In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

I still strongly disagree one main AP is the best approach, businesses, hotels, airports, large homes all have several APs. If you want good wireless performance either:
1) Run actual ethernet (not powerline) to the APs and run several throughout the home
2) Invest in a Mesh System e.g. BT Whole Home WiFi.

I don't think anyone has suggested to the OP that a single AP is guaranteed to give him 100% wifi coverage in the home. However - unless the OP has a huge home - the sensible approach would be to try a single router/AP first and see how he gets on before spending more money on a mesh system or multiple APs. He may find 1 router/AP easily covers the full home (especially if it has thin walls) or he may not. A single router (Linksys EA9500) easily covers my 4 bedroom, 2 floor home with wifi such that nothing is wired. Every wifi device gets > 250 Mbps on my 300 Mbps Line - even our 2 VOIP sip lines run over wifi. That doesn't mean everyone else can get away with using the same router without additional APs but equally, some may find the same AP works well on its own. Every home is unique, what may work in one environment won't necessarily work in another.

Edited by deleted (Tue 25-Jun-19 16:26:16)

I�m a 4 bedroom flat and one AP barely gets through the first wall. Either way I don�t see why a single AP at a costing similar to a mesh network would be preferential... Yes technically the mesh network might be an overkill but it�ll fix the wireless issue. A single AP becomes a try it and see solution, which could end up being a decent chunk of money spent and a mesh network or extra APs still required.

If indeed the normal routers functionality wasn�t good enough eg they wanted advanced features then it�s a different scenario.

I�d go for the overkill mesh anyday given the similar costing overall when trying to fix a WiFi issue.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

Either way I don�t see why a single AP at a costing similar to a mesh network would be preferential...

1) A half decent router such as a TP Link VR900 can cost significantly less (~ £100) than a half decent wifi mesh system such as BT wifi disks (> £150). That's assuming you get the same wifi performance on both.
2) By having a single AP, you save ££s on the electric bills (no matter how small), less units to plug in, less wiring, less equipment for the pets/kids to knock over etc and perhaps most importantly, its far easier to troubleshoot if things go wrong.

In reply to a post by ukhardy07:

A single AP becomes a try it and see solution, which could end up being a decent chunk of money spent and a mesh network or extra APs still required.

Indeed its a bit of trial & error thing but considering the likes of Amazon offer free 30 days hassle free returns on everything they sell directly, its a 100% risk free purchase should you decide to return Amazon purchased hardware.

My advice to folks is if they don't live in a huge home and/or have thick walls, then a half decent single AP/router may do the trick wrt wifi coverage. As an example & from my own experience, new build type homes - which often have wafer thin walls - are very wifi friendly and usually 1 router will easily cover the whole house (unless its huge).

Edited by deleted (Tue 25-Jun-19 19:22:15)

Amazon do indeed offer their 30 day money back guarantee on fulfilled by Amazon items but similar protections apply for any online purchase.

The distance selling regulations allow you to return new items within 14 days of receiving them no matter who the retailer is.

I'm entirely in agreement that you should try a single wireless AP solution before buying multiple wireless AP's or a wireless mesh system.
For many homes and for the average consumer a single wireless AP/router will be more than enough to provide coverage across the entire house.

Buying additional kit that might be completely unnecessary simply because a single AP might not cover every square inch of your property is potentially wasting money.

Try a single wireless AP and see how it goes. There are many mobile apps available that you can walk around the home and check the wireless signal strength at various points and decide if coverage is adequate.

A single wireless AP gives great coverage throughout my new build 3 bedroom property over 2 floors. I even get decent 2.4GHz coverage at the bottom of my garden.
Another wireless AP or mesh system would be overkill.

I was quite surprised to see that my 4 bedroom detached house has excellent to very good signal from the Virgin Media Superhub 3 in all rooms. Especially as I�ve ripped it to bits to install network cable everywhere and sound proofed using metal resilient bars and the thickest rock wool I could buy in ceilings and upstairs non brick walls.

No furniture or appliances in yet, so might get worse, but surprised me as expected to use extra equipment.

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

My advice to folks is if they don't live in a huge home and/or have thick walls, then a half decent single AP/router may do the trick wrt wifi coverage. As an example & from my own experience, new build type homes - which often have wafer thin walls - are very wifi friendly and usually 1 router will easily cover the whole house (unless its huge).

I would add to this an optimally placed access point can often achieve good coverage of the whole house. However in this context an optimally placed access point is frequently a ceiling mounted one feed with an ethernet cable and invariably powered using power over ethernet. Concluding that a single access point won't work by moving a cheap router about will invariably lead to erroneous conclusions.

It's certainly the case in my house that by doing that I achieve excellent coverage though out the house, but then like I said my access point is slap bang in the middle of the house literally. Using a standard access point and there was always somewhere in the house where the WiFi was a bit rubbish. It's certainly preferable to a mesh solution if it will work. It's simpler, cheaper, lower powered and avoids the need for roaming which does not work well on all devices. A ceiling mounted AP also wins hands down in the neatness stakes, as you can relegate the router to a cupboard, which may or may not be near the modem.

