[contentedbloke]

I live in a 1800sqft 3BHK apartment where the main WiFi connection (Hathway router) is in the living room. Since all TVs are smart now, and we need internet access in all bedrooms, I had purchased the TP Link Deco mesh network, specifically X-20 for the main hub (which is connected to the router) and M5 for the node extension which I have placed in a hallway near the bedrooms.

There is no direct line of sight between the main hub and the node but the node is able to pick up the WiFi signal and repeat it as part of the mesh system.

However i feel that this is not very effective as the speed of the node is much lower than the main hub. My bedroom door is very close to the node, and if i close the door then the TV starts buffering, meaning the WiFi signal from the node is not strong enough to penetrate even a few 4.5 inch thick walls.

In all, I am disappointed by this whole mesh system and the way it has been marketed (“dead zone killer” etc). I think it’s just better to find a way to route a cat-6 lan cable to all rooms (even if I have to do it openly since concealed wiring provision is not available) and then connect these mesh nodes to the lan cable. That would ensure proper strength of the WiFi.

Any thoughts / experiences on this?

[deep_blue]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

Any thoughts / experiences on this?

I had a similar experience though my main unit is a Deco M5. Ended up getting 4 M4s, 1 for each of my bedrooms & thats what resolved the issue. I would suggest waiting for an offer on Amazon or Flipkart & pick a M4 (100mbps) or another M5.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

My bedroom door is very close to the node, and if i close the door then the TV starts buffering, meaning the WiFi signal from the node is not strong enough to penetrate even a few 4.5 inch thick walls.

A few 4.5 inch walls? You just explained why your mesh isn't working. If the door closing is affecting your signal, it is already very weak signal.

How many satellites do you have? You may need more if you have more than two walls separating the unit from the TV or other networked device. That will allow it to boost the signal and extend it further.

My Internet router is in the main hall under the TV and my worktable with PC is in my bedroom. If I try to access the wifi directly from my table, it is too weak. So I have just put a satellite on my table and connected the PC directly to it. That makes the signal much stronger.

[shipnil]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

I think it’s just better to find a way to route a cat-6 lan cable to all rooms (even if I have to do it openly since concealed wiring provision is not available)

How old is your apartment? Since last 15/20 years I have seen concealed wiring only in apartments. Usually we can pull CAT cables through the ducts that are used by your builder to route the co-axial cable used for DTH in each room. I have pulled Cat5e sometime back this way to all rooms in my apartment. I have done it myself but if you are not DIY type, you can get any electrician and a 100 metre bundle and get it done.

[contentedbloke]

Originally Posted by shipnil

How old is your apartment? Since last 15/20 years I have seen concealed wiring only in apartments. Usually we can pull CAT cables through the ducts that are used by your builder to route the co-axial cable used for DTH in each room. I have pulled Cat5e sometime back this way to all rooms in my apartment. I have done it myself but if you are not DIY type, you can get any electrician and a 100 metre bundle and get it done.

We explored this option. Problem is that the tv cables are all stuck (since not being used) and we were unable to pull it out and use that channel to route the cat6 cables. Hence open wiring alternative.

Originally Posted by Samurai

A few 4.5 inch walls? You just explained why your mesh isn't working. If the door closing is affecting your signal, it is already very weak signal.

How many satellites do you have? You may need more if you have more than two walls separating the unit from the TV or other networked device. That will allow it to boost the signal and extend it further.

My Internet router is in the main hall under the TV and my worktable with PC is in my bedroom. If I try to access the wifi directly from my table, it is too weak. So I have just put a satellite on my table and connected the PC directly to it. That makes the signal much stronger.

My set up is similar. I have the main router and X20 under the TV in the hall, then the M5 at the end of a long hallway which opens into the two bedrooms. The M5 is centrally placed to all three bedrooms which opens 4-5 feet away from the M5. But the signal is so weak that closing the doors affect the wifi in any of these rooms.

Are you suggesting adding more M5s to improve the mesh strength so that the first M5 is getting a stronger signal from a newly and better placed M5?

Originally Posted by deep_blue

I had a similar experience though my main unit is a Deco M5. Ended up getting 4 M4s, 1 for each of my bedrooms & thats what resolved the issue. I would suggest waiting for an offer on Amazon or Flipkart & pick a M4 (100mbps) or another M5.

