Wireless Mesh Systems

Crowley said:
Yes. It is called networking.

If you use network cable to connect all of your mesh routers you are defeating the object of mesh. Mesh systems are there if you don't want to or can't run network cable. If you hardwire all of your mesh units you can just as well use a cheap switch and get full speed all of the time.
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I use ethernet backhaul on the 1st hop, it works very well as you can eliminate wifi hops and frees up wifi spectrum. You still get benefits such as seamless handover. Strongly recommended
 
Tim_vb said:
I use ethernet backhaul on the 1st hop, it works very well as you can eliminate wifi hops and frees up wifi spectrum. You still get benefits such as seamless handover. Strongly recommended
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That I can understand but hard wiring all your mesh nodes doesn't make sense.
 
so 2 weeks since I made my purchase.

signal between the main hub and the nodes remains a problem, but that is because of the walls. even with that I have only had 1 node disconnect once, and I am still convinced that was user error where someone turned the wrong plug off and refuses to admit it.


still not 100% happy with the signal strenght between the nodes, but my leave starts today, and as soon as the other house is packed up and moved into the new place I will play around. maybe move nodes to the ceiling, or run ethernet to the nodes. have not decided yet, will be doing a lot of playing in the next few weeks.
 
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Crowley said:
That I can understand but hard wiring all your mesh nodes doesn't make sense.
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It does make sense. Apart from seamless handover, you can ensure that your connection to each node is at gigabit speeds. If your nodes are connected wirelessly to each other, you'll get half duplex at each hop from the main node.

But I believe the question the guy asked is whether connecting two nodes to the router would work, instead wiring the nodes to each other as most people do. And the answer is yes it should work...
 
RogueTr00per said:
I finally bought and setup a 2-set of Deco X55's, so far I am very happy but my apartment is quite small and 1 unit would have sufficed as well. In the future when I'm in a bigger place I might want to do ethernet backhaul. Can this work like I've drawn it in the diagram below whereby the ethernet backhaul is via the router and not directly from one Deco to the other? If this can work then when I move into a double story house in a year's time I possibly don't need a third unit.


View attachment 1780808
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My main mesh unit is my router, that is connected to 8 port 1gps switch, and my other 2 units are connected to the switch.

I ditched my previous router.
 
Mike Hoxbig said:
It does make sense. Apart from seamless handover, you can ensure that your connection to each node is at gigabit speeds. If your nodes are connected wirelessly to each other, you'll get half duplex at each hop from the main node.
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100%. These are literally the reasons that wired backhaul is a selectable option on mesh devices.

Mike Hoxbig said:
But I believe the question the guy asked is whether connecting two nodes to the router would work, instead wiring the nodes to each other as most people do. And the answer is yes it should work...
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It's hit or miss. From their faq :

" Note: The Deco Ethernet backhaul feature is based on the standard IEEE 1905.1 protocol. However, we have found that some switches, mainly D-Link switches, will not forward packets based on IEEE 1905.1 protocol, causing all Deco units to enter a network loop and causing instability. If you find yourself in this situation, we would suggest considering another switch or contacting the switch’s support team directly. TP-Link Switches are mostly compatible with our Deco’s Ethernet backhaul. "

Of course they're peddling their own stuff. But this kind of potential issue is not uncommon. I work in the enterprise I.T. space where we see this kind of thing a lot, i.e. devices that are primarily designed to be connected together don't work / aren't supported when cabled through a switch
 
SarelSeemonster said:
Why? This is very much supported and even recommended by TP-Link.

https://www.tp-link.com/za/support/faq/1794/
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Mike Hoxbig said:
It does make sense. Apart from seamless handover, you can ensure that your connection to each node is at gigabit speeds. If your nodes are connected wirelessly to each other, you'll get half duplex at each hop from the main node.

But I believe the question the guy asked is whether connecting two nodes to the router would work, instead wiring the nodes to each other as most people do. And the answer is yes it should work...
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Then why would you use a mesh system instead of just using hard wired AP's?
 
because you need better wifi at points where the main router does not work.

sometimes, believe it or not, you want to walk from one side of your house to the other without dragging a lan cable plugged in though a type C on your phone.

