Networking-Era: What’s the best mesh WiFi network available today?

[Parisi]

Hey all

I'm looking to update my home WiFi from a single ASUS router to a mesh network, and I'm not sure which one is the overall best on the market.

My home is around 3500sq ft with about 3 floors. I get decent WiFi speeds all over the house but am looking to increase speeds considerably in my den and backyard. I've been bouncing between the following two kits and would love to get some first hand info from anyone who might be using either one:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear-orbi-ac3000-tri-band-mesh-wi-fi-system-2-pack-white/5577333.p?skuId=5577333

One reason I am leaning toward the Orbi is because it's a tri-band network which means it has a dedicated 5ghz channel for just the devices connected to each other. I also like that the satellite unit has 4 Ethernet ports on it. The negatives so far are a larger footprint and the lack of WiFi 6 support.

The other mesh kit I've been looking at is:

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/google...i-system-3-pack-white/5706130.p?skuId=5706130

The main reason I'm looking at this one is that it's been around for some time, has a small footprint, it's well reviewed, and is easy to setup. The negatives with this one is that it's Google (privacy issues), it's been around for some time so the internal tech may be outdated and it's only a dual band network.

So, anyone have any advice on either system? I'd love to get some feedback before making a decision. Oh and before it's mentioned, yes I did look for systems that support WiFi 6, but they are well out of my price range and currently almost nothing supports it, so it was left off my list of pre-requisites for a good mesh system.

 

[Aureon]

I haven't personally installed any of them, but all the sysadmins i've ever met swear by Ubiquiti Unifi kits.

 

[MCD]

I remember watching a linus video where he said most Asus routers got a firmware update for wifi mesh feature. So maybe get cheap Asus ones as access point instead of dumping your current router?

Currently I use a Netgear router + 2 Netgear Ex8000. Working pretty well for two years now.

 

[abellwillring]

I have been very happy with my Google Wifi. I have two of them for our apartment.

 

[Y2Kev]

I use a Google system at home and it works really well. We were having a major issue with signal strength in the front of the condo. Switched from a router + extender to just two google wifi and it is a huge difference. And honestly setting it up was almost comically easy. The analytics are cool too but mostly useless.

 

[Zapages]

Google Wifi for sure. I have been very happy with it in our home.

 

[cameron]

I've setup an Orbi system and it works great (RBR20 router with two RBS20 satellites). Awesome hardware with excellent coverage. Totally stable.

The cons are the MSRP is way overpriced (buy it when it goes on sale), Netgear support is poor (you'll have to find solutions on their forum), and last year they had major crippling firmware issues.

The configuration options on the Orbi are also a bit limited, compared to Nighthawk / Asus / Asus Merlin firmwares. A better setup, though more costly, is having a router combined with the Orbi mesh system in access point mode. Let the Orbi handle your WiFi network, while the router handles everything else.

 

[Micael]

I haven't personally installed any of them, but all the sysadmins i've ever met swear by Ubiquiti Unifi kits.

Click to shrink...

Their gear is quite good, have installed a few of their wireless AP and they even offer tools to calculate expected signal strength in an house if you setup the house in their software, not to mention all the useful features they have to see what frequency bands are less used so you can pick those and what not.
They do however require a bit more knowledge to setup since they are very much more professional grade gear, which can be seen in some of its security features, like the lack of WPA for security reasons, or even blocking other AP with the same SSID from getting internet from your AP until you go into the software and verify that AP as being legit.

But yeah as far as price to quality goes their gear is quite good.

 

[Cookie]

We have the Linksys mesh system and it is excellent. We had an issue with one of the nodes and they replaced it no questions asked. Besides that we've had no problems at all.

 

[Yasuke]

I have been very happy with my Google Wifi. I have two of them for our apartment.

Click to shrink...

Seconded. And controlling it through the app is as easy as you'd imagine.

Have a third router in the wings in the event we move to a bigger place one day.

 

[jon bones]

Subbed! I just bought a home and am in the middle of renovating it. Once done, I need a powerful WiFi 6 blanket across three floors to deliver my gigabit internet to all devices.

 

[Deleted member 11822]

I am a big fan of the Google WiFi mesh. The 3 pack covers our 3100 sq ft house quite well.

 

[mrchad]

Another vote for Google Wifi. I bought the 4 pack at Costco and sold one of them on eBay. 3 provides great coverage for our entire house.

 

[SeanM]

I purchased the newly updated Google/Nest Wifi yesterday and I'm happy with it so far. Setup is really simple, you basically launch the Google Home app, scan the QR code on the bottom of the router, and press the "Next" button a few times. Management is really simple too. And it looks a lot nicer than most, no antennas or tall towers.

