WiFi 6

[Justgeeee]

Does anyone have a WiFi 6 system setup at home? If so how many devices are connected? Is speed noticeably different? I was looking at the Wyze Wi-Fi 6E Mesh Router Pro [hopefully back in stock soon] since I have a few cameras, lightbulbs, and switches made by them figured to change to the router they have from the Google Wifi I am using now. Thanks in advance

 

[durendal]

I'm currently using a TP-Link Deco X50 and have noticed a considerable increase in my wifi speed compare to my Archer A6. The most devices connected is around 20+, which consists of Smart TV, phones, tablets, NAS, CCTV, and a few smart home devices. Although my speed might be capped since most of my devices are still using the AC band. So in effect, I still haven't felt the full benefit of the AX speeds. I've been using this for around a year now and so far I'm happy with the speed.

 

[Justgeeee]

Thanks for the feedback. There is a Microcenter near me will stop by and check their stock

 

[spARTacus]

I am not yet on any WiFi6 Routers/APs (still on a mix of AC 2100/1900), but the biggest improvement I saw was when I transitioned to simply an arrangement of a main router plus physically distributed APs (routers in AP mode) around the house/property, specifically not anything involving mesh or AP range extenders, but instead wired ethernet backhauls connecting between main router and APs.

I figured it was best for my situation to try to connect as many as possible of our devices by wired, so as to reserve as much as possible of the wireless from the router/APs for truly the devices that only had the option or practicality of connecting wirelessly. We have well over 25 devices connected to the local home subnet at any point in time, a collection of phones, tablets, laptops, printer(s), Google Alexas, SmartPlugs, FireStick, and a common share server point for files, videos/pics, music, etc. Also, an old router in AP mode wired almost at the limit of cat5 distance in the backyard for exterior WiFi coverage back there.

It all works pretty good for local subnet traffic, capacity and stability for our purposes. Now, we are not heavy power internet users, regardless of the amount of internal subnet traffic banging around between the router and APs at any point in time. We are crappy rural ISP often not exceeding 5Mbps (yes, you heard that right). So, someone doing very extensive internet streaming or usage might not be inclined to consider my arrangement. Regardless, it is already setup to be able to best support an even broader connection to the internet.

I figure I'll eventually transition to the latest greatest WiFi6 Routers/APs at some point in time, but for now my arrangement works quite well with a generation back from lastest/greatest most expensive.

 

[SteinwayTransitCorp]

I now run what's called 6+. The big difference I see it the distance the signal seems to hold together, on the upper bands the signal is great. If the bands are set to auto, select I do see an issue. The devices get stuck on the original band and then signal starts to drop. I think this is because the protocol is new and some of the older equipment get confused at best.

 

[Justgeeee]

I am not yet on any WiFi6 Routers/APs (still on a mix of AC 2100/1900), but the biggest improvement I saw was when I transitioned to simply an arrangement of a main router plus physically distributed APs (routers in AP mode) around the house/property, specifically not anything involving mesh or AP range extenders, but instead wired ethernet backhauls connecting between main router and APs.

I figured it was best for my situation to try to connect as many as possible of our devices by wired, so as to reserve as much as possible of the wireless from the router/APs for truly the devices that only had the option or practicality of connecting wirelessly. We have well over 25 devices connected to the local home subnet at any point in time, a collection of phones, tablets, laptops, printer(s), Google Alexas, SmartPlugs, FireStick, and a common share server point for files, videos/pics, music, etc. Also, an old router in AP mode wired almost at the limit of cat5 distance in the backyard for exterior WiFi coverage back there.

It all works pretty good for local subnet traffic, capacity and stability for our purposes. Now, we are not heavy power internet users, regardless of the amount of internal subnet traffic banging around between the router and APs at any point in time. We are crappy rural ISP often not exceeding 5Mbps (yes, you heard that right). So, someone doing very extensive internet streaming or usage might not be inclined to consider my arrangement. Regardless, it is already setup to be able to best support an even broader connection to the internet.

I figure I'll eventually transition to the latest greatest WiFi6 Routers/APs at some point in time, but for now my arrangement works quite well with a generation back from lastest/greatest most expensive.

