this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2023
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Home Networking

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I currently have an Orbi AC2200 for my townhouse. I'm thinking about getting a new mesh router. With my current Orbi, it feels like it struggles to reach through floors and walls. I was wondering what mesh routers would be good for this type of situation?

I was looking into the Asus ZenWifi XT8 and Eero 6E. The main questions I had were:

- How much does wifi 6e really add in comparison to Wifi 6? The added spectrum seems good for potential interference and distortion.

- Has anyone had any experience with these mesh routers inside a vertical house with lots of walls and floors?

Thank you in advance!

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[–] mcribgaming@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Replacing one mesh system with another rarely changes the effective range. All home equipment has a cap on transmission power by law, and just about every one of them uses this max limit, as it's very low and extremely easy to accomplish by any manufacturer. They also often use the same chipsets. They do often have different antenna patterns, so you will see some differences here and there, but it will not be drastic.

Rather, you should experiment with the placement of your Orbi nodes. Place them closer together than you might think. Do not place a node directly in a dead spot, but rather in between the dead spot and your main Orbi router. A good strategy is to place the secondary node in the center of your house on the same floor as your main Orbi, or on a different floor, but directly above or below your main Orbi. Often, just changing the angle of attack is enough to change a dead spot into a usable one.

If you're using wireless backhaul, try reducing the number of nodes to the minimum. Most houses only need two Orbi units at most, three for unusually large or weirdly shaped houses.

6 GHz actually has worse wall and floor penetration than 5 or 2.4 GHz, so that won't help you.

Finally, look carefully to see if you can potentially wire in some of your Orbis. If you have coaxial cable or old phone lines, they can often be converted to Ethernet. Doing so will allow you to wire in Orbis in many locations, giving you excellent WiFi coverage.

[–] dklaw157@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Thanks for the advice! Your post was the first time I had heard of converting coaxial cables into ethernet. Do you mean by MOCA adapters? I looked into it a little bit and still a little unsure about how it works. I currently have a cable modem connected to one Orbi on the second floor. There is another coaxial cable on the third floor. Can I simply just buy a MOCA adapter and then connect an Orbi router via ethernet on that floor?