Mesh WiFi
 

I have a question for the gurus about WiFi to cover a relatively large space. The home is about 2600 square feet, which includes a 300 sqft bonus room upstairs. 3-car garage, and a large lanai/pool deck area out back. I would like to have WiFi coverage everywhere, and suspect a single modem/router setup will not cut it. I also use a WiFi irrigation controller, and like to be able to check the various zones with my phone while out in the yard.

I have heard of Mesh systems, but really know nothing about them. Can someone provide a little info on these, and let me know if this is the way to go? Many thanks!

Look at the device that eero offers. I have great success with them. I have 2 and they cover my 2500 sq ft house and the attached 1000 sq ft lanai

So in your situation a single WiFi device will not cover your home optimally. You will probably have some dead spots depending on the construction of your walls which are probably block.

A mesh network is a group of WiFi connectivity devices that act as a single network, so there are multiple sources of connectivity around your house instead of just a single router. All points are wirelessly connected to each other. As long as they're within range, they can communicate with each other without the need for a router or switch. This allows for fast and efficient data routing all over your home.

If you can get Quantum Fiber, they will install a WiFi Mesh network in your home as part of the cost of the service. The system they use is very good and works well. They give you up to four nodes which will be plenty for your home. If you can't get Quantum Fiber then you will have to buy a Mesh WiFi system yourself from Amazon, Best Buy or a place of your choosing. The most expensive is Netgear Orbi which is one of the high-end devices available. But if you want something a little less expensive then I would go wit the Amazon Eero system. Try to purchase these devices with WiFi 6E or if you can afford it, WiFi 7 so whatever you buy it will last you many years. Although there are many Mesh systems available at differet price points, you want to get one of the better systems so you don't have to spend a lot of time playing with it to get it to work and so it will last the longest for you. Right now WiFi6E and WiFi7 are the latest. Also another reason for these types of systems is they both use 2.4, 5 and most importantly 6Ghz frequencies. The 6Ghz radio will give you the best speeds but for the shortest distence but in a 2600 sqft home that you have, it will cover most of the home from each node. I know this because I have the Orbi WiFi7 and the 6Ghz radio connects to each node throughout my home of the same size. I was going to run a wired ethernet cable from my TV in the livingroom to my router but with the Orbi I get 2.5Ghz wirelessly, which is the fasted speed I could generate to test with my computer, so there was no need to spend the money for the wire.

These systems come in packages with different number of nodes. For your size home I would get a 3 node package since you have two floors and you want to cover some of the outside areas including the Lanai.

I'm sure there will be lots of responses with suggestions that are cheaper but with this technology, you get what you pay for so I would invest in a better, faster system, install it and forget about it. Also, there will be many saying I got a cheap system and I have WiFi all over my home. Which is true but at what speed? Although you get a connection, it doesn't mean it will work well. With the better systems you will get close to the full speed you are paying for all over your home. If you need further help, please PM me since I've done many cable to fiber conversions for my friends and neighbors here in the Villages.

I have found that locating your primary Wi-Fi unit in a central location provides very good coverage. Our house (without the additional room) sounds similar to yours, and with the Wi-Fi located on top of a grandfather clock in the living room we have great coverage in the entire house, garage, lanai, and birdcage. This is for both 2.4 and 5 gig signals. If you cannot do the central location, I would look into reviews of these types of products as i have seen some good ones and some bad ones. Also, make sure you consider what you are using the Wi-Fi for as this may greatly effect the use of a mesh system.

I have been using the Eero 3 unit system for years. Out house in TN was 3 levels and it worked great. Here in FL we have 1 level and 2300 SF. I get WiFi all over including the birdcage, garage, driveway. There are other mesh systems like Google and Netgear. I had issues with Netgear. Be sure to make sure the system does dual band WiFi 2.4 and 5 gb or some thins may not work!

I did not know about Mesh until I got it at my Midwest home instead of a main router. We have two Google mesh setup one upstairs that communicates with the other plugged into the hard wire unit downstairs. Communicates well with all outdoor camera’s and garage openers, etc. We rented them at first then purchased them on our own so no monthly lease charge now. You can find them online.

Mesh WIFI
 

I have under 4000 in CYV and one EERO with one extender is excellent. I probably don't need the extender but it was a sale with router and 2 extenders. No idea what I might do with second.... yet .. oops .. that should be 1400. And I'm on Tmo. Never a problem.

Eero
 

As others have said, check out eero on Amazon. Watch for special deals or “refurbished” models to save some $$$. I’ve been using them for years and never had an issue.

Thanks to all for the responses...very helpful!

Someone suggested that having the WiFi in a central location will give you good coverage and I'm sure they are correct, but the way my house is configured that is not practical.
I install the eero and it is great and if for any reason after setting up the units you find there is a spot with a poor signal you can simply plug in another module.

