Mesh Wi-Fi Ap- Need Recommendation

Spastro on 21/02/2021 - 22:12

Hi all

I have 2 Cisco meraki mr33 aps almost up for licensed renewal. At 600 for a few extra years I thought I'd see if I could scoop anything else up for the $400 mark.

Currently, wifi off on HFC TPG supplied modem. 1 meraki hard wired to modem. 1 meraki connected on mesh.

1 ssid with band steering for both 2.4 and 5ghz.

Was originally looking at Google wifi, but heard during that last outage, that aps stoped working as google was not contactable.

Want to keep band steering

Would love somthing wifi 6 and triband. That would be the 2 on the wishlist.

Have been looking into ubiquiti. How does the cloud controller work. Is that required for all models?

What have you guys got going / recommend?

Cheers.

Computing Wireless Router

Comments

  • altitudinous on 21/02/2021 - 23:34
    +1

    I have TPG HFC NBN. I had the standard TPG modem.

    I replaced the TPG modem with a TP-Link Deco M5 3 Pack a year ago. Got coverage all over the house, it is excellent, it all just works and replaces the TPG modem.

    TP-Link now have Wi-Fi 6 units which you want, which isn't a worry for me, the fastest device I have is a IPhone XS.

  • Spastro on 21/02/2021 - 23:50

    I'll look into the M5. We use the TPG home phone so we need the router unfortunately.

    Thanks for the tip.

    • altitudinous on 22/02/2021 - 00:03

      I would go for the later models now they have WiFi 6. Yes, the M5 doesn't have a plug for the phone :(

    • djsweet on 22/02/2021 - 12:06

      I installed the M5 3 pack at my parent's place. They are on TPG with the home phone voip thingy. I set up the Deco M5 as the router, and connected the old TPG modem (with VOIP) to the Deco. I turned off the Wifi on the TPG modem and changed the connection to IPOE. All works :)

    • Twix on 22/02/2021 - 15:46

      Any Deco can be configured as an AP.

  • Platinumtelecom on 22/02/2021 - 00:14

    We have used the Deco M5 for so many clients no issues. Just keep in mind that it doesn't have PoE power.

    Another option in tri-band is Draytek VigorAP 1000c

    • Spastro on 22/02/2021 - 06:27

      Just looked up the vigor. Looks great but at $500 a pop way out of the price range. Would just renew my meraki cloud licence for another 5 years.

      Poe not an issue.

      Deco M5 does look great for the price and reviews. It's not triband or wifi 6. But at this price that would last for a few more years before being a major concern. Also like the fact that the management software seem to be running on the ap it self or via a TP-Link cloud for free?

      Would rather have to have a device on 24/7 for stats and configuring.

      • Twix on 22/02/2021 - 15:51

        Deco M9 = tri band Wi-Fi 5 & Deco X60, X20 = dual band Wi-Fi 6. You're going to have to give up tri band or Wi-Fi 6 at $400.

  • honest-immortal on 22/02/2021 - 04:01
    +1

    I have used ubiquiti‘s mesh function for APs and it works well. A physical Cloud Key isn’t required as you can install the controller just on a PC.

    • Spastro on 22/02/2021 - 06:28

      Would rather not need a device running 24/7 for the sake of managing the network.
      Cloud key is fine depending on overall cost of aps.

      • rocketpoweredmice on 22/02/2021 - 06:35
        +1

        See my reply below - but you don't have to leave it running 24/7 in most cases

  • Spastro on 22/02/2021 - 06:30
    +1

    Been also looking into the Xiaomi ax1800 as I'm a bit of a Xiaomi fanboy.

    For the price and features it does look pretty damn good.

    AU $69.54 20%OFF | 2020 Xiaomi AX1800 Wireless Router Mesh WIFI VPN Dual-Frequency 256MB 2.4G 5G Full Gigabit OFDMA Repeater Signal Amplifier PPPoE
    https://a.aliexpress.com/_mMAQWld

    • Twix on 22/02/2021 - 15:55
      +1

      Xiaomi doesn't support VLAN 802.1q. TPG require your router to support VLAN 802.1q for HFC.

  • rocketpoweredmice on 22/02/2021 - 06:33
    +2

    If you only need a single wireless backhaul connection between two APs, then the standard unifi devices support wireless uplink (essentially 1-hop mesh), which should be fine for your use. The new Unifi 6 Lite supports wifi 6, but are only dual band sorry, but are under $200, so two should be under $400.

    https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002262328-UniFi-Con…

    As honest immortal said, you can just install the controller on a PC, and it doesn't have to be left running unless you want/need specific features (captive guest wifi portal, certain performance/monitoring etc), only to change/update settings. System will run stably without the controller online.

    Otherwise Ubiquiti also make the Amplifi system, which is a slightly more consumer friendly multi-hop capable mesh network system

  • MantistobogganMD on 22/02/2021 - 09:35

    i have the google wifi and love it, we get same speeds no matter where in the house and coverage is really good

    • Spastro on 22/02/2021 - 09:41

      Did wifi across the house stop working a few weeks ago when google went down?

      • MantistobogganMD on 22/02/2021 - 09:42

        if it did i would have just assumed it was a regular NBN outage haha

        • Spastro on 22/02/2021 - 09:43

          Hahah fair call.
          I heard reports that people with Google wifi could not use wifi when google went down.

          Was originally interested in them till I heard that report.

          • Twix on 22/02/2021 - 16:02

            @Spastro: That happened like 4 years ago. Google Wi-Fi and Nest Wi-Fi are Wi-Fi 5, dual band and doesn't support VLAN 802.1q so there goes that idea.

  • dharmesht on 22/02/2021 - 10:08

    I have Tenda Nova mw3. Got it in deal for $89 couple of years back. Hooked it up last year, I have no issues with wifi through out my 2 storey house.

    My Tenda Nova is actually connected to ethernet cable, so it behaves like AP.

    • Baa on 22/02/2021 - 10:18

      Currently using Tenda with the next model up, I sit in the strong do not buy club. Gets me better coverage than using my old R7000 but they are super unreliable.

      It is better now after a few firmware updates, but periodically have points drop out even with all points being connected to ethernet. I will likely be moving to a Unifi option when I get around to buying them.

      • Spastro on 22/02/2021 - 10:56

        Good to know. I saw the mw12 just came out but the mw6 is super cheap on AliExpress.

        Do they support openwrt?

        • Twix on 22/02/2021 - 16:04

          Tenda doesn't support openwrt and VLAN 802.1q.

          • Baa on 23/02/2021 - 17:47
            +1

            @Twix: It is very limited in all functionality, a failed impulse buy for me.

            • Twix on 23/02/2021 - 17:54

              @Baa: Yeah about the most you can do is port forward and set a static IP. Have you changed routers yet?

  • Spastro on 28/03/2021 - 09:34

    I ended up going for the tp-link m9 plus v2.

    It's triband but not wifi 6.
    I'm fine with that for now considering jump in cost.

    Happy with the purchase and recommend.

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