For my brother and sister I have had to deploy a mesh system to get decent coverage of the house, simply down to the size and construction. Ideally it's needed in my mother's house too, but she is not going to pay extra for the coverage over a well placed access point (not much call for WiFi in the utility room).

The one thing I would say is if you are getting a "mesh system" is to raise heaven and earth to get the access points linked via ethernet if you can. The result is wildly better than using wireless backhaul.

In reply to a post by j0hn83:

Amazon do indeed offer their 30 day money back guarantee on fulfilled by Amazon items but similar protections apply for any online purchase.

The distance selling regulations allow you to return new items within 14 days of receiving them no matter who the retailer is.

Amazon have always been great to deal with and they still are, (irrespective of the current legislation), and previously while the Distance Selling regulations were in force it was clear cut for all online retailers.

Unfortunately, not all retailers are as easy to deal as Amazon are especially since the current UK Conservative Government Cancelled the Distance Selling Regulations and they brought in the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

The Distance Selling Regulations was effectively a copy of the EU legislation. - (as usual, all of the good legislation tended to come out of the EU and all of the [censored] came out of Westminster).

The new legislation is similar regarding online sales but a potential problem with the new legislation could be a clause called "Excessive Handling" which some smaller retailers may try to use to negate a persons statutory rights.

I mention this because a couple of days ago my finger was hovering over the buy button for a Billion 8900ax 2400 that was in the basket for a company called Broadbandbuyer.com, (who do seem to be a reasonable company), but who had a very unreasonable Terms and Condition that I was quite uncomfortable with in that they take the view that if you open the router box you are considered to have, (in their view), to have excessively handled the router and you will not be given and full refund if you find that its performance is inadequate and you return the router to them. - (It's ridiculous it is like buying clothing online and trying it on to see if it fits to discover that taking out of the bag is excessive handing and would not pass scrutiny as T&C cannot be used to negate a persons statutory right but who want the potential hassle).

I am presently checking how the Fritzbox 7530 performs on my line and up to now it has been a bit of a disappointment with regard to line speed but the DLM reset has not yet been properly carried out. - (It is presently much worse than the Sky Q Router regarding speed but time will tell when things settle down). - That said; right now the internet speed is certainly not impressive.

If the Fritzbox 7530 does eventually come good I am considering adding a Fritzbox Mesh System, (based on a Fritzbox 7590), as I like the idea of the main router controlling it all but that is unlikely if the internet speed is down the toilet.

I have looked at a number of mesh systems, (including the Linksys Velop Tri-Band Whole Home Mesh System), that fulfils my wife's criterion of neat items and could be used with another router if it only operates as somewhat expensive access points.

I am also considering an older model of router with a fast Broadcom Chipset to handle the line and home plugs and mesh system to hand the wireless but I am not sure what older routers would fit the bill.

Amazon do not presently sell the Billion 8900ax 2400, if they did I would get one from them as it would probably be OK..

I suspect that the Asus DSL AC88U would also be reasonable and since another large retailer does have the Asus DSL AC88U, in stock, for £199 that may be a way to go.

It is difficult to decide what to choose; especially with the presents Fritzbox line speed being so poor.

Edited by Fido (Tue 25-Jun-19 23:50:40)

In reply to a post by Fido:

Amazon do not presently sell the Billion 8900ax 2400, if they did I would get one from them as it would probably be OK..

Amazon showing stock here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Network-Routers/Billion-M...

Edit: now out of stock

Edited by deleted (Wed 26-Jun-19 07:28:20)

In reply to a post by baby_frogmella:

In reply to a post by Fido:

Amazon do not presently sell the Billion 8900ax 2400, if they did I would get one from them as it would probably be OK..

Amazon showing stock here
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Network-Routers/Billion-M...

Edit: now out of stock

Hi baby_frogmella,

Please accept my sincere thanks for your helpfulness in letting me know of the Amazon availability.

Luckily, in the early hours of the morning, I was faffing about checking the speed and performance of the internet connection myself, (which is still presently down the toilet), when I noticed that one was available direct from Amazon and I managed to buy it.

At present; I will see how the Fritzbox 7530 goes as I want to give the line a chance to reset and settle with the supplied router but right now both the speed and the sync speeds are abysmal.

In between times I will see how the Billion 8900ax 2400 Wifi signal.compares.

Regards,
Fido

Given the £249 pricetag, are you sure you will get enough use of the extra functionality?

In my personal view, this is very much an overkill for the majority of users, and I haven't seen much in your posts to-date that indicate you need this sort of device. Your usage seems fairly straight forward.

It is a great device nontheless.

To put things into perspective, I have over 30 devices connected to my setup with 80/20 sync, and my equipment is nowhere near this level of spec.