struggle a bit when both on Zoom...
What's not robust about your Mesh WiFi? The problem could be your internet connection, which wouldn't be solved by moving to a wire
A decent mesh WiFi will support 2 people working from home and a TV with out breaking a sweat.
and my wife will frequently find herself with just 2MBP at her laptop. Moving around the house does help to an extent.
No wonder she struggles at 2mbps.
We get 300mpbs at the router. In the same room we get 275mpbs on wifi. I had to buy another mesh going from 2 to 3 units to get reasonable coverage in the home. the weakest spot is about 50mpbs. So walls and onward do significantly reduce it.
I switched our router wifi broadcast off, didnt make any difference other than not having to choose between 2 networks.
I did experiment a lot with location of the Mesh points
yeah that is crap. Although, what wifi adapter is in the laptop, is it really old? But your WiFI network should be [I]way[/I] faster than your broadband speed, and should not be the bottleneck. Probably worth joining a forum/FB group on Google Mesh for some tips, if no-one here knows enough about them to point you in the right direction!We have EE broadband which tops out at 65MB at the router, and my wife will frequently find herself with just 2MBP at her laptop. Moving around the house does help to an extent.
Unifi have a phone app where you can roam your house & it builds up a heat map of wifi signal strength, really handy for finding dead spots! Does google have anything similar?
everything goes through the Mesh and we have two networks running – is that potentially the problem?
Very doubtful (if you're using the built in guest network. Sounds like you just need to think harder about the location and number of your mesh units.
What does the mesh network test (in Google Home) tell you?
It’s a ballache in many houses, particularly if you’re not wanting to ruin decor in the process. If you’re rewiring or redecorating then much easier to get done.
I told myself when I had my own place I’d be running cables all over, been here 8 years and I just have a run from the fibre ONT to under the stairs (where equipment lives) and up the side of the stairs to power an access point in the ground floor ceiling. Oh, and a security camera but that just goes straight out into the garage and along the wall.
I really want a run up to the converted attic (wife and I work from there) but just too much faff and the wifi is fine. Think it’ll have to go in a pipe down the outside of the house if I ever get to it.
One small point - hardwiring google mesh doesn’t create a hardwired network.
Although it’s reasonable to assume the the pair of Ethernet ports on the router are linked, they aren’t - it’s a software link between each pair rather than a wired connection.
The old google hockey puck style routers are hardwired inside - but the newer rounded versions aren’t.
That said, the google mesh system is extremely reliable - so it may just be worth connecting computers to a mesh point with Ethernet cable just to get the best out of it rather than hard wiring the whole property.
One useful app to try is Wi-FiSweetSpots (iPhone - not sure about android). It lets you test the WAN network speed in different locations and is pretty handy for optimising the location of mesh network nodes.
For what you're describing, in the first instance I'd be looking at where you've got your mesh nodes positioned. Moving location (don't overlook vertically) can make a massive difference. Also consider, typically each 'hop' between nodes potentially halves your Internet speed so stringing between several devices across the house is unlikely to be optimal.
This house is two modest Victorian terraces knocked into one. I had murders getting reliable Wi-Fi throughout the house because it's not small and some of the internal walls used to separate houses. I bought a (well-regarded on STW) Tenda mesh system and it was garbage. The solution in the end was to get a big Asus router and get it as close to the centre of the building as I could. The cheap smart bulbs in the far corners still struggle, but that's just because they're cheap; I fixed that with a £20 GL.iNet router in the room to boost the signal (I had the revelation that it doesn't need to be a mesh because I don't typically walk around the house holding bulbs). Getting to that point however took a lot of trial and error and I was about as popular as Jimmy Savile at a school disco whilst I was quote "messing about" with it.