Here's a before and after of my results. I pay for Verizon FIOS 150/150 package and my router is in the living room, but master bedroom always had a kind of weak signal due to my thick walls (and being furthest away from the router). I had only 12Mbps down/up and after swapping to the Google Wifi yesterday now getting full speed there.

 

[Darknight]

Orbi is better if you want the best. Google doesn't perform as well but is simple and no fuss to use. So it really depends on what you want out of it. I personally use an Orbi but I've recommended the Google to people who just want something that is more plug and play. That's not to say that the Orbi is complicated, but it is a more advanced mesh setup in it's performance and features.

 

[Quixzlizx]

Are there any Wi-Fi 6 mesh kits in the pipeline?

Edit: There are some out already, and they are pretty expensive.

 

[rundisneyrpg]

I've been wondering this too. I am going 10 years on an apple AirPort Extreme. And was thinking of either adding more small airports or just to get rid of it and get something new. I am on Comcast internet. Looking to see what others have. Two floors 3200 sq foot.

 

[jon bones]

Are there any Wi-Fi 6 mesh kits in the pipeline?

Edit: There are some out already, and they are pretty expensive.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, I think I will deal with a standard router for a year until WiFi 6 becomes more ubiquitous.

 

[Parisi]

Are there any Wi-Fi 6 mesh kits in the pipeline?

Edit: There are some out already, and they are pretty expensive.

Click to shrink...

Orbi has one out, but it's $699.

 

[ErnieMcCracken]

I use Google WiFi as well. Stupid easy to set up and has been flawless so far.

 

[Argyle]

Orbi is better if you want the best. Google doesn't perform as well but is simple and no fuss to use. So it really depends on what you want out of it. I personally use an Orbi but I've recommended the Google to people who just want something that is more plug and play. That's not to say that the Orbi is complicated, but it is a more advanced mesh setup in it's performance and features.

Click to shrink...

Even this depends. If you're going to connect the satellites wirelessly then Orbi has more wireless backhaul bandwidth to connect the satellites, but if you're using wired backhaul then they are pretty much the same (and in my experience Google WiFi is more robust although it's been a while since I tested the Orbi, hopefully it's better than it was as it was unusable with wired backhaul when I tested)

I ended up going with the Google WiFi, maybe there's an upgraded Orbi that's faster on the client side now but given how unstable the firmware was when I tested the Orbi, it'd kinda come down to raw speed vs. something with bulletproof reliability (seriously I have never rebooted mine in the last couple of years of ownership outside of it quietly rebooting itself for firmware updates).

 

[captive]

I haven't personally installed any of them, but all the sysadmins i've ever met swear by Ubiquiti Unifi kits.

Click to shrink...

Because they're the best. Enterprise grade wifi for consumer prices.

What's really amazing is you don't even need to buy a switch. You can setup SSIDs that covers multiple APs with the only devices being the APs.

 

[Resident Guru]

Orbi. I have the unit you linked to and it is absolutely fantastic. Wi-Fi speeds are high throughout every corner of my house and I literally never need to reboot it. I tried an Eero kit before the Orbi and it paled in comparison.

 

[TheTurboFD]

Ubiquiti is the way to go. Look into the AC Pros and mesh them.

 

[Parisi]

Ubiquiti is the way to go. Look into the AC Pros and mesh them.

Click to shrink...

I was talking to my sysadmin at work who has his house setup with the AC Pros, but he doesnt have them in a mesh configuration. He said to look at the Ubiquiti Amplifi device, which does a mesh network out of the box... I'll try to read some reviews on it or watch some videos on youtube...

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

DO NOT get the fucking Orbi. At least if you're saddled with AT&T internet.

Half of the websites/features/wifi devices that connect through my Orbi greet me with this screen:

It's fucking infuriating, logging in does nothing, and I'm stuck being unable to access the service or site. I've scoured the internet for help with very little clear solution. If anyone can help me, please for the love of god HELP. I've done factory resets and it works fully for all of a week or two before defaulting to this fucking login screen.

If I weren't already $300 in the hole with this garbage I would have flung it into an incinerator by now.

 

[VorpalNonsense]

I got Orbi on sale and I like it. I have had zero issues. The reasons I chose it were tri-band, multiple available ethernet ports on both devices, and local network/config remaining functional without internet connection. On a few of these mesh solutions, they die if the internet dies and your config is dependent on an online account sitting in someone elses server. I prefer the independence and without any monthly fees.

