Do I Need a New Router or Modem? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Frezon]

Took receipt of--and installed--my new TP-Link Wifi 6 AX3000.

I was actually disappointed at first...getting my "usual" 50 or so Mpbs after the installation. After I had added all my devices to the new network, ON IT'S OWN the Netgear dongle I've been using to connect to wifi on my laptop was added as a client to the network. And after that happened, I started getting the speeds I'm paying for.

On top of that, I am happy to have refreshed my network information and setup really was a breeze. Surprisingly easy.

Thanks to you all for your input and advice on this journey. It's wonderful when there are people willing to share their knowledge and take their time to do so.

Even though at first blush this router seems to also do a better job providing coverage across my new house, I have already ordered an extender which will provide wider "OneMesh" wifi 6 coverage. Maybe I can get 5ghz coverage on the far end of the house (and out on the deck!). Looking forward to finding out.

Youse guys is da best!

 

[Mike Frezon]

BTW Mike, when I set mine up, I ran a firmware update by internet, and something went wrong. After the update it would lose the network. Instead, you can download the update file to your computer and run the update from that through the admin. You can "push" it even when that update has supposedly already been done.

If you look closely at the instructions, it recommends updating that way, rather than automatically.

Thanks, John. I have turned off the Auto Update feature on your adviuce.

The Tether app says I have an update waiting (1.07 Build 20220120 rel. 74083). But I'll wait to figure out how best to deal with that after I get the new extender up & running.

 

[JohnRice]

Thanks, John. I have turned off the Auto Update feature on your adviuce.

The Tether app says I have an update waiting (1.07 Build 20220120 rel. 74083). But I'll wait to figure out how best to deal with that after I get the new extender up & running.

You can download the update file from their website to your computer, then update from the file using the browser based admin.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Will do. Funny thing, the Tether app says the reason for the update is:

Bug fixed: Fixed the bug that the router has unstable internet.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I was actually disappointed at first...getting my "usual" 50 or so Mpbs after the installation. After I had added all my devices to the new network, ON IT'S OWN the Netgear dongle I've been using to connect to wifi on my laptop was added as a client to the network. And after that happened, I started getting the speeds I'm paying for.

On top of that, I am happy to have refreshed my network information and setup really was a breeze. Surprisingly easy.

Thanks to you all for your input and advice on this journey. It's wonderful when there are people willing to share their knowledge and take their time to do so.

Even though at first blush this router seems to also do a better job providing coverage across my new house, I have already ordered an extender which will provide wider "OneMesh" wifi 6 coverage. Maybe I can get 5ghz coverage on the far end of the house (and out on the deck!). Looking forward to finding out.

Youse guys is da best!

Mike, you might wanna hold up a bit before fully committing to a new extender.

I went back thru the thread to try to better understand your previous issue w/ the Netgear setup.

My laptop usage is actually about six feet from my modem/router...so I think those speeds are representative. When I get the chance, I will do what you say and turn off the extender (which is at the other end of the house) and also try Fast.com.

I had thought you did this test (to disable/turn-off the old extender) as recommended by @DaveF, but upon doublechecking the various posts in-between, I don't actually see any confirmation that you actually tested the old setup w/ the old extender disabled.

Even though you usually used your laptop w/in 6-10ft of the router and ran tests that way, it's still possible your old extender was somehow causing problems for you... unless you made sure to test w/ it disabled and probably everything reset/refreshed (after disabling the extender) to ensure proper/best setup/performance.

Without such confirmation, you might still end up back to square one (more or less) once you add a new extender... although maybe the new extender is better than the old one. Which new one did you actually order?

_Man_

 

[Clinton McClure]

I still maintain that wireless networking is 5% math and 95% magic.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Which new one did you actually order?

TP-Link WiFi 6 Extender(RE600X)​

Man: I appreciate your thoroughness on this. I really do.

I DID run tests with that extender removed from the system. It was an easy thing for me to do since I wanted to bring it inside for the winter from where I had been running it (an unheated mudroom). And there was no change. I cannot imagine why I wouldn't have reported it here. But I find I sometimes drop the ball and don't close all the loops I start. I will admit, however that I will not have "reset" the main router after removing the extender. I wouldn't have thought/remembered to do that.

At least if I add an extender to my new router and start regressing, I will know what's going on. But I am optimistic now that I am on the right track. I keep being amazed that I had 1.) taken my laptop to my MIL's during Peg's visit; 2.) that I actually found time to use it while there; 3.) that I noticed it was browsing more quickly than usual; and 4.) I thought to run a speed test to see what I was getting. Otherwise I would have continued to just accept my fate.

You can be sure I'll post an update once I install the new extender.

 

[JohnRice]

Just my contribution, it's best to avoid wireless extenders if you possibly can. If you do need to use them, you can't place them where there is bad WiFi coverage. You have to place them where there's still good coverage to extend it. I tried it, and just wasn't happy. So instead I got a TP-Link Archer AX10 and configured it as an access point, with it wired back to the AX-55. This allows coverage that would require at least two extenders, with a single, cheaper unit.

Setup is a little tricky, since they don't come right out and explain how to do it. But once you understand the process, it's quite simple.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I don't fully understand the concept of an "access point." That means the extender needs to be hard-wired to the router?

