Run ethernet or Mesh?

waring192

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Hi everyone,

I ordered 100m of cat cable for running around the house but am having second thoughts now. Its a rather large house and old (main part is around 300-400 years old) and would be a nightmare as a lot of the internal walls are over 2ft thick as they used to be external.

Just wondering what peoples opinions are on the likes of Mesh networks? I have had a look at a few such as:

  • AmpLIFI HD
  • Google Wifi
  • BT Whole Home Wi-Fi
  • Netgear Orbi
Just wondering if they are good and able to go through thick walls? If so what out of the above is the best?

Cheers
 
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"Mesh" is the latest BS that Wi-Fi vendors are using to sell kit to the SOHO market. In Enterprise systems, "mesh" links have been around forever. There's nothing "magic" (or "new") about it.

The radio that is used for AP-to-AP "mesh" links is no different to the radio used for any other kind of Wi-Fi and suffers all the same issues with distance and structure as Client-to-AP links.

A crap Client-to-AP link between any two given locations will be just as crap for an AP-to-AP "mesh" link between the same locales. (Incidentally, same for "repeaters" too.) Calling it a "mesh" link makes no difference to the radio characteristics.

If you can possibly bear to do the work, cabled ethernet backhaul links between AP's is always going to be better - faster, more reliable and frees up more "air time" for the Client-to-AP Wi-Fi transmissions.
 
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Have you thought about giving Powerline adapters a try?

They're a compromise, but can work well. It is completely dependant upon your wiring though, they could work great in your neighbours house and be next to useless in yours.

If you decide to give them a try always buy from a retailer with a good returns policy.
 
Cabling is the way to go every time. Coming down from the ceiling or up from under the floors would be your best bet. I agree, going through the walls would not be for the feint of heart!

Also, ideally each cabling run should go back to a central point and a patch panel. Common wisdom is to take two runs at least to each location (for redundancy and potential future uses). So your 100m might not be enough, depending on what you want.

This sort of thing is best tackled when a major restoration or refurb, but needs must.
 
I find the Netgear Orbi great (but I’m in a new build with thin walls).

If it were me I’d be inclined to at least try a mesh network (buy online and if it doesn’t work well for you, return it)
 
Take the time to run network cable, even if you can only get a few cables in to form a Backbone through the house, you won’t regret it. There is no substitute for a cabled network, only if it is to cable some high quality access points to your router. I live in a 3 storey house and it took me months to work out a cable route to the top floor. I only managed to get 2 cat6 cabled up, but it was enough to provide a 2Gig link to my top floor switch. Honestly the effort is worth it in the long-run even if it seems like a lot of effort now.
Also given the thickness of some of your walls, mesh solutions may not work that well.
 
Agree with the others try and hardwire. Also make sure you cable is not cheap CCA as you will regret fitting that ...
 

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