DO NOT get the fucking Orbi. At least if you're saddled with AT&T internet.

Half of the websites/features/wifi devices that connect through my Orbi greet me with this screen:

It's fucking infuriating, logging in does nothing, and I'm stuck being unable to access the service or site. I've scoured the internet for help with very little clear solution. If anyone can help me, please for the love of god HELP. I've done factory resets and it works fully for all of a week or two before defaulting to this fucking login screen.

If I weren't already $300 in the hole with this garbage I would have flung it into an incinerator by now.

Click to shrink...

I have read that this can happen when the orbi is connected to a modem/router combo device because they're both competing to do the same job. In those cases they need to be configured to cooperate instead of fight. Maybe that describes your setup, maybe not.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

I have read that this can happen when the orbi is connected to a modem/router combo device because they're both competing to do the same job. In those cases they need to be configured to cooperate instead of fight. Maybe that describes your setup, maybe not.

Click to shrink...

Actually it does!

My modem from AT&T doubles as a wifi router. Do you know how to get these two devices to cooperate? Any tutorial you can point me to? I just want my full internet back :(

 

[Ashhong]

Anybody have the TPlink Deco M9? My speeds and such are pretty good but I've had some issues idk if it's related or not. Cheap at Costco

Actually it does!

My modem from AT&T doubles as a wifi router. Do you know how to get these two devices to cooperate? Any tutorial you can point me to? I just want my full internet back :(

Click to shrink...

I would just disable the wireless function out of your AT&T modem

 

[FinKL]

Also was in a market for the Ubiquiti mesh vs Orbi. I like the Orbi because it has wireless backhaul (can connect devices to it) but I do read problems that their support is horrid.

 

[Parisi]

DO NOT get the fucking Orbi. At least if you're saddled with AT&T internet.

Half of the websites/features/wifi devices that connect through my Orbi greet me with this screen:

It's fucking infuriating, logging in does nothing, and I'm stuck being unable to access the service or site. I've scoured the internet for help with very little clear solution. If anyone can help me, please for the love of god HELP. I've done factory resets and it works fully for all of a week or two before defaulting to this fucking login screen.

If I weren't already $300 in the hole with this garbage I would have flung it into an incinerator by now.

Click to shrink...

When I was updating my Wifi a few years ago, I bought an ASUS router to handle just the Wifi and what I had to do was go into my FiOS router and turn off the wireless, and then I connected the new router to the FiOS modem/router and I set it as an access point and created the SSID's for the 2.4 and 5Ghz channels and ever since all my devices just connect to that router, and now I am looking to update again to mesh, hence this thread.

 

[Akronis]

Actually it does!

My modem from AT&T doubles as a wifi router. Do you know how to get these two devices to cooperate? Any tutorial you can point me to? I just want my full internet back :(

Click to shrink...

If you can log into the web management interface of the AT&T router, you can typically just disable any gateway or routing abilities. See if you can find the model somewhere on the device and search for a guide online, I imagine they exist.

 

[nasirum]

Ubiquiti Unifi is probably your best bet if you want something robust.

If you want easy, Google Wifi.

 

[Darknight]

DO NOT get the fucking Orbi. At least if you're saddled with AT&T internet.

Half of the websites/features/wifi devices that connect through my Orbi greet me with this screen:

It's fucking infuriating, logging in does nothing, and I'm stuck being unable to access the service or site. I've scoured the internet for help with very little clear solution. If anyone can help me, please for the love of god HELP. I've done factory resets and it works fully for all of a week or two before defaulting to this fucking login screen.

If I weren't already $300 in the hole with this garbage I would have flung it into an incinerator by now.

Click to shrink...

Huh? I have AT&T but have never seen this.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Anybody have the TPlink Deco M9? My speeds and such are pretty good but I've had some issues idk if it's related or not. Cheap at Costco



I would just disable the wireless function out of your AT&T modem

Click to shrink...

When I was updating my Wifi a few years ago, I bought an ASUS router to handle just the Wifi and what I had to do was go into my FiOS router and turn off the wireless, and then I connected the new router to the FiOS modem/router and I set it as an access point and created the SSID's for the 2.4 and 5Ghz channels and ever since all my devices just connect to that router, and now I am looking to update again to mesh, hence this thread.

Click to shrink...

If you can log into the web management interface of the AT&T router, you can typically just disable any gateway or routing abilities. See if you can find the model somewhere on the device and search for a guide online, I imagine they exist.

Click to shrink...

