Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points, it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I would
find a seamless system more convenient.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world, with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.


Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.


I have dabbled with MESH previously, although in a different context, using
some modified routers but my interest here is the off the shelf beasts.

Brian Reay wrote:


Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points, it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I would
find a seamless system more convenient.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world, with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.


Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.


I have dabbled with MESH previously, although in a different context, using
some modified routers but my interest here is the off the shelf beasts.


We have the BT system with three nodes for our 5 bedroom house (one node
downstairs, two up). It works very well and were very pleased with it.
That said, I cant vouch how well three nodes would perform over three
levels. So much depends on your house layout.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

On Monday, July 29, 2019 at 10:41:50 AM UTC+1, Brian Reay wrote:
Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points, it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I would
find a seamless system more convenient.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world, with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.


Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.


I have dabbled with MESH previously, although in a different context, using
some modified routers but my interest here is the off the shelf beasts.

Ive been using the BT version for a while now (maybe a year) and have been happy with it. It basically works and I just foget/ignore it. I have looked at the setup using the phone app and it shows various devices connected to the nodes, which change as people move around the house.

I have 3 nodes spread around the house, all of which are hard wired back to my network switch. You can have them connected via wireless (1 needs to be wired) if thats better for your situation.

I bought them because they were the recommended "budget buy" in a computer mag that I buy.

Alan

On 29/07/2019 10:41, Brian Reay wrote:


Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points, it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I would
find a seamless system more convenient.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world, with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.


Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.


I have dabbled with MESH previously, although in a different context, using
some modified routers but my interest here is the off the shelf beasts.




My brother has a BT mesh system in a large rambling stone house with
outbuildings. Don't know how many nodes are in use but as a visitor it
works just fine - one password and the WIFI "just works" wherever you
are in the property or garden.

--
Chris B (News)

"Brian Reay" wrote in message
...


Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is
combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points, it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I would
find a seamless system more convenient.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being
promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world, with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.


Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.


I have dabbled with MESH previously, although in a different context,
using
some modified routers but my interest here is the off the shelf beasts.

We live in an L-shaped house which is mostly a bungalow, but with a bedroom
above at one end of the house. The router has to be at the opposite end of
the L because that's where the phone sockets are (and laying an extension
cable would be difficult) and it's where my computers are.

The house is partly 1850s build, so the walls are very thick. Getting access
to the loft to run an Ethernet cable to an access point (which would have
been my preferred solution) is very hard because of restricted space in the
loft and a breezeblock fire-break wall up there.

We experimented with a Powerline/Wifi extender which worked pretty well for
me: my phone automatically switched between the router's wifi and the
extender's wifi pretty well, and only the conservatory was out of range of
the extender. But the backhaul Ethernet-over-mains was very variable, and my
wife's Android phone and, even more so, her iPad, had great difficulty
roaming between networks.


So... we invested in a Linksys Velop mesh network and it works very well. We
need 6 devices to cover the whole of the house, and even that took judicious
placement of devices so each could see the next. I'd hoped that some of the
devices would have had two routes back to the router, rather than just a
daisy chain, but the Velop app only shows each device connected to *one*
neighbour.

Coverage and speed is good. The VDSL sync speed is about 35 D / 20 U, and
the Ookla Speedtest app on my phone shows about 25/15 for almost everywhere
in the house. My wife's iPad roams freely without any manual intervention.
I've played a HD video on Youtube and it's played without stuttering as I
roam around the house and my phone has to go from one Velop node to another.

My computers connect at the moment to the router by Velop mesh wifi (though
I'll probably run a flat Cat 7 cable between my study and the lounge where
the router is) and if I copy TV recordings that are made on my Raspberry Pi
(acting as a PVR) to my PC, via an SMB share, I get around 150 Mbps which is
probably about the limit for the Pi; I think the best I've had with both
devices connected by Ethernet to the router is about 250 Mbps - some way
short of the theoretical maximum of 1000 Mbps of gigabit.

One of the frustrations with mesh is that it tends to use 5 GHz wifi (rather
than 2.4 GHz) for the backhaul connection between one node and the next,
back to the "primary node" which is connected by Ethernet to the router, so
nodes need to be placed closer together than for 2.4 GHz because 5 GHz has a
shorter range and is attenuated more by walls. The Velop still provides both
2.4 and 5 GHz for devices to connect, but node-to-node uses 5 GHz.

