To Mesh or Not to Mesh; that is the question?

Next week I am moving to Zen and have received a Fritzbox 7530 router from them which I plan to try to see how it performs as it may suit mostly suit my needs. - (I am not sure as I don't know much about this particular Fritzbox Router). - That said: it has a Lantiq chipset and when there is a choice of routers I usually choose a router with a Broadcom chipset and a fast processor; also, yesterday in order to try the Wifi, I put the Fritzbox 7530 into bridge mode, (using my present router to control the DCHP), and when I tried the WiFi in various places inside the room it was in it was OK but outside the room it was in it was mostly down to two bars or even one bar so the signal strength may not be great..

If the Fritzbox 7530 does not work out I am considering two alternatives and I am not sure which would be better or if I should choose a lesser router and a Wifi Mesh System..

The routers that I am considering are;

(1). The Billion 8900ax 2400. - (Cheapest Price £241)

(2). The Asus DSL AC88U. - (Cheapest Price £199)


Some years ago I used an Asus DSL AC68U router and for the most part that was very good but when I changed ISP from BT to Sky it did not work well with the Sky MER System so I sold it and recently with Sky I was using the TP-Link AC2800 which was a great router but the AC2800 developed intermittent lost Wifi issues, (I checked the channels that it was on and they were clear), so I managed to get a refund for that and although I did like the AC2800 I would not get another.

Therefore, if the fritzbox 7530 is reasonable do I get a Wifi Mesh System to ensure good wifi. - (possibly via another Fritz Device/s or via one of the three part stand alone Wifi Mesh Systems).

Alternatively, would I be better off buying a Billion 8900ax 2400.or an Asus DSL AC88U. - How good is the Wifi on these? - Some reviews seem to conflict.

Do we know which of these has the better wifi ?

Edited by Fido (Fri 21-Jun-19 16:24:16)

In reply to a post by Fido:

Alternatively, would I be better off buying a Billion 8900ax 2400.or an Asus DSL AC88U. - How good is the Wifi on these? - Some reviews seem to conflict.
Do we know which of these has the better wifi ?

Both of these are 4x4 stream wifi routers, so both should be decent. I would go for the Billion 8900AX mainly due to having better firmware. Also worth considering TP Link VR2800 and Netgear D7800 which are also 4x4 stream routers.

Only consider a mesh system if a single router/AP doesn't cut it.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

Both of these are 4x4 stream wifi routers, so both should be decent. I would go for the Billion 8900AX mainly due to having better firmware. Also worth considering TP Link VR2800 and Netgear D7800 which are also 4x4 stream routers.

Thank you for the other alternatives that you mentioned; as indicated I did have a TP Link VR2800 but it developed intermittent poor Wifi issues, so I contacted technical support and I obtained a refund, therefore, although I liked the VR2800 I have crossed it off the list.

I am unsure about the Netgear D7800:


I too was leaning towards the Billion 8900AX 2400, (even though I have never had a billion router I know that there appear to be a lot of happy Billion users), but some uses of billion Routers on a Billion User Website refer poor cosmetic finish, (when it arrived brand new), and to poor Wifi which they said was an issue with both this and the earlier model;

http://forum.billion.uk.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=836...

At present the Netgear D7800 costs almost the same as the Asus DSL AC88U which costs about £42 less, (ie.about 20% less), than the Billion 8900AX 2400 but is the Billion Firmware and performance worth 20% more?

My eyes are starting to bounce together when I look up technical reviews and customer feedback comparisons for each model which is not helped when, (on some sites eg Amazon), the customer reviews for other models are included with the reviews for other models from the same manufacturer).

From what I can tell the Billion 8900ax 2400 is stable but does it suffer from inferior Wifi to some of the others?

I'm using the billion 8900AX-2400 and it's excellent , only use the 5 GHZ wi-fi part and no problems at all

you can get a bit more range using the 2.4 GHZ , my neighbour 2 doors ago can pick my wireless up

imop great modem / router

Why don't you keep the Fritzbox to establish connection with Zen and get something such as the Google WiFi or BT Whole Home WiFi for the wireless side of things?

This would give you better wireless coverage than one main access point such as the Billion listed.

Edited by ukhardy07 (Fri 21-Jun-19 21:39:07)

In reply to a post by deezel:

I'm using the billion 8900AX-2400 and it's excellent , only use the 5 GHZ wi-fi part and no problems at all

Thanks for that feedback; it does allay my concerns that the Wifi may not be good.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Why don't you keep the Fritzbox to establish connection with Zen and get something such as the Google WiFi or BT Whole Home WiFi for the wireless side of things?

This would give you better wireless coverage than one main access point such as the Billion listed.

I agree that a mesh may be a good option but some able people consider that it is inferior and I am open minded. - I do intend to try the Fritzbox 7530 as it does seem to be quite a good router and it may be really good other than the Wifi coverage.

It is possible that just supporting the Fritzbox Wifi with a wifi Mesh, (possibly via other Fritzbox Devices or via one of the three part stand alone Wifi Mesh Systems), may be a good answer as it should certainly deal with the potential Wifi coverage issues.

However, I am not yet sure that setup would be fully viable due to the processor speed/capacity of the processor in the router. - I presently use four home plugs, (each with three ports), to distribute the signal throughout the house and various devices are connected to all of these and with better Wifi coverage it may be that I need a router with a faster processor. - Maybe not.

I suspect that one day mesh systems will be standard.

Right now I don't yet know if a mesh system is the best option but at the present time a faster router with better wifi , possibly with the Fritzbox in bridge mode, should definitely work and my reason for asking now is that I had seen that the Asus DSL AC88U available at £199 which is £60 less than the Amazon Price and I had also hoped to find good/bad opinions on the Asus DSL AC88U.

That said; I am presently favouring the Billion 8900ax 2400

To act as a modem the standard router is plenty fine. You don�t need a better processor.

The vast majority use the ISP supplied kit and get full speeds. ISPs are not in the business of supplying a router which cannot manage speeds over Ethernet.

You may find a mesh system is overkill for your environment, try a decent single access point/router first and see how you get on. ISP supplied routers usually aren't the best for wifi as they use lower spec radios to save pennies. So give the Billion 8900AX a try first, ignore the negative reviews on Amazon as pretty much every router there usually has negative reviews- often due to incorrect router setup.

The other option I would suggest is use your fritzbox in modem only mode (aka bridge mode) and buy the Netgear R7800 - the R7800 is rated by Tim Higgins as the # 1 router for wifi range/speeds as tested on smallnetbuilder.com. Usually the R7800 retails for £150+ on Amazon but its currently on sale at £130, which is almost a bargain for a high end router. With the money saved you could buy an el cheapo (£10-£20) HG612 vdsl2 modem on ebay if you wanted a smaller modem footprint and keep the Fritzbox as a spare.

Edited by deleted (Sat 22-Jun-19 11:26:45)

I have used Fritz!Boxes since the days of ADSL. I currently have a Fritz!Box 7590 with a meshed 1750 repeater on a 74/20 FTTC connection, and I am seeing wifi speeds around the house in the high 60s. I particularly like the fact that I get a very low DSL error rate (which is easily monitored on the Fritz!Box), and a connection that remains stable between firmware updates. I also have VOIP connections to the Fritz!Box (more precisely a single VOIP connection with 3 VOIP-enabled DECT phones) and the quality of the calls is excellent. Personally, I would give the 7530 as try, you might be surprised how good it is.