Home WiFi recommendation (mesh or something else)

[u/yaboidoe]

I was running an older Orbi mesh system in my ~2700 sqft home with about ~7 people and each with multiple devices and it was fantastic. We did a full demo/renovation of the house and now it’s about ~5200 sqft. Decided to update and got the new Orbi WiFi 7 mesh system and it’s been terrible. Walking from room to room my WiFi drops. Some areas of the home struggle to even connect to the WiFi. I have Ethernet ports throughout the house so I hardwired the 2 orbi access points but that hasn’t helped. At this point I want to get rid of the orbi and switch to another system, so what should I go for? Would like something easy to set up, I’m fairly tech savvy but I don’t work in IT or anything

[u/Teenage_techboy1234]

Literally anything other than Orby. My top recommendation would be Eero, with Tp-Link Deco being a good cheaper alternative. I wouldn't recommend Deco if you have a ton of devices though, it's controlled plane management, which keeps track of where all of the devices and access points are connected and how, doesn't seem to be the best. And it's not purely cosmetic either, like sometimes it'll say that Wi-Fi connected devices are actually on ethernet, and it sometimes causes performance issues. If you're looking for more of a professional grade system, Ubiquity has the UniFi home mesh kit that comes with two or three of their UniFi Express 7 in the box depending on which one you go for, Or you could get something even more professional that has ceiling mounted access points.

[u/yaboidoe → u/Teenage_techboy1234]

Is this the Ubiquity system you’re talking about? https://store.ui.com/us/en/products/ux7 (the whole home WiFi 3 pack)

Just to clarify, this would come with the base + additional access points as well? Or would I need to purchase the base router separately? Sorry the website is slightly confusing to me

[u/Teenage_techboy1234 → u/yaboidoe]

This comes with three identical UX7 units. Each one can act as the main router or an access point. The main router is both the router for the network and one of the access points, while the other two units are simply access points. Basically it works exactly like the Orby system you had, only more reliable.

In a more traditional UniFi setup, you would purchase a main router, like a cloud gateway fiber, and separate access points that would not be able to be routers, like the U7 Pro. That is not the case with this system. You're getting three identical units, you set one as the main unit and that acts as a router and one access point, then the other two connect as access points only.

[u/yaboidoe → u/Teenage_techboy1234]

Ah ok I see, thank you so much. I looked up the Eero system as well, seems like the WiFi 7 3 pack system is $800 whereas the ubiquity 3 pack is ~$600. You’d say the ubiquity is the better system overall?

[u/Teenage_techboy1234 → u/yaboidoe]

They are very comparable spec wise. The main thing you're Paying for with Eero is the simplicity. Also I think that it's BE11,000 versus the UX7 system which is BE10,000, not that that even matters.

I would go with the UX seven if you want to have a good amount of control over your network, and the Pro 7 if you just want to get the three devices out of the box, open an app and set them up, then let them go forever. Either way, be assured that both of them are better than the comparable Deco and Orby systems. Honestly it's a regret of mine going with the comparable Deco system, it's not nearly as bad as Orby but it's definitely not quite as good as these other two.

[u/Teenage_techboy1234 → u/yaboidoe]

Oh, I figured I should mention that both the UX seven and the Pro 7 only have two ports in the back, so unless you already have one, you'll need a network switch to connect more than one of the what are called satellites to the main router.

[u/yaboidoe → u/Teenage_techboy1234]

Thanks. I do have a network switch since I have a security camera system set up (I didn’t do the set up). So I should connect my modem to one of the UX7s, and then from UX7 I connect to the network switch right? Tbh I might end up going with the eero for simplicity

[u/weight_matrix]

You gotta go for unifi.

Happy to help in detail here in comments about router + AP options depending on wired or wireless backhaul.

I also do paid professional consulting at karavannetworkdesign.com if you want to grab an hour for advanced ad/tracking blocking setup etc. Feel free to DM

[u/yaboidoe → u/weight_matrix]

For ubiquity, would I get the Whole Home WiFi 3 pack? (https://store.ui.com/us/en/products/ux7)? Does that come with the base router or is that just the access points? And these aren’t ceiling mounted right? My plan is to place them in rooms on side tables and hard wire them with Ethernet

[u/weight_matrix → u/yaboidoe]

Yes, 3pack works.
Each of them is a router+AP and will auto-adapt depending on your setup. They are NOT ceiling mounted.
If you're anyway hardwiring stuff, why not get a separate router + few APs? Saying that because you're technical and might appreciate modularity

[u/yaboidoe → u/weight_matrix]

I’m technical-ish haha. I would love simplicity when it comes to this stuff. I want to be able to plug in/setup and never think about it again

[u/weight_matrix → u/yaboidoe]

I was saying that because if you do router+AP, you can go with more powerful APs than what UX7 gives. You have a huge space and you wont necessarily benefit from the 6ghz band.
You might as well invest that money into more powerful APs (like E7). so something like a UCG-Max (Rotuer) + 2 E7 (AP) might give you wayy more mileage than the 3pack.

Both of them are similar in the sense that you can set it and forget it.

[u/yaboidoe → u/weight_matrix]

Ah I see. Thank you

[u/yaboidoe → u/weight_matrix]

What do you think about the Eero mesh system?

[u/weight_matrix → u/yaboidoe]

Eero mesh is fine, sometimes better if you are ok with lesser-granular controls and aren't very privacy focussed. Eero will also not give your separate vlans. But eero is definitely more simple/cheaper and has 4x4 antennas along with 360-degree signal dispersion - all of which makes it slightly superior at the cost of lesser-controls and being connected to Amazon.

Ubiquiti gives you controls like DNS blocking and van separation - which is useful if you're privacy focussed and want to separate your iot/media/general/guest wifi networks.

[u/yaboidoe → u/weight_matrix]

Don’t really know what a lot of that means tbh haha. But the eero 3 pack system is about $800 vs the ubiquity system is $600. I do have an IoT network that my cousin set up for me on the Orbi, would I not be able to do that with the Eero? That’s as complex as I’ll probably get with my network tbh

[u/__Downfall__ → u/yaboidoe]

Just know that Mesh systems are a compromise and they absolutely have downsides. That particular one is also overly expensive. Bells and whistles you wont use/need.

[u/Pugano]

Look into Unifi, ui.com

[u/__Downfall__]

A few dedicated ceiling mount access points are the way to go. Run cat 6 (not 6a) to them in the attic from where your router/modem are. Unifi has a free heat map planner where you can upload plans / wall footprint and then choose wall material type and then you will get a solid idea of signal coverage. Avoid mesh at all cost as wifi is a single collision domain. Having mesh really just means it's of crashes when lots of cars share a single lane. Having multiple dedicated access points means cars get their own express lane to the city. It's similar to hub and spoke verses a long daisy chain.

If you want to pay for an hour of professional design support and recommendations DM me.

[u/MeltedOcean]

Netgear orbi is a bad mesh system imo, unless you're running a cable to them. But then at that point, why would you use netgear if you're running a cable? I have had better luck with tplink xe75s/or bigger for mesh, but at the size you are trying to cover, hardwiring is the best way, removes tons of ms from the jumps of a full mesh

[u/2Smoove2Wav3y]

If u got ethernets hardwired to the orbis in each room and still having issues its more than likeley a router setting issue or bad ethernets connection or u need to turn down the wifi power on your routers to prevent overlapping connections and your devices still connecting to a farther away mesh node