Rebooting (eg in the event of a power cut) takes about 5 mins before the
last Velop in the chain has connected: first the primary node goes blue
(connected) then its nearest node goes blue and so on down the chain.
Unfortunately we've had several brief power glitches over the past few weeks
as the village supply switches from one high-voltage feed to another
(according to phone number 105 which is used for reporting power cuts).

I needed a couple of special features: address reservation (so specific
computers always get given the same IP address by DHCP) and
port-forwarding/mapping so our security cameras can be accessed from outside
the LAN. The Velop can be configured to do both of these. If you're doing
port-forwarding, it needs *both* the router and the primary Velop to be
configured with the ports:

router

WAN port 81 - Velop-IP:81
WAN port 82 - Velop-IP:82

(where Velop IP is the reserved IP address in the 192.168.x.x subnet that
the router gives to the primary Velop node by address reservation)


primary Velop

WAN port 81 - camera1-IP:80
WAN port 82 - camera2-IP:80

(where camera1-IP and camera2-IP are the reserved addresses in the
10.120.x.x subnet that the Velop gives the cameras by address reservation)


From outside the LAN (eg using mobile internet) I can then access the
cameras as public-IP:81 and public-IP:82 (where a dynamic DNS server
supplied with the camera supplies that public IP address).

"Tim+" wrote in message
news:931177142.586086642.490457.tim.downie- We have the BT system with
three nodes for our 5 bedroom house (one node
downstairs, two up). It works very well and were very pleased with it.
That said, I cant vouch how well three nodes would perform over three
levels. So much depends on your house layout.

In our case, the problem is thick masonry walls between room of the house,
some of which used to be external before the 1850s bit of our house was
gradually extended in several phases over the years.

Ethernet between nodes back to the primary one would be the best solution,
but the whole point of wifi is that it avoids the need to run Cat 5 cable in
places where "senior management" would say "no" ;-)

On 29/07/2019 11:41, NY wrote:
he whole point of wifi is that it avoids the need to run Cat 5 cable in
places where "senior management" would say "no" ;-)

I see it more as a way of connecting portable devices without huge
trailing 'tampax tails'


--
How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think.

Adolf Hitler

On 29/07/2019 10:41, Brian Reay wrote:


Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points, it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I would
find a seamless system more convenient.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world, with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.


Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.


I have dabbled with MESH previously, although in a different context, using
some modified routers but my interest here is the off the shelf beasts.





If all the AP have the same SSID windows (well 10) will switch to the
best signal.

Mesh is more to do with the AP talking to each other so if you already
have connectivity between the AP I don't think you will gain anything.

Just set the same SSID on you AP and see what happens.

On 29/07/2019 10:41, Brian Reay wrote:


Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points, it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I would
find a seamless system more convenient.

A reasonable proportion of portable kit can be set up to connect
automatically to the strongest available signal. I don't move from room
to room very much whilst using Wifi continuously so that works for me.

I have two Wifi zones with synonym SSIDs but on different channels
connected together with a fast wired ethernet cable.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world, with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.

Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.

People who have it seem to like it. YMMV

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Monday, 29 July 2019 10:41:50 UTC+1, Brian Reay wrote:
Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points, it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I would
find a seamless system more convenient.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world, with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.


Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.


I have dabbled with MESH previously, although in a different context, using
some modified routers but my interest here is the off the shelf beasts.

Cloud Trax seems to work very well and has some acceptable remote management. Whether the cost is bearable I cannot say.

dennis@home wrote:
On 29/07/2019 10:41, Brian Reay wrote:


Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points, it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I would
find a seamless system more convenient.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world, with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.


Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.


I have dabbled with MESH previously, although in a different context, using
some modified routers but my interest here is the off the shelf beasts.





If all the AP have the same SSID windows (well 10) will switch to the
best signal.

Mesh is more to do with the AP talking to each other so if you already
have connectivity between the AP I don't think you will gain anything.

Just set the same SSID on you AP and see what happens.

Yes, this is my understanding, mesh systems don't do anything more
than ensuring 'transparent' interconnectivity between the nodes and
making sure the SSID and password are the same everywhere. It's down
to the client to decide (or not) to move from one node to another.

