Move all of my smart devices over to an older access point?

[Tengis]

Ive got a decent TPLink Wifi 6 router right now but Im thinking about setting up my older Tplink router to be the access point for my smart devices like cameras, bulbs, doorbell, etc. Between 2-3 tablets in the house, 3 Roku devices, and multiple computers and phones, Im thinking it may be a bit less congested if I move some stuff over.

Thoughts? Ive read before about people separating IOT devices onto a completely separate network but then we wouldnt be able to access any of them...

 

[Dreamerbydesign]

Ive got a decent TPLink Wifi 6 router right now but Im thinking about setting up my older Tplink router to be the access point for my smart devices like cameras, bulbs, doorbell, etc. Between 2-3 tablets in the house, 3 Roku devices, and multiple computers and phones, Im thinking it may be a bit less congested if I move some stuff over.

Thoughts? Ive read before about people separating IOT devices onto a completely separate network but then we wouldnt be able to access any of them...

All of my iot devices are on their own mesh network that’s a sub network of my main. I’ve never had any issues accessing anything on my network or from abroad.

 

[scrappymouse]

Ive got a decent TPLink Wifi 6 router right now but Im thinking about setting up my older Tplink router to be the access point for my smart devices like cameras, bulbs, doorbell, etc. Between 2-3 tablets in the house, 3 Roku devices, and multiple computers and phones, Im thinking it may be a bit less congested if I move some stuff over.

Thoughts? Ive read before about people separating IOT devices onto a completely separate network but then we wouldnt be able to access any of them...

common misconception, separating over to another network doesn't mean you can't access them, it just means you control what/how they are accessed, and more importantly what the IOT devices are allowed access to in the other direction. I have all of my IOT devices separated in their own VLAN, I allow them to communicate out to internet so they can "phone home" but I don't allow them to touch anything on my own private network...because they don't need to. I can't think of a single instance where my lightbulbs would have to talk to my office computer so that type of communication isn't allowed, I can have apps on my phone that can communicate with my smart lights because that is all done over the internet, granted that means I can't turn control my lights if my internet goes down, but that's alright, I can still turn off the switch if I need to.

 

[GotNoRice]

Ive got a decent TPLink Wifi 6 router right now but Im thinking about setting up my older Tplink router to be the access point for my smart devices like cameras, bulbs, doorbell, etc. Between 2-3 tablets in the house, 3 Roku devices, and multiple computers and phones, Im thinking it may be a bit less congested if I move some stuff over.

Sounds like a good idea. Also, many IOT devices are only 2.4Ghz. All connections over 2.4Ghz are 802.11n. Later standards (802.11AC, etc) only use 5Ghz. So even if you have a brand new WiFi 6 access point, it's still only using 802.11n if you connect using 2.4Ghz.

With that in mind, I would separate your 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks with different SSIDs. Use 5Ghz for your computers and anything important. Use 2.4Ghz for legacy devices and IOT devices. Set your old router up as an access point (DHCP disabled, WAN port not used) and make it's 2.4Ghz SSID the same as your other 2.4Ghz SSID (but use different wireless channels). With the same SSID, devices will hop from one to the other automatically as needed.