Cool, will try this. The Modem acting as a router and fighting my Orbi is a big clue and looking like the culprit. Hopefully I can figure this out and enjoy my Orbi as intended. Thanks for the guidance.

Huh? I have AT&T but have never seen this.

Click to shrink...

and be thankful you haven't

 

[blazinglazers]

I've got the Orbi system and it was an amazing upgrade over our previous router + extenders setup.

 

[Cation]

I loved my google Wifi until it crapped out after 1 year of use. Such a shame. And yes, I reseted it multiple times. I even had a google representative tell me it most likely needs replacing.

I tested a linksys velop before and that gave me better speeds + more range. I returned it cause it was a bit pricy at the time. My next router is gonna be that. Hopefully Black Friday has a good deal on it

that being said. If your google WiFi works well, then good for you lol. I love the app

 

[VorpalNonsense]

Actually it does!

My modem from AT&T doubles as a wifi router. Do you know how to get these two devices to cooperate? Any tutorial you can point me to? I just want my full internet back :(

Click to shrink...

Ah, I see. So basically the Orbi wants to do what the modem is already doing and it's probably tangling it all up. If that's the case it's not Orbi's fault, it's a fault in your setup.
There are options depending on what you have access to or want to do.

-You can configure your modem for transparent bridge mode. Basically you want to disable any routing going on. Then keep the orbi in standard router mode. The ISP should be able to help you accomplish this if you call them and tell them that you want to use your own router. This should make the modem back down and allow the orbi to function as intended.

-Or, disable all wifi on the modem, connect the orbi to the modem, then set the orbi to AP mode. Now the orbi is the one backing down.

 

[the_bromo_tachi]

One for orbi. Had it for a year now and it's been great

 

[ObbyDent]

Eero is the best. Easiest setup, lifetime customer service support (vs only a few months for the competition), automatically troubleshoots itself, and extremely reliable.

 

[MadraptorMan]

I use Orbi and it works very well, but it does not support NAS as far as I can tell. That's my only issue with it. I have been using my desktop as a media hub instead.

 

[AbortedWalrusFetus]

An option for people who have Comcast and like it's features is xFi Pods.

 

[Vanillalite]

Actually it does!

My modem from AT&T doubles as a wifi router. Do you know how to get these two devices to cooperate? Any tutorial you can point me to? I just want my full internet back :(

Click to shrink...

You have to set it up as a pass through. I can link you the official article if need be.

ATT DOES NOT SUPPORT BRIDGE MODE FOR THEIR FIBER GATEWAY.

I recently got the new Eero kit from Amazon, and I went through this with ATT Fiber about 3 weeks ago.

Honestly I think Amazon's new Eero entry level kit is better than Google's entry level offering now as someone who just recently did the research on this.

That being said most of the kits are all gonna work similarly well for general usage. It's when you want to spend more and get into "pro" features that you start to see a difference.

 

[Josh378]

Their gear is quite good, have installed a few of their wireless AP and they even offer tools to calculate expected signal strength in an house if you setup the house in their software, not to mention all the useful features they have to see what frequency bands are less used so you can pick those and what not.
They do however require a bit more knowledge to setup since they are very much more professional grade gear, which can be seen in some of its security features, like the lack of WPA for security reasons, or even blocking other AP with the same SSID from getting internet from your AP until you go into the software and verify that AP as being legit.

But yeah as far as price to quality goes their gear is quite good.

Click to shrink...

As a fellow Network Engineer...MY MAN! (HIGH Five) . I use three for my house and it works great. If you have to spend, get the Pro!

 

[StrykerIsland]

Anybody have the TPlink Deco M9? My speeds and such are pretty good but I've had some issues idk if it's related or not. Cheap at Costco



I would just disable the wireless function out of your AT&T modem

Click to shrink...

I have the Deco M5 setup and it works flawlessly.

 

[mentallyinept]

I have the first generation Google Wifi set here at home.

5 nodes, using wired backhaul instead of wireless sharing... it's pretty much perfect.

 

[golem]

I use two Unifi APs

 

[Arebours]

Orbi is unfiltered shit. Stay away from it

 

[Ashhong]

I have the Deco M5 setup and it works flawlessly.

Click to shrink...

random but do you play league of legends? Gives me random ping spikes constantly

 

[captive]

I use two Unifi APs

Click to shrink...

I honestly don't know why anyone would try anything else. I work in IT but I know about fuck all about networking and I was able to set it up with ease.

Google wifi, nevermind I don't trust them with unfiltered access to my home, at what point do they kill the product if it's not profitable or whatever reasoning for them?