--
Chris Green
·

"Chris Green" wrote in message
...
dennis@home wrote:
On 29/07/2019 10:41, Brian Reay wrote:


Our house is a bit of pain Wi-fi coverage wise. I suspect it is
combination
of layout (split level over 3 floors), size(especially length), and
materials. While I have got it covered by using several access points,
it
means being aware of which one(s) are best in a given room. Im ok with
this but Senior Management would prefer a single system and even I
would
find a seamless system more convenient.

Im considering one of the MESH systems which are currently being
promoted,
BT sell one, Tplink do several, and there are others. These are linked
together and provide a single Wi-fi zone for want of a better world,
with
a common SSID etc, and, rather like a mobile phone system, the idea is
you
are €˜handed automatically from box to box as you move around.


Im curious if anyone has tried any of the systems and can comment on
particular ones. They all work on essentially the same principle, so I
looking for comments on how well they work, problems, etc.


I have dabbled with MESH previously, although in a different context,
using
some modified routers but my interest here is the off the shelf beasts.





If all the AP have the same SSID windows (well 10) will switch to the
best signal.

Mesh is more to do with the AP talking to each other so if you already
have connectivity between the AP I don't think you will gain anything.

Just set the same SSID on you AP and see what happens.

Yes, this is my understanding, mesh systems don't do anything more
than ensuring 'transparent' interconnectivity between the nodes and
making sure the SSID and password are the same everywhere.

Thats not correct, the nodes do talk to each other
and can stop talking to a particular device when
it will do better talking to a different node.

It's down to the client to decide (or not) to move from one node to
another.

Thats wrong.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_mesh_network

"Chris Green" wrote in message
...
Mesh is more to do with the AP talking to each other so if you already
have connectivity between the AP I don't think you will gain anything.

Just set the same SSID on you AP and see what happens.

Yes, this is my understanding, mesh systems don't do anything more
than ensuring 'transparent' interconnectivity between the nodes and
making sure the SSID and password are the same everywhere. It's down
to the client to decide (or not) to move from one node to another.

I have had problems recently with the node that feeds my PC deciding to
connect to a more remote node and then, as you'd expect, reporting a weak
signal :-(

Node 1 ------ Node 2 --------- Node 3


Node 2 is the primary one that is connected to the router by Ethernet. Node
1 is about 30 feet away from Node 2 through a couple of internal brick walls
at 45 degrees to the direct line of sight. Node 3 is about 5 feet away from
Node 2 in the opposite direction, perpendicularly through an internal brick
wall.

And yet the connectivity reported by the Linksys Velop app is:

Node 1 connected to Node 2 (as expected)
Node 3 connected to Node 1 (not to Node 2, as I'd expect)

The symptom is that Node 3 sometimes displays an orange "weak signal" light
and the comms speed to a computer connected by Ethernet to Node 2 (as
determined by copying a large file) drops from about 150 Mbps to about 30
Mbps).

Swer wrote:
If all the AP have the same SSID windows (well 10) will switch to the
best signal.

Mesh is more to do with the AP talking to each other so if you already
have connectivity between the AP I don't think you will gain anything.

Just set the same SSID on you AP and see what happens.

Yes, this is my understanding, mesh systems don't do anything more
than ensuring 'transparent' interconnectivity between the nodes and
making sure the SSID and password are the same everywhere.

Thats not correct, the nodes do talk to each other
and can stop talking to a particular device when
it will do better talking to a different node.

It's down to the client to decide (or not) to move from one node to
another.

Thats wrong.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_mesh_network

Hmmm. I've done a *lot* of reading around this and, while it's
*possible* for a node/server to drop a client connection this is very
much a last resort. If the server/node drops the connection then it's
almost inevitable that there will be quite a long (not seconds, but
quite a chunk of a second) drop-out of the connection. Depending on
what the client is doing and the buffered data avilable this may or
may not be noticeable.

Whatever, it's always best if the client makes the decision to change
node and that's the way it's supposed to work most of the time.
Admittedly not all clients do this well, though I believe more modern
WiFi driver software is likely to roam better.

--
Chris Green
·

On Tue, 30 Jul 2019 20:43:27 +1000, Swer, better known as cantankerous
trolling senile geezer Rodent Speed, wrote:


That¢s not correct

LOL

That¢s wrong.

LOL

Trying to have another one of your pathetic tiny senile online orgasms, you
auto-contradicting senile asshole?

--
Bod addressing abnormal senile quarreller Rot:
"Do you practice arguing with yourself in an empty room?"
MID: