Which WiFi Setup DO YOU NEED? Router vs Access Point vs Mesh - WiFi 6E?

Pretty surprising results tbh...

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0:00 Intro
0:43 The devices
1:28 The tests
2:10 Consumer Router
4:40 Fancy Access Point
6:10 WiFi 6E Mesh
8:09 Speed Test
11:33 Range Test
15:41 Overall Thoughts
19:30 Conclusion

[clintonw]

Nice comparison! I was contemplating an upgrade from Nighthawk to the TPlink mesh - very helpful!

[billsmith]

Thanks to your explanations via videos, I have bit the bullet and went with the TP-Link Omada pieces - OC300 (a few bucks more than the 200 but has USB3 and built in power), the ER605 router, the EAP660HD access point, and for now, the TL-SG2210P switch. As prices come down and the need for 2.5M becomes necessary/wanted, I think the system will be ready to easily either add to or replace the 1G switch. My main reason for upgrading from an ASUS RT-AC68P router combo was to get better WiFi to TVs/Rokus (weak signal to the other side of the house) and to add video camera security around the house. A secondary reason is that I'm 70 years old now and wanted to have a long life system because I don't know how long I will be able to crawl around the attic! HAHA. The system has POE to help with less wiring, can be configured with a few VLANs (Main, Guest, and IoT), and the speed and bandwidth potential to keep everything going smoothly (I hope!).

[sageosaka]

Crazy to see the old router get the best iperf results, even if they aren't real world

[Saif_Hakami]

Thank you sir
that helped me a lot to understand the differences among these 3 types of network devices, I was totally lost before watching this vid.

[seanpalmer]

tldr multiple, well-placed APs with a wired backhaul is worth it IMO

I redid my parents' home network several years ago. They previously had a single AP in a central location in their 2000-ish ft2 house. The problem is it is a long house, and once you got towards the far ends of the house, there were a lot of dead spots. I ran a couple of network cables to both ends of the house and installed a couple of UAP-AC-LITEs. Having 2 decent APs located closer to users has been so much better than a single, powerful AP, both in terms of achievable speeds and coverage. They've had no problems with their setup, so I have no plans to upgrade them to AX equipment. They plan on building a guesthouse in the backyard in the next few years, so I'll have to run fiber out to it and install another AP. Other than that, I don't foresee a need to make major changes to their network.

[techmaster]

I'm running a single eat660HD and it's been an amazing upgrade compared to my isp provided 802.11ac all in one box. I have the wifi turned off on it and just using it for DHCP and such on my network. I've gotten 800Mbps down/upload when in the same room doing speed test on the 5ghz network on my galaxy s22 ultra. Have 1Gbps down/up fiber to the home. Nice review video.

[jameskurian]

Something cool about the TP-link mesh system is that it can be used in access point mode, so it allows more flexibility with where you put your mesh points.

[jays]

Thanks for the video. My setup is the tplink omada er605, 2210p, ax1800 love it and it works very well

[Martin-otxj]

Hi there, litherly it was really one of your best tutorial video . it was useful, informative and practical video as well . i have to say i like your method whenyou want to show us about your experiment!! its very practical and amazing, especially when you attempt to show us about average coverage wifi it was very useful, you have shown us everything in practical, i haven't seen any channel like yours . keep it up . thnx

[AaronSchmidt]

First off nice video. This was very useful information\video that I can use to explain this to others, with WiFi issues. Personally I'm running an OPNsense firewall/router on BYO baremetel with a Ruckus Unleashed R510 AP. All interconnected Brocade 6610-48P.

[rjbrowning]

I am running the Netgear Orbi Tri-Band Mesh AX6000 WiFi Mesh System (RBK852). This is my second Netgear Orbi mesh system. Both have been rock solid. However, I am considering moving to an access point system in the future to give me some advanced functionality and features that you don't get with an off the shelf system.

[bigrexxx]

I love my mesh system. I picked up the TPlink XE200 mesh system, and with my PC plugged into the hub unit, I get a solid 1-1.2GBPS down, and around 800MBPS upload, using a dedicated wireless backhaul. And it's just a matter of time, before I upgrade to their Wifi 7 mesh system, . for even better speeds. And the great thing is, I'll still be able to use the old mesh units as additional hubs, to completely eliminate any dead spots.

[MultiRanman]

Thanks for this video. Actually, I asked you this question at your livestream a few weeks ago. Nice.

The one question I have is around security. With most routers you have options for VPN and firmware changes to make your home network secure. I didn’t get the impression that the mesh system had that flexibility.

[GrantDiffey]

I'm running proxmox with virtualised pfsense and the omada control software on a j4125 "topton"
* EAP-620 'main' ap
* EAP-615 wall in my office
* 2010P POE switch

The 615-Wall is a GREAT product for my office it gives me 3 physical gigabit ports and a wifi6 ap on a single gigabit backhaul to my 'network core' they're designed for the hotel/accomodation industry but they're a really neat little unit to have on your desk

[ssergeant]

thank you for the video. I have a 3500 sq ft home (2 story) with a full basement where I have an office. that area is about 1500 sq ft. I'd like to go with a mesh, but not sure what to look for. totally new to this. thanks again.

[DeLaMethode]

I have the three piece XE75 the AXE5300 from Costco. My house is around 6k square feet and they’re all connected via wire so Ethernet backhaul. I’m getting great speeds all throughout the house and near maximizing the gigabit fiber speed.

[guitargeek]

Great video, and very useful as I'm looking to upgrade from my 8 year old wireless router. Question: what app are you using for the range test?

[snowdog]

Interesting. My setup is a WDS star using wifi 5 ac bridge to main router from other routers upstairs and downstairs. The main router has its own SSID the other routers connect to it. However, the routers themselves have a different SSID than the main. Since using wifi 5sc only for the main, all connections are a consistent 400 to 540 mb. Not bad. Low ping and wire like without wire. This way, there is no crosstalk between points. (To be fair, which is why I did what I did....)
One thing you didn't mention is WDS.
Yes, it is slower, but very reliable in my opinion.
The other routers act as access points and work as intended.
This one omission makes me wonder why WDS is "obsolete" when it does have a purpose. Amazing.

[tjle]

It's awesome video, thanks for sharing!!!

[dreamingrightnow]

I appreciate that you at least mentioned range. I'm just wanting to go out in my yard and have wifi on my headset/speakers without carrying a phone around or roku in the basement. I guess I'm not the usual case, but speed isn't the biggest thing, it's really throwing the signal farther. I have a new computer with wifi6 and just need the cheapest way to do this. My router's an old wifi 5.