Question

This is about WiFi.  I have a 3500 sqft two level home with about 40 devices altogether between the WiFi switches, thermostats, streaming TVs, Ring, computers, tablets and phones.This is about WiFi. I have a 3500 sqft two level home with about 40 devices altogether between the WiFi switches, thermostats, streaming TVs, Ring, computers, tablets and phones. I made a terrible mistake of going with Linksys Velop which I found to suffer from known issues with ecobee connectivity, one of ROKUs can’t connect to main network either and generally I find myself rebooting Velops from time to time. No support for multiple SSIDs and generally very little in terms of settings available. I got 1gbps fiber internet through AT&T and the speed is fine. I also have the hardwired Ethernet around the house from 2006 which is probably Cat5. Whatever can be connected on Ethernet is (main TV, Xbox in the cinema, work Pc). Velops are on this wired backhaul but thinking of it now it would probably be better to use the wireless backhaul which may be faster than allowed by the 15 year old cabling. Should I replace the Velop with a better home mesh? Should I add another network for IOT only? Is there a value in separate SSIDs for automation stuff? How did you design your WiFi?  

Answer 1

I like multiple SSIDs for the purpose of network segregation. I also couple this with VLANS and a firewall to lock down my network. The only way something can get through is if I allow it to. I keep a locked down network for only internal devices ie devices that talk to an inside server only like my light switches and plugs. I have a trusted devices network such as my Windows PCs, fire sticks, and the like. These devices have no restrictions. Again blocked from the other networks. Guest access. Exterior traffic only. Can not access any internal network. Cannot see my devices.  

Answer 2

I also don’t like mesh if the wires are there. I prefer a wired backbone to the repeaters. I’m a fan of unify. Best enterprise grade devices at consumer prices.  

Answer 3

I would replace the velop crap and buy UniFi AP’s.  

Answer 4

If you can’t return the Velop crap, take a deep breath and get yourself a decent mesh. I went with TPLink Deco mesh. Inexpensive and powerful. Read the reviews. Available at Walmart and HomeDepot. You’ll thank me later.  

Comments

@verdie which of the Deco devices do recommend? I have a 3200sq ft house. Basement and 2 floors.  

Answer 5

UNIQUITI UBIQUITI! Your post is like 500 other posts here. You want the best - go with Ubiquiti Unifi

Answer 6

See, I had Ubiquiti APs on trial and returned them. The coverage wasn't great and I didn't like the fact these were designed to be ceiling mounted - I didn't want to run new wires to the ceiling. Also, Ubiquiti is on the polar opposite from Velop in terms of available configurations.  

Comments

@kali55 not sure what you mean of available configurations? I have my ubiquiti AP on the wall. Always use a wired backhaul vs a mesh when possible. What you may loose in slight speed you will gain on reliability. But IN 99. 99% percent of the time you will not notice a difference in speed. Most single devices can’t and won’t push 1gbp backhauls and you will still be hard pressed to do that simulations with multiple devices due to protocols in wifi AP. Yes yes yes segregate you’re IOT devices to their own ssid and vlan. In order to do that you will also have to have switches and router that support vlans. You only need a switch if you need the ports for hardwired. In comparison I have 2500 sq ft. One AC PRO AP central the the two floors and home and one mesh AP in the garage(no existing wiring). I have a brick home and have excellent coverage inside. Coverage on my patio backyard. And the mesh helps supply coverage to my garage and workshop(attached) I run one 24 port Tplink POE switch and one 5 port Tplink switch. I have 50 wifi devices with the AP and Cameras supplies power by POE. I run a Edgeroutet X from ubiquity. Depending on your technical skills you might want me one of the other routers ubiquity sells for simplicity on the vlans. Youtube has great information on all of it. Having worked with business grade equipment and many different consumer grade brands I can’t recommend Ubiquiti enough. Controller based equipment also gains you so much information as well.  

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@kali55 my ubiquiti APs are under two beds, in a desk drawer, and on a shelf. Not a single ceiling mounted. They work great.  

Answer 7

Get a ASUS AX11000 router and add AI Mesh Nodes IF you even need them. Install the router in a central location close to the ceiling.  

Answer 8

Google Wi-Fi is the best for this

Answer 9

Removed our Velop 6 months ago and replaced with Gryphon. 7000 sf house and 4 Gryphon units tied together.  

Answer 10

Wired APs will always perform better than mesh. Only time to use mesh is if there's absolutely no way to pull wires. My single Ubiquity AP covers a 3200 Sq ft home and almost 200 wifi devices. I plan to add a second one to improve coverage in a few corners. I use three SSIDs. One is for our personal devices like phones and tablets. One is for guests. Third is for IoT. The main reason is password changes. The guest password gets changed every now and then, as a preventative security measure. The personal one may change if it's compromised. My hope is to never need to change the IoT password, as re-configuring all the devices would be a royal PITA. No one but me has that password, not even other family members, so hopefully it'll stay secure. The long term plan is to also set them up as separate VLANs, but haven't gotten there yet.  

Answer 11

I have a much smaller house but it seems to suck WiFi like crazy. We therefore have five UniFi APs. Two are outdoor, so our outside space has strong signal as well, for phones but also for my IoT devices living outside. CAT5 should handle gigabit so long as the connectors are right and you’re not sharing pairs. Most shorter runs can handle it just fine, I’ve found. I just let things auto-detect and check for interface errors. I run one or two wires to each location when possible, one for a PoE supplied switch just in case and one for an AP.  

Answer 12

I just ran the report off the Velop and says the satellite node runs at 1024 wired. That’s a gig which is fine.  

Answer 13

@kali55, get three or four Unifi Pro APs, and a Unifi cloudkey. You will need a router that supports VLANs. You can have one network for personal devices, and the second network for IOT. 2005 chances are it was built using CAT5e, by 2003 almost all projects we used 5e as the performance was better and the price difference wasn't a problem.  

Comments

How about Unifi Dream Machine which has the VLAN router support, cloud key and acts as an AP and then add two APs? Would need a POE switch too.  

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@kali55 dream machine would be great for this. If you get the dream machine you don't need the cloudkey. POE switch if you have a rack of not you can use POE injectors

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Don't have a rack, have a patch panel with a small switch. I feed the switch from Velop and feed the rooms where I have stuff wired and the slave Velop node.  

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My main concern would remain that APs are designed to be ceiling mounted. In my setup I could place dream machine in the living room where my internet terminates and then have one AP on the TV stand in main bedroom and one AP on the ceiling in the garage. That should cover the house well. My house is covered well with two Velops right now installed in same spots (minus the garage).  

Answer 14

I have a similar sized house. 3300 sq ft. 2 Story. The office with the gear in it is in the top corner of the house over the garage. The master bedroom is on the 1st floor on the opposite corner. Getting coverage was always a nightmare. I went with the Ubiquiti Dream Machine and a single Unify Beacon AP (no wires, just plugs into wall outlet) This has been a great solution for me. I didn't need a ton of equipment. Just two devices. Now, I did add a switch to it, but for most things I didn't need that. The UDM has a fully managed switch onboard, and allows up to 4 SSID's to segment to your hearts content. Along with a decent Firewall and Threat Management tools. Everything works well here.  

Comments

The UDM is upstairs in the office and the Beacon is downstairs in a hallway near the master bedroom.