Yeah I didn't explore this option. May have to improve the mesh coverage by placing more M5s everywhere in the house.

[dhruvagarwal]

Try placing the router/ master hub as close to the ceiling as possible. From what I've heard wifi signal travels downwards, and you're likely to see a 20-30% difference in speed just by doing this.

I was faced with this problem recently, and I duct taped my router to the ceiling temporarily. Saw a meaningful difference in speeds and subsequently got the router fixed permanently near the ceiling.

Hope this helps.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

Are you suggesting adding more M5s to improve the mesh strength so that the first M5 is getting a stronger signal from a newly and better placed M5?

You will need to do some experimentation. First, move the satellite next to one of the bedroom TVs and see what happens. Second, add a second satellite next to the bedroom TV, while keeping the first satellite in the original position. This will give good idea about what you need to do.

[deathwalkr]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

There is no direct line of sight between the main hub and the node but the node is able to pick up the WiFi signal and repeat it as part of the mesh system.

I guess this is the issue. Try getting another node in between so that will have LOS between the two. Or maybe the m5 is your weak link.

Try using a wifi analyser app to see if there are bottlenecks in channels.

Hardwiring is always the best choice but a properly setup mesh does come close.

[SoumenD]

Mine is a tiny 1000sqft 2bhk. Connection is 300mbps airtel fibrenet. Main modem is in living room and that is good enough for the smaller bedroom where we have 2nd tv fitted with amazon firestick.

But the bigger bedroom where my office desk is at the corner gets very weak 5GHz reception. So I got an extender(TP link) to cover it. Worked fine for sometime (~1 year) but lately the reception kinda fluctuates between 20-100mbps at best. Gets embarrassing at times during teams calls specifically when screen is shared

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

I live in a 1800sqft 3BHK apartment where the main WiFi connection (Hathway router) is in the living room. Since all TVs are smart now, and we need internet access in all bedrooms, I had purchased the TP Link Deco mesh network, specifically X-20 for the main hub (which is connected to the router) and M5 for the node extension which I have placed in a hallway near the bedrooms.

There is no direct line of sight between the main hub and the node but the node is able to pick up the WiFi signal and repeat it as part of the mesh system.

However i feel that this is not very effective as the speed of the node is much lower than the main hub. My bedroom door is very close to the node, and if i close the door then the TV starts buffering, meaning the WiFi signal from the node is not strong enough to penetrate even a few 4.5 inch thick walls.

In all, I am disappointed by this whole mesh system and the way it has been marketed (“dead zone killer” etc). I think it’s just better to find a way to route a cat-6 lan cable to all rooms (even if I have to do it openly since concealed wiring provision is not available) and then connect these mesh nodes to the lan cable. That would ensure proper strength of the WiFi.

Any thoughts / experiences on this?

I had tried with one node when I was trying mesh in a similar sized apartment. After seeing the coverage, I have put 3 nodes across the house, have seamless access at proper speeds.

[SmartCat]

Related thread:
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadge...n-improve.html (What is your home Wifi download speed & what steps have you taken to improve it?)

[subraiyr]

Originally Posted by contentedbloke

I live in a 1800sqft 3BHK apartment where the main WiFi connection (Hathway router) is in the living room. Since all TVs are smart now, and we need internet access in all bedrooms, I had purchased the TP Link Deco mesh network, specifically X-20 for the main hub (which is connected to the router) and M5 for the node extension which I have placed in a hallway near the bedrooms.


In all, I am disappointed by this whole mesh system and the way it has been marketed (“dead zone killer” etc). I think it’s just better to find a way to route a cat-6 lan cable to all rooms (even if I have to do it openly since concealed wiring provision is not available) and then connect these mesh nodes to the lan cable. That would ensure proper strength of the WiFi.

Any thoughts / experiences on this?

