WTK: GOOD MESH WIFI SYSTEM

slickrick777 · Postby **slickrick777** » July 6th, 2023, 7:45 pm

Good day, have a fairly large 2 story house and having some legging issues with my wifi atm! I have a nexxxt ac3600 mesh system connected to my isp's router and it has spread the coverage throughout, however there is alot of lag on either of the bands, 2.4 or 5ghz! I have 3 connections, 1 being open for the customers and the other 2 being private on 2.4 and 5ghz! I am thinking that maybe it can be this low end mesh system causing these lags? I am maybe looking to upgrade if that may be the case! Options I was looking at were TP link, eero or asus, but might as well go wifi 6 if upgrade is the option! Can some network guys assist on this?

redmanjp · Postby **redmanjp** » July 6th, 2023, 7:48 pm

by lag u mean latency?

DMan7 · Postby **DMan7** » July 6th, 2023, 8:32 pm

slickrick777 wrote:Good day, have a fairly large 2 story house and having some legging issues with my wifi atm! I have a nexxxt ac3600 mesh system connected to my isp's router and it has spread the coverage throughout, however there is alot of lag on either of the bands, 2.4 or 5ghz! I have 3 connections, 1 being open for the customers and the other 2 being private on 2.4 and 5ghz! I am thinking that maybe it can be this low end mesh system causing these lags? I am maybe looking to upgrade if that may be the case! Options I was looking at were TP link, eero or asus, but might as well go wifi 6 if upgrade is the option! Can some network guys assist on this?

ASUS or Netgear if you looking for a quality solution.

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Nighthawk-Advanced-System-Security/dp/B08V3PMGBR/ref=sr_1_3?crid=QEQFZEQ5209D&keywords=netgear+wifi+6+mesh&qid=1688689918&sprefix=netgear+wifi+6+mesh%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-3

Postby SR » July 7th, 2023, 6:27 am

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Deco-Rep ... YXRm&psc=1

I use this in 2 homes old flat house with lots of steel and concrete 10k sq ft property and a 2 story with basement north american design home 5k sq ft property and get full coverage in all rooms and the yards up to the street

gastly369 · Postby **gastly369** » July 7th, 2023, 7:11 am

Local network lag?

slickrick777 · Postby **slickrick777** » July 7th, 2023, 10:22 am

well my speed is 150mbps on my isp atm,

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » July 7th, 2023, 12:41 pm

I recently upgraded to the TP-Link Deco X25 AX1800
https://amzn.to/43ivtRH

It's Wifi 6 so it has good future proofing and the app is very useful for monitoring the network, adding and removing devices and setting parental controls.

Chimera · Postby **Chimera** » July 7th, 2023, 1:10 pm

yeah those deco systems work good and you can easily add more as need be

sold several of them to customers

extremely easy to set up and control

slickrick777 · Postby **slickrick777** » July 7th, 2023, 2:56 pm

but would you say this tp link system vs my current nexxt ac3600 would make a good enough improvememt before I decide to move foward, btw was looking at the deco xe75

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » July 7th, 2023, 4:30 pm

slickrick777 wrote:but would you say this tp link system vs my current nexxt ac3600 would make a good enough improvememt before I decide to move foward, btw was looking at the deco xe75

Do you have anything that uses 6GHz to warrant the extra money for the XE75?
5GHz really only works well in open spaces.
5Ghz WiFi does not penetrate barriers as well as 2.4Ghz WiFi
Especially with our concrete and steel construction in T&T, deck pan, rebar and concrete blocks you are going to use 2.4GHz far more than 5GHz.
the number of devices being sold on the market that operate on 2.4GHz is much higher than the 5GHz and 6GHz.

Check this:
"In our testing, with residential walls and other factors, we really couldn’t get a 6E signal past about 50 feet. And though throughput on the 6 GHz band was mind-breakingly fast in the same room, just shifting a couple dozen feet away with 2 walls in between saw greatly-reduced speed"
https://www.tomshardware.com/features/w ... -explained

If you can get a mesh set up with ethernet backhaul (you connect each node of the mesh via a wired ethernet connection) then that would be ideal. The Deco supports that, but you don't have to connect all via ethernet, you can mix it.

After checking a number of mesh options I decided on the X25 as the best value for money.
There's an X55 model too but it's unlikely we will be getting 2GB internet to make use of it.
"The X55 is an AX3000 system, offering up to 574 Mbps over 2.4GHz, and up to 2402 Mbps over 5GHz. The X25 is an AX1800 system, offering up to 574 Mbps over 2.4GHz and up to 1201 Mbps over 5GHz."

