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Looking at a mesh WiFi system, just not sure what I need!
Will need one primary connected to router and two extra ones that will each be in range of the primary node.
Broadband speed we have is under a 100Mbs
Do I need a dedicated backhaul channel?
It'll be mainly used for internet, Netflix and some gaming, but I think the only online games the kids play at the moment are Roblox.
Was looking at the Tenda MW3, but some stuff says backhaul thing is good for gaming. Tenda mw12 has that but it's a bit more £159 on Amazon. Not sure if Roblox gaming really needs it though, but will something Tri band like the mw12 be more future proofed if they get more into online gaming, video calling etc as they get older?
Ta
you don’t need one but it gives you an advantage that data will go to the router via ethernet and you won’t have any range and signal issues, the only thing that will matter is the distance from devise to nearest access point. I have mine wired this way.
OP is talking about a third radio (5GHz usually) dedicated to backhaul?
This is in theory a good plan, but pay attention to it being 5GHz.... You know, the signal that doesn't propagate well on anything other than line of sight and a bit of beamforming voodoo.
People get them to work and the industry shills tell you they're mustard.
But.. (own opinion) is they're consumer WiFi where meaningless numbers are used in the hard sell and no one is invested in making it work in your house. Low cost of sale, high chance of underwhelmment.
MW3 will do wired backhaul if you can run a cable to the secondary nodes
Tenda mw12 has that but it’s a bit more £159 on Amazon.
I bought the MW12. It was utter toilet, after much wailing and gnashing of teeth I sent it back.
My Tenda MW12 trials and tribblations.
Honestly, if you're considering a mesh system then the entire thread is worth a read.
Just got a set of MW3’s (4 for £40 from Amazon)
seems good so far. ~40Mbit adsl connection all through the house and getting ~12 up to the shed nearly 20m up the garden which is faster than the powerlines I was using.
good article here on backhaul setup. should have run more cables when I renovated…
https://confusedbird.com/thread-70-post-1032.html
I thought a dedicated wireless backhaul channel was more about bandwidth to chained end points rather than latency so not sure why it would help much for gaming (other than for the trend for massive patches for some games). If you're sharing the channel for backhaul then you're effectively halving the bandwidth each hop. The eero stuff is interesting in that it doesn't have a dedicated backhaul channel but on-the-fly flips between the available channels and uses one only for the backhaul so is essentially doing the same thing but possibly a bit better for some situations.
Just got a set of MW3’s (4 for £40 from Amazon)
seems good so far.
I've just done this too. Previously had a single wireless router central downstairs and a booster in the attic. Now got 2 mesh units downstairs (front and back of house, so good back garden coverage), one on middle floor and one in attic.
Brilliant - really easy to set up, excellent wifi performance. Attic was only getting 4-5 Mbps previously but is now flying at 25+
My other half's wifi calling works waaaaay better now too which was a surprising side effect.
EDIT - we have 11-15 devices connected at any one time (madness...) although only 2-3 in active use at any one time. No issues at all, everything 'just works'.
I had 4 MW6's but they really struggle through victorian brick and didn't like chaining more than 1 hop. Replaced it with 3 tp link deco x20's. What a difference! now easily getting 80-100Mb in a room different to the router and my work vpn is stable rather than repeatedly dropping out during the day. Can't comment on gaming as I don't use it although wife and kids haven't complained about wifi being rubbish so that's a win at least
No issues at all, everything ‘just works’.
i would say at the moment 'mostly works'. my laptop just had an spell of refusing to connect to the new network.
Ok so o got the Tenda MW3 that was on offer on Amazon. I've set it up, I used the existing WiFi network name and password so I didn't need to change it on all the devices.
I've turned WiFi off on the original router, is this correct, so it's just the Tenda MW3 things with a network now?
Seems to be working!
I've got a set of 3 TP link Deco m4's, with 700-800mbps 5G broadband.
Main 2 decos are connected via ethernet backhaul and I'm at the limit of the WiFi radios, max speed I see is roughly 500mbbps. Would need WiFi 6 to see faster speeds.
The 3rd deco is connected wirelessly to the main deco and I see 200mbps on that one.
I get the full 700-800mbps to my PC which is connected via ethernet.
Ok so o got the Tenda MW3 that was on offer on Amazon. I’ve set it up, I used the existing WiFi network name and password so I didn’t need to change it on all the devices.
I’ve turned WiFi off on the original router, is this correct, so it’s just the Tenda MW3 things with a network now?
Seems to be working!
You're using them in Access Point mode, nothing wrong with that. Basically all the router stuff (DHCP, DNS, QOS, NAT...) is still done by your router, the mesh nodes are effectively a clever set of WiFi nodes.
If your router has bridge mode you'll be able to take advantage of some of the better features your mesh system will have, like prioritising certain traffic, limiting device access etc.
Features? If it's anything like the MW12 it doesn't have such things.