Hi guys, We are moving into our new home and trying to plan for our wifi requirements. I've attached the layout below. Challenge: We are concerned that the base wifi router is on the far left and so the bedroom won't have any wifi signal as the distance is about 15 meters/50 feet + multiple walls. What we're thinking We are planning to get a triple pack Google Mesh system (extend range + have speakers). I'm just wondering if the below set up would work? Mesh 1 is the base unit/modem, Mesh 2 is in the hallway, mesh 3 is in the bedroom. Bedroom will primarily be for netflix streaming on phones/laptops. All the gaming and heavy duty stuff will be in the study! I've not used mesh before, and my understanding is that they operate like ripples in a pond, so even though they extend range, the further from the source, the weaker it is anyway. Is this right? Bonus question: Can we set the Mesh unit in the bedroom to be controllable only from the bedroom? I don't want my future kids in the living room saying 'OK google, set the alarm for 4am in the bedroom........' Thanks guys!
Stupid question, but I take it you can't run an ethernet backhaul or anything? Or failing that, perhaps try a powerline pair to go from the base to Mesh 2 in the bedroom? Mesh wifi is faster if all satellite access points have a direct backhaul to the base unit. So in your instance the bedroom satellite (Mesh 1) will have a slower experience for its devices compared to the devices connected to Mesh 2.
If all the access points have a direct backhaul, it's not a mesh. It's just a standard star-topology network.
Very true indeed! Mesh is definitely heavily used as a buzzword for these sort of systems, without clearly calling out the differences (i.e. latency/speed reduction). Also, given that with the exception of those who run their own home servers, the majority of use-cases is people wanting to just get out to the internet, so they're not really going to leverage a shortest-hop Mesh approach within their home network. Also, you'd need to check, but I'm not sure if the Google Mesh satellites can do multiple backhauls, so if the satellite in the middle (Mesh 2) is speaking to both the base and Mesh 3, then I think it would halve the available backhaul bandwidth, having a knock-one effect for those devices connected. It ultimately comes down to the end-user experience, and I'd say in the worse-case scenario buy a system from a highstreet store that has a good returns policy, so that you can test out the veracity of the claims of the manufacturer.
What router do you currently have? If it's an Asus you could get a second Asus router (plenty on eBay) and use it to create an AiMesh network. I have that in a large house and it works very well with both my RT-AC68U routers connected via ethernet. For your apartment I wouldn't say you need three mesh/access points for full coverage if your nodes are connected via ethernet.
I'm all for overkill, but a single access point is more than enough for an apartment of that size. If an ethernet cable can be run to the bedroom, then maybe a second access point would provide some benefit, but otherwise it's a waste of money.