The WiFi mesh/ extender systems now are not costly and are reliable overall. These kinds of systems are often sold as a kit of multiple devices. The link below is a good introduction video of the Eero mesh system and set up.

I recently added a single extender unit to my existing home WiFi system and it works even though the extender is a different make than my other routers.

Here is the Eero video:

https://youtu.be/B1pv8bMfEtA?si=eWP0UAwIY5wEHx0Q

If you have a coax connection in the kitchen, put the router on top of the cabinets. Being up high is one of the best ways to maximize coverage.

This is as good of a response you will find. I use the Netgear Orbi since I had Quantum fiber before they offered the mesh network. My friends that are new to Quantum fiber say it works great.

The actual answer to this is 'it depends'

1) are you going "gonzo"? meaning you want more than 80% signal everywhere and running at what speed?
2) most of the suppliers will give you crap equipment. so you need your own. Orbi is the best for this.
3) based on your build (block/frame) also determines what you need.

off the cuff based on what you posted probably 3 mesh units (could do 2) but this will depend on walls and locations. hard to say without seeing the house.

Jrref has some really good advice. Not all mesh networks are the same. Some of the mesh networks others are recommending in these posts are already old technology. If anybody is getting a new mesh network today, the bare minimum should have wifi 6e capability or wifi7. These provide much better performance. My WiFi 6e mesh network communicate with each other by a private high speed backhaul channel.

Even with a mesh network, location of the devices make a difference. I used a wired connection from the primary mesh router to the second and then it uses the backhaul to connect to the others. I can go anywhere in my house, lanai, or garage and get high speed which is close to 900Mbps.

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.

New MESH SYSTEM for sale
 

I have an unopened new mesh system - if interested call me at 2483200456- cash for $100. Thank you

I believe the Quantum mesh network is using wifi 6 or 6E but I agree, I've had all my neighbors and friends use their mesh network when they started offering it with the service and the coverage is always excellent. The app they provide also lets you clearly see your coverage and if it's not right it's easy for the homeowner to move any of the pods around to get better coverage.

Thanks for bringing this up. Most don't understand this. Not all wifi systems are the same. The most important thing is to get a system where you can set it up and forget it vs fooling around with it all the time. For me the 6Ghz band increased the speed and coverage significantly in my 2600 sq ft Ivy home here in the Villages.

A true MESH system is far superior to adding an extender to a regular router. Also, make sure the MESH system you buy will automatically update itself.

We found that the combination of concrete exterior walls, metal studs and extra insulation makes for a lot of dead spots around the house, lanai and birdcage. And since we have over 50 devices on our WiFi we had to have a near perfect system. So here’s what we did. First we put our Spectrum modem in the closet with the ac return unit where it’s cool. In our layout this closet is only a few feet from where the coaxial cable from Spectrum comes into the same cabinet with the sprinkler system controls. We added a shelf in the closet where the spectrum modem is located and where our 12 port switch is. From there we ran Ethernet cables to four access points inside the house, one in the birdcage and one in the front of the house. This gives us a full 500mps speed inside and outside the house. We had previously tried a mesh system and found that the speed was cut by 50% and with our type of construction the connection between the modules was sometimes less than great which resulted in some very strange connections - like the mesh unit in the garage was talking to the camera in the birdcage or the unit in the lanai talking to the computer in the front office. Now with the access point system the smart devices are talking to the nearest point and thus their performance is usually terrific. And all TVs, computers and IOS devices stream incredibly fast. It was pricey but the results are worth it.

Deco Mesh system
 

We use a system in NC called DECO. We have great coverage over our property of 3 acres and in multiple buildings. I'm sure it would help in your home. We found ours at Sams Club. Good luck.

What you did is fine but now is outdated. With the newer mesh wifi systems from Netgear (Orbi), Eero (Amazon) and TP-Link for example, they employ a dedicated backhaul network for the nodes to communicate. Similar to what you are doing by connecting Access Points to the main router. The result is you get near-wired throughput without all the work you went through. With the newer Wifi 6E and 7 they mostly use the 2.4, 5 and 6Ghz bands for the backhaul. The 6Ghz band in our size homes here in the Villages makes a significant improvement to connectivity. The trend is to provide more sophisticated wireless systems at prices that most can afford negating the need for wired internet throughout your home. For example, the new Orbi WiFi 7 has a node throughput, under ideal conditions, of 10GBS. True it's incredibly expensive but over time this capability will come down to "reasonable" pricing. In addition, If you buy a new home in the newer areas in the south Villages such as Dabney, Centric fiber preinstalls the fiber, the router and the Wifi and if you choose to sign up all you need to do is configure your devices and you have Wifi throughout your home with little to no work on your part. True it might not be full speed everywhere but most people in the Villages don't care or even know about that and are happy as long as they get a connection everywhere in the home.

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.