this post was submitted on 24 Nov 2023
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I am reviewing what I have... ASUS - ROG Rapture GT-AX11000 Pro. I know this is a beast but I'm wondering if I made a small mistake with this after talking to some friends.

My house is totally covered by this and the speeds are great. I really have no issues at all with it. I was talking to a friend who has a "longer" house where his router is in 1 corner so he has trouble reaching wifi at the other end. Naturally I recommended a mesh system and sent his family a Nest Wifi 6e Pro which will be delivered tomorrow.

It made me wonder why I bought the router I bought instead of upgrading my older Nest Wifi (from 2019 I think) to also getting a Nest Wifi 6e Pro. And that made me wonder why anyone even makes these routers anyway that aren't just mesh systems...

Yes, I know the AX11000 can use Asus AImesh proprietary thing but I don't think it would work as well as a router designed to work around mesh like eero or Nest.

Thoughts? Why does anyone sell stand-alone routers at all? Simply cost?

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[–] gyrfalcon16@alien.top 2 points 11 months ago

Mesh networks use bandwidth to make the network... That bandwidth could be utilized for your traffic instead of sustaining the network.

Mesh networks are generally for lazy people who cannot do cabling. That's why most consumer network products are mesh crap.

[–] ElevenNotes@alien.top 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I will and would never use Wi-Fi mesh. All access points always wired (they need PoE anyway) for best throughput and lowest latency (8ms to 8.8.8.8) possible. Wi-Fi mesh is pure marketing.

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

It worked very well for me for nearly 5 years. Why is mesh marketing? I think mesh is better than a WiFi extender for example

[–] ElevenNotes@alien.top 2 points 11 months ago

Becaue crappy mesh Wi-Fi will cut your bandwidth in half and add a lot of latency where as a crappy wired access point will just no seerve many clients at the same time.

[–] TiggerLAS@alien.top 2 points 11 months ago

Mesh can certainly be viable in situations where it is simply not possible or practical to install ethernet to support traditional access points.

You could be in an apartment or rental housing where you can't readily install the necessary cabling because you don't own the property, are in a historic home where you can't or don't want to risk damage to finished surfaces, or simply don't want the interruptions to the aesthetics. Or you might be in a home where there aren't accessible wall or ceiling cavities to run cabling.

Then there is always the balance between affordability and portability.

That being said, distributed WiFi via traditional ceiling-mounted access points are generally better than integrated table-top mesh units, both from a performance and stability stand point.

Stand-alone, non-mesh routers. . . probably about profitability. Low cost routers for the folks that can't afford, or don't need more advanced devices.

[–] Skill_Deficiency@alien.top 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

What? Mesh always underperforms against properly deployed AP's. Mesh is shittier in every way.

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

Isn’t an access point part of a mesh network? Sorry if that’s a dumb question, I guess I just don’t understand it as much

[–] AnApexBread@alien.top 2 points 11 months ago

Because SDN setups are significantly better than Mesh

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

Having a purpose built router with Access Points would be one reason.

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

Let’s say you have two scenarios. Scenario 1: Two AP, both wired

Scenario 2: One wired AP, the other AP using mesh

Would it make a difference for mobile devices when switch between the two AP in terms of one having a better signal because you changed your position?

I’m not taking about bandwidth, of course the both wired AP will have better bandwidth. I’m just asking about which scenario provides better automatic switching for mobile devices connected via wifi.

[–] gyrfalcon16@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

Mesh networks use bandwidth to make the network... That bandwidth could be utilized for your traffic instead of sustaining the network.

Mesh networks are generally for lazy people who cannot do cabling. That's why most consumer network products are mesh crap.

[–] frizzbee30@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

If you are a home user and IT ignorant, MESH is fine.

Not something I would ever use, but I'm sure the glossy ads sell plenty of units, along with fanciful max speeds.

But then thise same users are exactly the type who would also have uPnP enabled..

🤣🤣🤣