Wifi Extender Needed

[Sunglasses_Ron]

Does that work with any router mate?

I changed provider recently, they gave me a new router but the new one doesn't cover the kitchen which is a pain in the arse

yeah you just plug the first Eero into one of the router Ethernet sockets and then place the other Eero’s around the house. It’s double easy to set up.

 

[Sunglasses_Ron]

I’m currently upstairs, my son is playing online on his PS5 and my daughter is streaming a movie. We are all connected to the same Eero hub.

 

[Andy_con]

Usually makes a new wifi network.

I have TPlink mesh setup and disabled the wifi on my BT hub. The TP Link app is 1000% better and lets me do things like make a guest network in 10s or disable youtube on certain devices.

Its a whole new network but you decide what the network is called and what the password. Why is it a deal breaker if the network names are different?

If you could use your existing BT router then it's just the cost of one more unit.
If creating a whole new mesh you then need to buy more.

I need to Google the BT mesh disk things see if they are any good.

 

[GrahamS]

You want a wifi mesh not a wifi extender.
We have TP link DECO with all units wired together across the house using powerline adapters. Works a treat.

 

[Touring_Rob]

If you could use your existing BT router then it's just the cost of one more unit.
If creating a whole new mesh you then need to buy more.

I need to Google the BT mesh disk things see if they are any good.

Then thats not a mesh. Thats just an extender.

You want a wifi mesh not a wifi extender.
We have TP link DECO with all units wired together across the house using powerline adapters. Works a treat.

I've also got the Deco mesh system and its great fast, super easy to setup. However my understanding is the speed is still nearly halved with a Mesh or extender.

The speed is often less with an extender because the signal is lower, but both mesh and extender the bandwidth is halved. While a wireless access point which you run a cable to doesn't have that issue at all.

If you can; say your router is at the front of the house you run cat6 to the back and put the access point there. For me speed is less important than signal strength so I have a 3 device mesh from TP link (Eero is similar and very well reviewed) and on a 500mb/s broadband package I get between 200-300mb/s everywhere in the house inc the garden.

 

[GrahamS]

You create the mesh by connecting the units via ethernet/powerlines the latency and speed is exceptionally good. Not sure about connecting the units wirelessly but I suspect you'd be talking about a haircut on an already huge speed which is rarely used to capacity but I am not an expert. My youtube usage is not quite 1gb per second!

 

[Andy_con]

Then thats not a mesh. Thats just an extender.


I've also got the Deco mesh system and its great fast, super easy to setup. However my understanding is the speed is still nearly halved with a Mesh or extender.

The speed is often less with an extender because the signal is lower, but both mesh and extender the bandwidth is halved. While a wireless access point which you run a cable to doesn't have that issue at all.

If you can; say your router is at the front of the house you run cat6 to the back and put the access point there. For me speed is less important than signal strength so I have a 3 device mesh from TP link (Eero is similar and very well reviewed) and on a 500mb/s broadband package I get between 200-300mb/s everywhere in the house inc the garden.

Pretty sure the bt discs are mesh, but I'll do some proper googling and report back

 

[Oggy997]

lolwut, I think a few here need to go back and check what mesh actually is

 

[Andy_con]

My current setup is very much extender, am after mesh.

 

[SharkyUK]

WiFi Range extenders are basically dumb and half-duplex, they can only send or transmit at a given time. Hence the drop off in speed per link/hop. They also blindly pass on data packets and exist as a separate network to the main home broadcast network SSID - so you might have "MyHome" and then "MyHome-EXT2" for example. You will generally disconnect/reconnect to the network with the strongest signal, which can be a bit of a pain if your device holds on to the weaker signal as you move around your home.

