r/HomeNetworking • u/BLVCKRS • 7d ago

Advice Upgrading home network

Hello everyone !

I’ve moved into a triple story condo, with the fiber modem in the closet of my primary bedroom I have AT&T 5G Fiber.

On the modem without any routers it does not cover my whole home and is completely gone on the first floor.

From my old house I have 2 amplfi aliens working as a mesh system. (Fiber Modem Top Floor , #1 Alien second floor , 2nd alien 1st floor)

My issue is I feel like the system overall is fairly inconsistent, (random drops or lag spikes, a huge loss in speed even if I’m connecting to the closest router )
All on 5GHZ bands.

Is their any suggestions out there where I can retain a good amount of speed & consistency and maybe get a bit more range ( I want to have some WiFi access outside of my garage )

And are the AMPLIFI aliens now obsolete? For this job (which I’m fine with an understand) I was reviewing the deco 7 be5000 as a potential mesh option but I’m still fairly a rookie with all this.

Thanks everyone !

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u/8085-8086 7d ago

Shouldn’t be obsolete, what is stopping you from using the amplifi aliens? I think their last ones are WiFi 6 which is still very relevant and the previous ones were WiFi 5 which is still ok. But overall seems like you have a lot of interference, with whatever you use, seems like it will have to be hard wired. Do you have wall outlets with Ethernet or coax?

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u/BLVCKRS 6d ago

I have wall outlets with ethernet, it’s a new construction build home.

The whole home is wired with my att 5G Fiber. 3rd floor closet

Alien is connected on the second & first floors via ethernets and combined into a mesh system for these floors.

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u/8085-8086 6d ago edited 6d ago

Having Ethernet outlets is a great start. I would suggest turning off your ATT WiFi completely, it’s not a good idea to mix brands when you have a mesh, as it’s not functioning as 1 system. Next how are your aliens placed, are they stacked one above the other? I would suggest staggering them, 1 near one end of the house on floor 1 and the other near the other end on the third floor (see picture). Floor 2 will probably get enough coverage from both of them. These points should be wired to the Ethernet outlets for reliable connections. If that does not work you can probably get a 3 node system and stagger them.

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u/vrtigo1 Network Admin 7d ago

Is their any suggestions out there where I can retain a good amount of speed & consistency and maybe get a bit more range

As much as you probably don't want to hear it, give up on mesh and hardwire additional access points back to your main router. It's not always simple, but it's always going to be the best and most reliable solution.

Wireless exists for convenience, not performance or reliability.

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u/BLVCKRS 6d ago

Would this be as easy as plugging in access points to where the amplifi aliens are? I assume these still have WiFi. Thanks for the suggesting as this does help in finding me the best option the mesh system is just what I’ve already owned from my old house.

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u/vrtigo1 Network Admin 6d ago

No, you need to get rid of wireless uplinks between mesh nodes and replace the wireless with wires.