Should I go all Mesh on Legacy Routers?

Ok, I have a pretty elaborate network that works quite well. But with all the hype about "Mesh Networks", and frankly I don't know much about mesh networking, I wonder if I am using my system to its fullest potential.

Setup

Internet Gateway: Netgear R7000 (Ch 2)
Access Points: 3x Linksys/Cisco E4200 (Ch 6, 9 and 6 - the detached garage gets Ch 6, as 6 in-house is very far away)

(5.8 have different channels as well)

Each band shares the same SSID (2.4 and 5.8 are different SSIDs though)

AdvancedTomato running on all devices. (R7000 runs a TOR relay, custom OpenVPN build and AdBlock w/custom JS and IMG server).

Each Access Point is hardwired directly to the main gateway router. Hell, my entire house has 2 RJ45 drops in each room wired to a patch panel (where "normal" phone lines go).

Performance

This works quite well. My laptop connected wirelessly to the slower E4200s has been tested to transfer up to 20 to 25 MB/s (~300 Mbps, which is the max on the older hardware).

Of course the R7000 gets higher with its 802.11ac.

Roaming Issues

The only annoyance is roaming between channels. From about 10 different devices over the years (and many other routers in the past with this setup), each client would connect to a certain router and channel - and stick to that channel until it drops.

Even if there is a stronger signal, most clients stay connected to the weaker signal as I walk throughout the house.

Some client devices, such as my 2014 and 2016 macbook pros, detect the stronger signal on a different channel and switch automatically. Others, like my Nexus 10 holds onto that channel until it completely drops out.

Now that I have a 5yr old running around with her tablet trying to use her tablet (always only educational stuff), and a newborn that will do the same soon, I'd like to fix this roaming issue.

To mesh or not?

Should I reconfigure the devices to a hardwired Mesh network? I hear ddwrt has the ability to do mesh networking now.

Is there such a thing as mesh devices hardwired?

Do meshes all use the same channel?


I tried reading up on mesh networks off and on over the last few weeks; but, i can't get a straight answer to the above questions.

Thanks in advance!

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Ps, I am the kind of guy that given the build options: Cheap, Fast or Good, I pick "Cheap and Good". Meaning, I'd rather build it myself opposed to buying something off the shelf.

I really think something like Ubiquiti unifi AP's would be great for you.

Setup one router, let the access points do their thing, and forget about it.

You can get a 3-pack for like 200 bucks, but the performance is outstanding and they are super super easy to setup and manage.

Thanks for the suggestion. Could I not achieve a similar setup with legacy routers and custom firmware, but over hardwired LAN APs?

Are there resources that explains the protocols of such legacy firmware?

I do fail to see how spending more money and dangling Access Point sucking up bandwidth off the main router wifi is better than existing hardwired APs. In such a network as that, if I am copying a file from one Node of the house and I am trying to backup a machine from another Node - they all must share the same 25 MB/s limit of the primary wifi. There isn't magic here, right?

Currently each AP I have hardwired is like a dedicated 25MB/s connection to the network.

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EDIT: OK, I have read up on Ubiquiti APs and it sounds like they are exactly operating just like my existing APs. (Except I am sure a much nicer interface and the lack of SSH). There's an option to operate them in Wireless Bridge mode (no hardwire), which is exactly what I am trying to avoid and exactly what I could do with my existing hardware.

What's the point of replacing my existing E4200 access points with yet another set of access points? Sure, 802.11ac and better Ants a d choosers. But I have zero issues with my existing gear in those regards.

The issue I have is roaming between APs on different channels.

So does Ubiquifi share the same channel?

This seems to be the question I cannot get answered as that would be the key for me to plop down hard earned cash.

You have wired connections to each wireless access point (WAP), so wireless mesh is definitely not something you want. Mesh is just being overly hyped right now, and is at best a compromise for those unable to run lines to WAPs. Wired mesh isn't really applicable at a scale as small as a single home.

The only issue I see with your setup are the channels being used on the 2.4 GHz band. The only channels you should be using are 1, 6, and 11. Right now your WAPs are overlapping and talking over each other (2 overlaps 6, 9 overlaps 6). Getting this sorted out may help your roaming issues some, but unfortunately some devices simply are better about picking out a better signal and switching than others are (as you've seen).

There are no setups where the WAPs each use the same channel. The Ubiquiti WAPs operate on the same principles as all the others and use distinct channels for adjacent units.

eduncan911 said:

So does Ubiquifi share the same channel?

Click to expand...

If you do the UBNT zero roaming thing, which is broken, yes. Don't do it. Don't do mesh networking at all.

The real advantage is that on the Ubiquiti gear you can set and enforce a minimum signal strength at which point the AP will kick the client and it will connect to a stronger AP. That is why my Ubiquiti network at work does so well with every client and roaming throughout the building, it will kick weak clients and force them to connect to a stronger AP. There is about a 150ms loss of connection, but that is pretty much a non-issue.

How would unifi AP's add more stress to your router? they are newer hardware that can better handle the workload, and also communicate better and faster with your router. I feel your over-thinking this. As stated Unifi aps give you more control over what channels are used and when. and honestly I dont think it is the channels overlapping thats your issue. How about giving us a real layout of how they are setup?

Chances are you have them too close to begin with, and dont have the software in place to control them properly so that they actually work together.

BlueLineSwinger said:

You have wired connections to each wireless access point (WAP), so wireless mesh is definitely not something you want. Mesh is just being overly hyped right now, and is at best a compromise for those unable to run lines to WAPs. Wired mesh isn't really applicable at a scale as small as a single home.

The only issue I see with your setup are the channels being used on the 2.4 GHz band. The only channels you should be using are 1, 6, and 11. Right now your WAPs are overlapping and talking over each other (2 overlaps 6, 9 overlaps 6). Getting this sorted out may help your roaming issues some, but unfortunately some devices simply are better about picking out a better signal and switching than others are (as you've seen).

There are no setups where the WAPs each use the same channel. The Ubiquiti WAPs operate on the same principles as all the others and use distinct channels for adjacent units.

Click to expand...

That's what I thought!

True about the channels. Though I do play with WifiAnalyzer a lot and pick channels that have no interference.

Dew said:

If you do the UBNT zero roaming thing, which is broken, yes. Don't do it. Don't do mesh networking at all.

The real advantage is that on the Ubiquiti gear you can set and enforce a minimum signal strength at which point the AP will kick the client and it will connect to a stronger AP. That is why my Ubiquiti network at work does so well with every client and roaming throughout the building, it will kick weak clients and force them to connect to a stronger AP. There is about a 150ms loss of connection, but that is pretty much a non-issue.

Click to expand...

Yeah, I read about that last night after this post as well.

I wonder if I could achieve the same thing with a script on the APs - monitoring client strengths and booting them when it drops to a certain level. Hum... That may help the roaming issue.

Signal strength != transmission speed. It is quite possible the the wandering tablet will get a faster connection to the weak signal AP if it is the only device on that AP. There may be so many devices or traffic on the strong signal AP that the tablet can't get a byte in edgewise.

Just read this article : https://arstechnica.com/information...hat-a-deep-dive-into-why-wi-fi-kind-of-sucks/ If it is correct, could explain a lot of WiFi problems.