Crowley, my guy, we all know that using all your nodes in wireless mode is a good idea and close to an ideal set up, but sometimes, that is just not possible because of the distance that needs to be covered, and like in my case my limiting factor is power points. I cant add more nodes to cover the area because the same power issue will keep being the main problem. but running a cable to the nodes means I have full coverage with strong signal
 
A mesh network can use hardwired APs as its backbone. It's important to note that the mesh network refers to the Wi-Fi network itself, not the backbone infrastructure.

Since wireless bandwidth is limited, relying on it for the mesh backbone can be inefficient. Instead, using an Ethernet backbone for your mesh network will significantly improve performance and provide a better overall user experience.

Crowley said:
Then why would you use a mesh system instead of just using hard wired AP's?
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Crowley said:
Then why would you use a mesh system instead of just using hard wired AP's?
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Here's my example

I have an Asus mesh. The main node is in my office. I have a nodes in the lounge and garage, both hardwired back to the main node. This is due to :
  • Wireless ( for a mesh or otherwise ) from either of those locations simply isn't strong enough to reach the main unit in the office and provide a stable experience. In fact, it's non-existent from the garage
  • I have a need for both wireless and wired devices in both of those locations.
Using mesh nodes with both a switch and wireless AP serves those needs, something you can't do with hardwired AP's alone
 
Look, I am not disagreeing with anybody here. I just wanted to know why you would use a mesh router and nodes if you are going to hardwire them in any way. Some valid points were raised and some of it makes sense.

At the moment I haven't set up the link between my house and the flat on the premises yet so I am using 2 x Ubiquity LR's in a mesh configuration hence my question.
 
the ideal would be to not need a cable between nodes.

and I am going to play around with extension cables and move my nodes around to try and get better signal, if that fails, I will resort to cables.

but even before I do that I will be trying to put them in the ceiling, again power up there will not be easy, and I have not been up there so I have no idea if it will even work, but I sure will try.

due to some issues in the office I might end up needing to get another 2 nodes to cover even more of the house.
 
Crowley said:
Look, I am not disagreeing with anybody here. I just wanted to know why you would use a mesh router and nodes if you are going to hardwire them in any way. Some valid points were raised and some of it makes sense.

At the moment I haven't set up the link between my house and the flat on the premises yet so I am using 2 x Ubiquity LR's in a mesh configuration hence my question.
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I'm assuming you are asking these questions in good faith here. I have two structural brick walls between node 1 (location 1) and (nodes 2 / node 3). Initially I tried to use a router to save money at location 1 and experience was extremely frustrating, as devices had a habit of hanging on the AP with the worst signal.

The solution was to add a mesh node at location 1 and send ethernet through to node 2. I get 500mbps wifi across the house, no dropoffs and rock solid stability. I then added a second cat6 cable to node 3 but I found this had almost no effect on max wifi speeds. YMMV
 
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Crowley said:
That I can understand but hard wiring all your mesh nodes doesn't make sense.
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Makes perfect sense I have a 6E ASUS mesh system. Before I hardwired the mesh routers the connection was also dropping despite using the 6GHz as the back haul. Almost binned it. Hardwired it and works perfectly and seamless. If you can hardwire your nodes to the main router it guarantees the nodes are always connected in the strongest and most stable way possible and they can then distribute to all other devices seamlessly.
 
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kory said:
Makes perfect sense I have a 6E ASUS mesh system. Before I hardwired the mesh routers the connection was also dropping despite using the 6GHz as the back haul. Almost binned it. Hardwired it and works perfectly and seamless. If you can hardwire your nodes to the main router it guarantees the nodes are always connected in the strongest and most stable way possible and they can then distribute to all other devices seamlessly.
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So they become access points then basically nullifying the mesh part.
 
Crowley said:
So they become access points then basically nullifying the mesh part.
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Well I think technically the difference is very little I guess with the mesh you can hardwire part, use wireless backhaul for some etc.
 
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