Mesh Wi-Fi system recommendations

Billydicy6 said:
Has anyone had any experience with the MicroTik Audience product as a WiFi router or in a mesh setup
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Really good coverage for a single router. Mesh they lose connection in load shedding and need to be paired again, which needs to be fixed.
 
Anthro said:
@killerbyte I recall you having one of these..

I want one badly lol
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Now I understand your reaction to my post.

Yes, I have two Mikrotik Audience units. They are test units from work. Busy testing out Minim on them. So its hard for me to give me opinion on them since they have the Minim config on and not a standard Mikrotik config, and therefore any issues I have are likely related to the testing we do.

But they are sexy units and I love them. The only issues I experience with them are related to loadshedding. But they aren't cheap. Even as a distributor they are expensive for us.
 
Moving house at the end of the month – quad design, about 320m2 – so figured time for a new mesh setup, to replace my aging Asus router.

Went for the TP-Link Deco M4, 2xpair.
Set up in 10 minutes flat this morning, in the current house, just to see how it goes.
Mightily impressed. That said – think connecting the two Decos (i.e. satellite unit to the main unit) via ethernet makes a massive difference, understandably. Didn't even bother testing without, since this is how I plan to run it in the new house.
Significant coverage, and wired-like speeds across all my wifi devices. Hitting +/- 80-90mbps on a 100/50 fibre line.

Last point, since the 2xpair is designed to cover a +/- 280m2 house, will have a look first before possibly opting for the Deco M3W extender >> at R900 odd, won't break the bank – and will probably be the last piece of the puzzle, if needed.
 
Just wanted to know if the deco M4 3piece or 2 piece can be setup as a modem?

What I want to know if can I replace the D-Link modem WiFi router ISP supplies with the Deco M4? I see it has the pppoe setup?
I.e connect the M4 directly to ONT fibre, setup pppoe usinf ISP username and password, setup as DHCP and default DNS server.
Then pair the other Deco M4 with this main unit and create a mesh network in house.

I am thinking of getting the 2 piece but not sure if to get E4 or M4? House is 500m2 double storey with a large slab. Fibre ONT is upstairs and my home office is downstairs.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
Smiley_lauf said:
Just wanted to know if the deco M4 3piece or 2 piece can be setup as a modem?

What I want to know if can I replace the D-Link modem WiFi router ISP supplies with the Deco M4? I see it has the pppoe setup?
I.e connect the M4 directly to ONT fibre, setup pppoe usinf ISP username and password, setup as DHCP and default DNS server.
Then pair the other Deco M4 with this main unit and create a mesh network in house.

I am thinking of getting the 2 piece but not sure if to get E4 or M4? House is 500m2 double storey with a large slab. Fibre ONT is upstairs and my home office is downstairs.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Click to expand...
I stand to be corrected but I'm going to say yes...
 
Smiley_lauf said:
Just wanted to know if the deco M4 3piece or 2 piece can be setup as a modem?

What I want to know if can I replace the D-Link modem WiFi router ISP supplies with the Deco M4? I see it has the pppoe setup?
I.e connect the M4 directly to ONT fibre, setup pppoe usinf ISP username and password, setup as DHCP and default DNS server.
Then pair the other Deco M4 with this main unit and create a mesh network in house.

I am thinking of getting the 2 piece but not sure if to get E4 or M4? House is 500m2 double storey with a large slab. Fibre ONT is upstairs and my home office is downstairs.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Click to expand...

What I know of anything network related will fit on the backend of a matchbox.
But assuming I understand you correctly, that's what I did with a Deco M4 2xunit. Took my older Asus router out of the equation – ehternet from ONT Fibre, straight into the "main" Deco. When setting up, I needed to put in my ISP username and password, it did the rest.

Secondary M4 – connected it via ethernet back to the main M4. This is optional, but you're then guaranteed of the secondary seeing the same speeds as the main M4.

Re difference between the M4 and E4 – the latter cannot handle as high speeds as the former. Might not be an issue depending on your fibre speed – but to future proof, might make more sense to take the plunge on the M4 rather...

Hope this helps?
 
After reading this thread I decided to get the Tenda MW5 kit from takealot.

Received the unit today and setup was quick and easy. Properly is only single story but was struggling with WiFi speeds in me bedroom which is about 20m from the fibre router. Now I'm getting close to full line speed on WiFi which I could not get even when I'm in the same room as the vodacom router. Screenshot_20201020-183604_Speedtest.jpg
 
Cassady said:
What I know of anything network related will fit on the backend of a matchbox.
But assuming I understand you correctly, that's what I did with a Deco M4 2xunit. Took my older Asus router out of the equation – ehternet from ONT Fibre, straight into the "main" Deco. When setting up, I needed to put in my ISP username and password, it did the rest.

Secondary M4 – connected it via ethernet back to the main M4. This is optional, but you're then guaranteed of the secondary seeing the same speeds as the main M4.

Re difference between the M4 and E4 – the latter cannot handle as high speeds as the former. Might not be an issue depending on your fibre speed – but to future proof, might make more sense to take the plunge on the M4 rather...

Hope this helps?
Click to expand...
Thanks this is mighty helpful
 
Can someone explain this price difference?
If I get the 2 piece and add the third with the additional extender, it still works out cheaper than the 3p plus extender bundled together?

And it's marked down by 37% nogal!
 

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I went with the TP-Link Deco M4 3-piece plus extender; will be arriving in 10 days time. Will give you feedback once I set it up and running.
 
I've been using a ASUS RT-AX92U which is intended for mesh use, but ended up not needing a 2nd one.

One small gotcha...has 2x 5ghz channels but only one is wifi6/ax enabled. So if you have gigabit fiber and need mesh then you probably need something more expensive (jikes)
 
Help me understand this: what is gigabit fibre vs 'normal vanilla fibre'? I have 200/100 Openserve fibre connection to the ONT device--is this gigabit fibre?
Is gigabit fibre 1000mbps and above?
 
Smiley_lauf said:
Help me understand this: what is gigabit fibre vs 'normal vanilla fibre'? I have 200/100 Openserve fibre connection to the ONT device--is this gigabit fibre?
Is gigabit fibre 1000mbps and above?
Click to expand...
Gigabit is 1000mbps (theoretically) yes. Commonly highlighted either for:
1) Online d!ck measuring purposes or
2) Wifi discussions. If you're using wifi ac gear you're probably only getting ~750 of your 1000mbps because the wifi link is too slow to keep up with the fiber. So you need wifi ax gear aka wifi 6 because the link speeds tend to be enough to not bottleneck your fiber.

1603828088716.png
Downside is wifi ax routers are still a little pricey so waste of money if you don't have that as a bottleneck
 
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