I have a similar set up in my house. It’s a 2600 carpet area single floor house. Deco X20 master is placed in the family room connected directly to the cable from the modem I. The shaft. I don’t have a real fast plan, but I get close to 200mbps download speed in the family room when connected to cable directly and 190mbps when connected to Deco

The second deco x20 is placed in the master bedroom and is not in line of sight. The distance probably is about 25 feet through walls. On this I get 167 mbps download speed

For laptops , iPads I have configured them to use 5ghz band. For tv it is 2.5ghz band. The reason being it’s just above main deco. I don’t know if I have done the right thing, but it works

In the living room I have an older deco which supports speed of only 100mbps and here I get the full 100mbs

Cheers

[arnieshwartz]

I have come to realise that WiFi mesh systems of any brand is a hit-or-miss, with some finding a mesh system from a certain manufacturer to be the panacea for all their connectivity issues, while there are others for whom the same mesh system just cant deliver the desired experience.

When I was setting up a mesh system at home, I used an app for Android called WiFi Analyzer to help locate any dead zones and used that information to decide where I wanted to have the router and/or satellites set up. All units use ethernet backhaul, so there is no issue of line-of-sight between the satellites and the main router. This also ensures the system is able to deliver top speed in the 5 GHz range and maintain reliable connectivity on the 2.4 GHz range. For reference, ours is a three floor villa across some 4500 sq. ft. and we have a Motorola mesh system with three satellites in a daisy chain setup. All devices connect to the network wirelessly, and this includes the telly, laptops, mobile phones, surveillance cameras and the printer.

We often tend to ignore the real world speeds on the 2.4 GHz and the 5 GHz bands, the supported WiFi standards as well as the compatibility of the connected devices. For example - devices that support upto the 802.11n standard can deliver up to 72 Mbps per spatial stream (one antenna) on the 2.4 GHz channel, so a router with two antennae will offer 144 Mbps (advertised as 150 Mbps) using the default 20 MHz channels. Some routers can use channel bonding which basically combines two 20 MHz channels and doubles the peak bandwidth to 300 Mbps (288 Mbps effectively). Your devices also need to support two streams to get that 144 Mbps. Older smartphones and laptops usually only have one single antenna so you'll be limited to 72 Mbps. Even older standards such as 802.11g will max out at 54 Mbps.

If you are looking to have your WiFi signal to punch through walls, then you can do one of two things - use routers with high-gain antennas, or use ethernet connections between your router and devices. In the Deco range, the M9 is better than the M5 in technologies contributing to wireless range and capacity. However, the M9 isnt sold in 1-pack unlike the M5 so that is something to consider at the time of buying, regarding any future upgrades.

Also, and as suggested by others in this thread, experimenting by moving around existing units of the mesh network can sometimes help to eliminate some of the dead zone and/or connectivity issues one might face.

[NaXal]

Hello,

WiFi, as with any radio signal is tricky when there are no line of sight is present. Specially with 5 Ghz or higher frequencies

There are signal strength mapping apps for Android, where you can measure the strength from primary router and strategically place the next nodes within a good range of the primary.

The Node (Booster) and primary needs to be within their good signal zone to effectively maintain the backhaul.

You must also ensure that backhaul is using 5Ghz or higher (if present) instead of 2.4 Ghz for higher capacity in backhaul.

I think it’s just better to find a way to route a cat-6 lan cable to all rooms (even if I have to do it openly since concealed wiring provision is not available) and then connect these mesh nodes to the lan cable. That would ensure proper strength of the WiFi.

However, Wired Backhaul is the ultimate answer.

Specially if you are in an area where too many Neighbours are using too many WiFi and overcrowding the channels.

I have a similar setup, but with OpenWRT. Where I am using Wired 1gbps backhaul and WiFi5 Fast Roaming to allow house wide free roaming coverage.

I have documented that here, https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadge...p-my-home.html (Cheap but effective DIY WiFi Mesh Setup for my home)

Further benefit of OpenWRT is like using Multi-Wan (Multiple ISP together) Load Balancing along with Failover, so I have also thrown a cheap 5G mobile as dedicated 2nd wan with Unlimited 5G Jio Network.



Thanks.

[swoosh]

If there are other broadband providers in your area, consider getting a second connection from a different provider. This can not only improve browsing speeds but also serve as a backup if one connection fails. I faced a similar issue with signal coverage in my home, so I got Airtel (499rs plan, 40mbps) for the living room, mainly for TV and got one more connection from ACT (1300rs plan, 300mbps), placed in a central location closer to the bedrooms which I use for all my office work.