Mesh networks typically replace a home wifi setup and can often replace your ISP provided router, too. I have removed the Sky router from my setup and simply use the ORBI router as my router, albeit with the relevant Sky credentials and settings set. The system will talk to other satellites that comprise the mesh and will appear as a single network across the home. Mesh networks and the component hardware also offer intelligent tracking so movement around the network is seamless, data packets are intelligently routed between nodes, and so forth. Also, speeds can be maintained as some setups offer multiple bands/radios for sending and receiving data simultaneously to over come duplicity issues. Again, my ORBI setup has quad band / 6E support so I have the likes of the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, but also the likes of a 6GHz back channel which can be transmitting/receiving data at the same time as the other radios/bands are doing something else. I have a 1Gbps fttp connection at the far end of my property and here, in my home office, I am talking to my local node at 960Mbps. The lowest speed I am seeing is on my top floor and that reads 790Mbps.

 

[Sir Nancy Flowers]

WiFi Range extenders are basically dumb and half-duplex, they can only send or transmit at a given time. Hence the drop off in speed per link/hop. They also blindly pass on data packets and exist as a separate network to the main home broadcast network SSID - so you might have "MyHome" and then "MyHome-EXT2" for example. You will generally disconnect/reconnect to the network with the strongest signal, which can be a bit of a pain if your device holds on to the weaker signal as you move around your home.

Mesh networks typically replace a home wifi setup and can often replace your ISP provided router, too. I have removed the Sky router from my setup and simply use the ORBI router as my router, albeit with the relevant Sky credentials and settings set. The system will talk to other satellites that comprise the mesh and will appear as a single network across the home. Mesh networks and the component hardware also offer intelligent tracking so movement around the network is seamless, data packets are intelligently routed between nodes, and so forth. Also, speeds can be maintained as some setups offer multiple bands/radios for sending and receiving data simultaneously to over come duplicity issues. Again, my ORBI setup has quad band / 6E support so I have the likes of the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, but also the likes of a 6GHz back channel which can be transmitting/receiving data at the same time as the other radios/bands are doing something else. I have a 1Gbps fttp connection at the far end of my property and here, in my home office, I am talking to my local node at 960Mbps. The lowest speed I am seeing is on my top floor and that reads 790Mbps.

Ive been monitoring this thread for ages, waiting for someone to explain this so I didnt look thick. A mesh is definitely something I need to consider then. Router is at the front of the house (wonderful for wifi down in the garage!) but the kitchen, conservatory and garden can be very lacking in signal. My silly android phone also tends to want to hold onto the connection it has, as opposed to jumping across to the TP Link extender I have set up. Its frustrating, especially if im back and fourth.

I believe the TPLink extender I have can do mesh, so Ill have to look into that as it sounds, in theory, much better!

Sharky to the rescue

 

[Oggy997]

My 1.2gbps orbi setup is fantastic.
Wouldn't be able to afford it if it were not for you all paying my benefits though

 

[SharkyUK]

My 1.2gbps orbi setup is fantastic.
Wouldn't be able to afford it if it were not for you all paying my benefits though

Thankfully, the ORBI fell into the "essential work purchase" category hence I was able to get it through as a business purchase!

EDIT: Well, most of the cost, as some had to be paid personally as I do use it for personal use as well.

 

[SharkyUK]

Ive been monitoring this thread for ages, waiting for someone to explain this so I didnt look thick. A mesh is definitely something I need to consider then. Router is at the front of the house (wonderful for wifi down in the garage!) but the kitchen, conservatory and garden can be very lacking in signal. My silly android phone also tends to want to hold onto the connection it has, as opposed to jumping across to the TP Link extender I have set up. Its frustrating, especially if im back and fourth.

I believe the TPLink extender I have can do mesh, so Ill have to look into that as it sounds, in theory, much better!

Sharky to the rescue

Glad to be able to offer a little more info on the subject (although, of course, it's a very simplified view but hopefully makes sense). I'm no network expert by any stretch! An extender may well be perfect for some homes and uses, it depends on so many factors.

 

[Oggy997]

Thankfully, the ORBI fell into the "essential work purchase" category hence I was able to get it through as a business purchase!

EDIT: Well, most of the cost, as some had to be paid personally as I do use it for personal use as well.

I may have only paid £226 for my rbk953 🤑

 

[dann2707]

I ended up getting these today and just set them up.