But here's my report.

I installed my TP-Link RE 600X OneMesh Extender.

I am still ascertaining the effectiveness of the "extender" part of things...but I currently have full coverage around the house and (it seems) outside. This is an improvement as I had zero to poor wife in the farthest reaches of the house (near where the extender has been installed.) The only reason I have questions about coverage outside is that it's been raining--making it difficult to test the outside coverage without melting.
The upside is that I am still on my laptop getting 200+ speed results on the wifi. Life is good.

If the extender didn't seem to be working as promised, I figured I was going to return both pieces and purchase a TP-link all mesh system. But, so far, this seems to be doing the trick.

Thanks again to you all for your help and expertise on this.

I still maintain that wireless networking is 5% math and 95% magic.

I am pretty much onboard with this!

 

[JohnRice]

I don't fully understand the concept of an "access point." That means the extender needs to be hard-wired to the router?

A mesh system is a high compromise option with a network (minimum of two) transceivers. The backbone of it is the main WiFi/router. You only need one router. In fact you can only have one router, which is at the beginning of the chain. A mesh then transmits wirelessly to subsequent transceivers, which daisy-chain the signal in two directions to the next mesh transceiver. So, it's passing the two way data wirelessly from one to the next. This means each mesh node has to be within strong signal range of the next and previous node. So, in my house, which is a traditional ranch, I'd need the WiFi router and two mesh nodes to really get good coverage. However, using a wired access point, I can get away with just one additional transceiver, one toward each end of the house, and the signal doesn't have to be wirelessly daisy-chained between them. An access point is really just another WiFi router in "Access Point" mode, which simply turns off the routing, since the main WiFi router is already doing the routing. That may or may not have made it clearer. The difference is it takes fewer transceivers to use APs and is more reliable, since each AP is wired to the source. The downside is you have to run ethernet to APs from the main router.

Then you just configure each AP with the same network name and password as the main one, and your devices will hop between APs as needed.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Thanks, John for explaining that.

So the main router transmits wifi and the secondary unit does the very same thing (but originating from a better ethernet connection rather than the original router's wifi signal).

One of the things I've been doing is using the "Tether" app that TP-Link has. The app makes it easy to see which devices are linked to the router and which are connected to the extender. So I can walk around the house with my phone or laptop and see when it changes connected from the router to the extender or vice-versa.

Pretty cool.

One of the things which makes me happy is that both my wife's iPhone and my iPhone are now consistently connected to the 5ghz network no matter where we are in the house.

I'll have a better feel this coming week about the effectiveness of the extender. We've got some beautiful weather coming our way.

 

[JohnRice]

Thanks, John for explaining that.

So the main router transmits wifi and the secondary unit does the very same thing (but originating from a better ethernet connection rather than the original router's wifi signal).

One of the things I've been doing is using the "Tether" app that TP-Link has. The app makes it easy to see which devices are linked to the router and which are connected to the extender. So I can walk around the house with my phone or laptop and see when it changes connected from the router to the extender or vice-versa.

Pretty cool.

One of the things which makes me happy is that both my wife's iPhone and my iPhone are now consistently connected to the 5ghz network no matter where we are in the house.

I'll have a better feel this coming week about the effectiveness of the extender. We've got some beautiful weather coming our way.

FWIW Mike, I stopped using the Tether app entirely. I just log in directly using a browser. I can't remember why, except that it's easier and more user friendly.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'll have a better feel this coming week about the effectiveness of the extender. We've got some beautiful weather coming our way.

And the bump reminds me to report that we are getting excellent coverage out on our back deck as well as throughout the house.

I think my work here is done and I can't thank you all enough for walking along with me on this PITA journey!

The official motto of this thread: 5% math and 95% magic.

 

[JohnRice]

I need to give a big nod to @Dave Upton and @John Dirk, who had educated me a LOT on this prior to this thread. Even though I didn't go with the enterprise level hardware Dave suggested, the result was an enormous improvement, reasonably priced, and relatively simple to implement.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I'm gonna post THIS LINK here in case it's a help to someone.

I'm not sure if there's much useful/good information here, but some of it seems legit and common sense.

These Things Are Blocking Your Home's WIFI Signal

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

And make sure your router is of the proper type.

 

[Clark Green]

We just installed a 3 pod Google Mesh in our daughters college rental house and it has helped a lot. Initially all they had was a U-Verse wifi/router hiding in back room closet.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Going back to my suggestion about upgrading the Wifi module in your laptops ....

My new refurb Dell Latitude 3570 came with one of the two optional Wifi modules. Unfortunately it came with the slower 802.11N module from Qualcomm. Download speeds in the kitchen at the far end of the house from the router was around 120 mbps. Today I installed the other optional module: the Intel 8260 AC module that does 802.11AC. Just changing the module had my speed go up to around 300 mbps! Not a bad payback for a $14 purchase off of eBay.

https://www.intel.com/content/dam/w...riefs/dual-band-wireless-ac-8260-brief-v2.pdf

Note it's an older retired product now. I picked it since Dell sourced it for my laptop. I didn't want to troubleshoot using the newer Intel AX200 module that does 802.11AX.

 

[Dennis Nicholls]

Note it's an older retired product now.

Hey!

I resemble that remark.