Thread: Mesh WiFi
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Old 02-24-2024, 10:16 AM
biker1 biker1 is offline
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Just curious, what are you doing that you would notice the difference between 300-400 megabits per second and 600-800 megabits per second besides running "speedtest"? With regard to streaming video, 1080p only consumes about 5 megabits per second of bandwidth per stream and 2160p only consumes about 20 megabits per second of bandwidth per stream. Provided you have sufficient bandwidth to support these numbers, additional bandwidth will not provide any improvement in video quality. By the way, "GB" stand for gigabytes. An upper case "B" is bytes and a lower case "b" is bits. Internet transmission speeds are typically stated in bits and not bytes so you would want to use "Gb". Most other computer related bandwidths are stated in bytes, such as disk/SSD IO rates. Many of the internet service provider representatives get this wrong.

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Originally Posted by PoolBrews View Post
I have Quantum fiber (1GB) and the latest Netgear Orbi's with Wifi 6. This is as fast as you get with mesh Wifi. Look at every speed test comparison and you'll find that Orbi's win every time by a comfortable margin.

If you can get Quantum in your area, they give you free wireless pods. Note that they may only give you 2 or 3 based on your home size, but you can go online and get up to a max of 4 free from them. I have the Quantum pods running on a separate network that supplies my 2.4ghz home devices (outlets, lights, pool, etc) and provides some outdoor coverage in areas where signal is weak (I have a poured concrete home). My two Orbi's are my primary network.

With 1GB incoming network speed, my computer, phone, and streaming devices all see speeds around 600MB-800MB. If I connect the same devices to the Quantum pods, speeds are only in the 300MB-400MB range. So while the pods are a nice freebie, they are not the most efficient wireless devices.

With either of these routers, if you plug in a hard connection, speeds go up to 900MB-1.2GB.

I would highly recommend Quantum if it's available to you, and go with the free pods at first. If that handles your needs, you're good. You can always add in a higher end mesh system later on.

Last edited by biker1; 02-24-2024 at 10:35 AM.