Proper noob question but which one should I now be connected to on my phone? I now have two networks I can connect to on my phone. The original one that suffered signal loss in the kitchen, or the new nova one that I used to set them up?

 

[Oggy997]

Best practice is to remove the isp provided router if possible.

Is anything routing through it? I presume you are
ISP router - - > tenda via ethernet?

Anything else wired to the original router?

 

[Oggy997]

But you connect to the new network - that is the mesh, where you'll roam APs freely

 

[GrahamS]

The new kit Dan. If your using ethernet to link the original modem to the mesh then login to the menu of the modem to switch off the wifi in that. Usually something like 192.168.0.1 for the menu

 

[Oggy997]

You can find that out through the default gateway, connect to it on a laptop and run
Ipconfig /all

Or on android : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.techet.netanalyzerlite.an

 

[dann2707]

Amazing thanks guys!

Just tried it and getting full WiFi now in the garden courtyard bit where before it was absolutely dead!

Absolutely well chuffed with that

 

[Oggy997]

Amazing thanks guys!

Just tried it and getting full WiFi now in the garden courtyard bit where before it was absolutely dead!

Absolutely well chuffed with that

While I've got absolutely no use for it here, I pick up my WiFi at his point when walking the dog.
House is the one the s**t green arrow is pointing at.

I make it around 80m - Its mega

 

[Touring_Rob]

My mesh is 100% half bandwidth... not that it matters.

There is no disconnecting/reconnecting and it has replaced the existing router. Very seamless.

 

[Oggy997]

You must be doing it wrong bobert

 

[Touring_Rob]

You must be doing it wrong bobert

I disagree, but also maybe.

 

[Andy_con]

i read somewhere that if you have BT fibre to the house you can bin off the smart hub 2 and use third party hardware.

dont know how true this is

 

[Oggy997]

I don't know, maybe I made a couple of posts about it.

 

[Andy_con]

I don't know, maybe I made a couple of posts about it.

sorry didnt read all of this page.

are you with BT, is this what you have done?

 

[Andy_con]

TP Link Deco x20 with smart hub 2 - router mode

Hi, I have BT Fibre 2 (FTTC) with a smart hub 2. I want to purchase tp link deco X20 devices but want the decos to run in router mode. This way, I get the full functionality of the decos which includes: web filtering, parental controls etc. These extras are really important and I don't see why...

community.bt.com

 

[Oggy997]

Im not with bt, I have an ofnl provider.

BT fibre as I understand it, is pppoe, so if you have those details, you don't need their s**t. Just their ont.

 

[Andy_con]

Got these for Xmas, one installed and working. But now my hikvision nvr has no network and I can't workout why?

 

[ChrisR]

Is the cctv stuff wired or wireless?

If it looks to be connected ok, have you checked it’s using the same IP range as the new kit?

 

[Oggy997]

Just checked, mine works fine

HTH

 

[Andy_con]

Had to restart the nvr twice before it would connect 🤦

It's hard wired and now working.

 

[Andy_con]

Just gone to the workshop to set a second unit up and My dell running windows 7 doesn't pick the WiFi up, it doesn't show it in the list of available networks 😔

How do I fix that one?

 

[GiT]

Just gone to the workshop to set a second unit up and My dell running windows 7 doesn't pick the WiFi up, it doesn't show it in the list of available networks 😔

How do I fix that one?

Is it a 5ghz signal and the laptop a 2.4ghz only unit?

 

[Andy_con]

Is it a 5ghz signal and the laptop a 2.4ghz only unit?

🤷
Maybe, how do I find this out?

 

[Oggy997]

Log into the router and check.
Id be a bit disappointed if both were not on by default, but you'll need to check. A win 7 computer likely doesn't support 5ghz.

It'll be something like this

 

[Andy_con]

Log into the router and check.
Id be a bit disappointed if both were not on by default, but you'll need to check. A win 7 computer likely doesn't support 5ghz.

It'll be something like this
View attachment 1673807

Yes looks like both are on but laptop still can't see the network 😔

 

[Oggy997]

Win 7 doesnt support Wifi6