The X25 is more than sufficient for your current 150Mbps internet subscription and can handle up to the highest package offered by the local ISPs.

The Nexxt AC3600 caps out at 100 Mbps even over wired connections.

redmanjp · Postby **redmanjp** » July 7th, 2023, 4:43 pm

100mbps ethernet? daz from 2 decades ago or what?

2ndchance · Postby **2ndchance** » July 7th, 2023, 7:41 pm

slickrick777 wrote:well my speed is 150mbps on my isp atm,

And you paying for a much higher speed from your ISP? Is this what you mean by lag?

slickrick777 · Postby **slickrick777** » July 8th, 2023, 9:15 am

well I have oneplus 11, 6e pc, s23 ultra and a fold 4 and some tabs ipad mini etc! Also I defibately cannot connect 1 node via ethernet but the other 2 yes I already have those wires available and connected on that nexxxt mesh! So I still think a wifi 6 mesh would be better for me as I have these wifi 6 devices? Also have a camera system and 2 qled smart tvs connected! My isp speed that I am on atm is a 150mbps package, might look to upgrade that once prices drops on their packages!

gastly369 · Postby **gastly369** » July 8th, 2023, 11:53 am

2ndchance wrote:
slickrick777 wrote:well my speed is 150mbps on my isp atm,

And you paying for a much higher speed from your ISP? Is this what you mean by lag?

Well this what i trying to figure out if its local network lag or from provider....if provider no amount of premium mesh routers and brands would fix the issue

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » July 8th, 2023, 12:38 pm

^ correct

slickrick777 wrote:well I have oneplus 11, 6e pc, s23 ultra and a fold 4 and some tabs ipad mini etc! Also I defibately cannot connect 1 node via ethernet but the other 2 yes I already have those wires available and connected on that nexxxt mesh! So I still think a wifi 6 mesh would be better for me as I have these wifi 6 devices? Also have a camera system and 2 qled smart tvs connected! My isp speed that I am on atm is a 150mbps package, might look to upgrade that once prices drops on their packages!

The Deco X25 is wifi 6.
I don't think you need Wifi 6E as 5 and 6 ghz really only work well in big open spaces, not very well through walls. Depends on your house setup.

Definitely use the ethernet on as many nodes as you can - so that's good.
2 of my 3 are wired also.

I think you really need to upgrade the 150mb internet as it may struggle to supply all those devices at once, esp the cameras and TVs if they are mostly streaming 4K.

Keep in mind a mesh system shares the internet connection between devices. You may have a 150mb connection by only see 5mb from one of the nodes on a particular device. That's fine once you are not experiencing buffering video or losing connection.
On a mesh setup you should check the isp speed test from the primary node.

slickrick777 · Postby **slickrick777** » July 9th, 2023, 9:16 am

well the fold 4, doesnt be used, 1 of the 2 qled is used frequently, s23 ultra used, and well I have a open network connection for customers to access in the business place, however before I installed this nexxxt mesh system I had an asus router gaming one and connections were way better well less lag also at the same time of implementing the mesh system the isp provider decided to come at that same time and upgrade from cable to fibre so I still dont knoq if the fibre is also an issue! Both things changed at the same time so thats another thing to keep in mind..lol

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » July 9th, 2023, 11:42 am

Describe the "lag"
What is happening? is it latency or dropped or slow connection?
Post a speedtest screenshot

ruffneck_12 · Postby **ruffneck_12** » July 10th, 2023, 8:31 am

didn't know that bout the 2.4GHz concrete penetration Duane, but it makes sense, longer wavelength passes thru shiet better just like sound etc etc

But would the channel have anything to do with this guys? I know when there's different SSID's on the same channel it tends cause some problems

slickrick777 · Postby **slickrick777** » July 10th, 2023, 9:18 am

well its seems to be lag, because for example the camera system whilw being viewed wireless from a mobile device keeps sticking and loading etc, sometimes even have to restart app use a diff wifi example switch from the 2.4ghz to 5ghz etc!

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » July 10th, 2023, 10:09 am

slickrick777 wrote:well its seems to be lag, because for example the camera system whilw being viewed wireless from a mobile device keeps sticking and loading etc, sometimes even have to restart app use a diff wifi example switch from the 2.4ghz to 5ghz etc!

99% of IP camera systems stick at times or take a while to load the cameras. The data has to be processed and sent from the cloud based servers for the camera and then streamed on your device.
Restarting the app or switching from 2.4ghz to 5ghz might not be doing anything other than giving the cloud platform time to process and send the video stream to you.
Lag usually refers to latency. Latency or "ping" is how long it takes information to travel from an internet browser to a network server and back again. So when you click a link, the length of time it takes for the information of that click to go to the server and come back to you.
A speedtest.net test will show you your ping. Try testing from a US server like Comcast Miami.
What camera system do you have?
Does it work faster if you use a laptop or desktop?

maj. tom · Postby **maj. tom** » July 10th, 2023, 10:15 am

The TLDR is the Nexxt mesh unit is really budget and Nexxt doesn't have a reputation for performance. It's just a company that offers budget access to technology for the Latin America region. Get the TP-Link mesh and don't put the nodes more than 10 meters apart because we build houses here with concrete and steel rather than gypsum cardboard. You can always buy more nodes and add to the system.

As for an explanation to what's going on: The "lag" that you're describing is weak link signals to your wifi cameras, which btw would only work at 2.4GHz on 802.11n. Most wifi smart home devices today only use that frequency because of penetration. When you're setting up some devices you have to disable the 5GHz temporarily on the mesh app because of this. The Nexxt mesh isn't pushing enough power, the specs are really low end and would have been fine 10 years ago, and the coverage area in practicality is too large for the perfect network layout that they had in mind. For example they already tell you upfront that the ethernet can only throughput 100MBps and that's in perfect conditions. The 802.11n is 300Mbps bursts in perfect conditions. Add distance and interference and you will see those speeds drop by a lot and become very unreliable. With lower signal strength you will notice the lag.

Mesh is one continuous network and it automatically switches frequency to maintain the best signal strength. So if you're close to a node and your device is capable and requesting higher data rates and the time spent in that zone, it will likely switch to the 5GHz automatically. Or else the default immediate connection is 2.4GHz. The user isn't supposed to control this. The new mesh systems have a lot of smart client steering and something called Thread (called Gecko on the TP-link Deco) something similar to the Zigbee protocol. Every smart device that is Thread enabled and capable will be communicating with each other on a mesh system, rather than each only connecting to the mesh node. With mesh systems on WiFi 6 and Thread protocols the whole idea of a hub, bridge and even the traditional router is gone. It's really seamless.

bgh · Postby **bgh** » July 10th, 2023, 12:11 pm

I like Linksys and been using their products for years.

Have the Linksys WRT3200AC now and it works great as a stand alone unit, but not well with extenders, and i tried a few.

Thinking about this as a replacement.

Linksys Atlas WiFi 6 Router Home WiFi Mesh System, Dual-Band, 4,000 Sq. ft Coverage, 50+ Devices, Speeds up to (AX3000) 3.0Gbps - MX2000 2-Pack https://a.co/d/fSlbSOs

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » July 10th, 2023, 4:01 pm

^ they're good just pricey imo

thelem-again · Postby **thelem-again** » July 10th, 2023, 4:07 pm

Good topic.

Not to hijack but any opinions on going Ubiquity and using AC lites or Pros? One one each level.

The range is pretty good and also offers the Wi-Fi 6 capability.

Postby **Duane 3NE 2NR** » July 10th, 2023, 6:51 pm

^ Ubiquiti is top of the line stuff but it's pricey and might be overkill for home use

wagonrunner · Postby **wagonrunner** » July 19th, 2023, 11:58 pm

Duane 3NE 2NR wrote:^ Ubiquiti is top of the line stuff but it's pricey and might be overkill for home use

not everyone's home is as small as yours or mine.

Three of these did a great job as access points (without the console)

Entry-level access points for small venues.

https://eu.store.ui.com/eu/en/collectio ... ip-compact

pugboy · Postby **pugboy** » July 20th, 2023, 5:48 am

allyuh shooting in the dark
you need to setup some local speed tests to see if the problem is really the mesh setup or the applications being used
do some file transfers locally with shared computers on the home network with and without mesh to see if the mesh is really the problem

abbow · Postby **abbow** » July 23rd, 2023, 10:24 am

Duane 3NE 2NR wrote:^ Ubiquiti is top of the line stuff but it's pricey and might be overkill for home use

I use the Ubiquity Pro's at several businesses I work with and so far they are absolutely the best, expensive, but worth it.

For home, currently Asus AC RT-3100 (Old Guy), upgrading to the Ubi Pro's for home as well.