Most of the devices we have are wi-fi only or else I would hard wire the mess out of the house.

 

[Justgeeee]

I now run what's called 6+. The big difference I see it the distance the signal seems to hold together, on the upper bands the signal is great. If the bands are set to auto, select I do see an issue. The devices get stuck on the original band and then signal starts to drop. I think this is because the protocol is new and some of the older equipment get confused at best.

how many APs are you running?

 

[durendal]

I am not yet on any WiFi6 Routers/APs (still on a mix of AC 2100/1900), but the biggest improvement I saw was when I transitioned to simply an arrangement of a main router plus physically distributed APs (routers in AP mode) around the house/property, specifically not anything involving mesh or AP range extenders, but instead wired ethernet backhauls connecting between main router and APs.

I figured it was best for my situation to try to connect as many as possible of our devices by wired, so as to reserve as much as possible of the wireless from the router/APs for truly the devices that only had the option or practicality of connecting wirelessly. We have well over 25 devices connected to the local home subnet at any point in time, a collection of phones, tablets, laptops, printer(s), Google Alexas, SmartPlugs, FireStick, and a common share server point for files, videos/pics, music, etc. Also, an old router in AP mode wired almost at the limit of cat5 distance in the backyard for exterior WiFi coverage back there.

It all works pretty good for local subnet traffic, capacity and stability for our purposes. Now, we are not heavy power internet users, regardless of the amount of internal subnet traffic banging around between the router and APs at any point in time. We are crappy rural ISP often not exceeding 5Mbps (yes, you heard that right). So, someone doing very extensive internet streaming or usage might not be inclined to consider my arrangement. Regardless, it is already setup to be able to best support an even broader connection to the internet.

I figure I'll eventually transition to the latest greatest WiFi6 Routers/APs at some point in time, but for now my arrangement works quite well with a generation back from lastest/greatest most expensive.

Well, typically, wired connection is still king. No amount of wireless connection can ever beat a wired connection. I think the main advantages of the mesh network (compared to extenders) is the availability of the wired backhaul, which means that no matter how far apart the satellite AP is from the main router, the connection is still stable, unlike the traditional WIFI, where the farther away you are, the weaker the connection gets.

Comparing the speed of my Mesh and my extenders (I have both on different networks), my mesh is a lot more stable than my extender. Which is why may main wifi is connected to my Mesh, and my smart home devices are connected via extender.

 

[SteinwayTransitCorp]

Well, typically, wired connection is still king. No amount of wireless connection can ever beat a wired connection. I think the main advantages of the mesh network (compared to extenders) is the availability of the wired backhaul, which means that no matter how far apart the satellite AP is from the main router, the connection is still stable, unlike the traditional WIFI, where the farther away you are, the weaker the connection gets.

Comparing the speed of my Mesh and my extenders (I have both on different networks), my mesh is a lot more stable than my extender. Which is why may main wifi is connected to my Mesh, and my smart home devices are connected via extender.

Amen, nothing beats hard wired for security/speed when we built out first home i had every room wired back to a central location for cable/Ethernet/phone. This way what every room you landed in just plug in. The house did have Wi-Fi for your handheld.

 

[Justgeeee]

Well, typically, wired connection is still king. No amount of wireless connection can ever beat a wired connection. I think the main advantages of the mesh network (compared to extenders) is the availability of the wired backhaul, which means that no matter how far apart the satellite AP is from the main router, the connection is still stable, unlike the traditional WIFI, where the farther away you are, the weaker the connection gets.

Comparing the speed of my Mesh and my extenders (I have both on different networks), my mesh is a lot more stable than my extender. Which is why may main wifi is connected to my Mesh, and my smart home devices are connected via extender.

Are you using both 2.4 and 5 GHz band across the extenders and mesh?
I have the stock verizon router for ISP connection. Connected the google wifi mesh 3 pack to it and it does the job but I have over 15+ IP cams that cannot be hardwired all running on the 2.4 band and I can see the latency in real time and it kills me.

 

[Justgeeee]

Amen, nothing beats hard wired for security/speed when we built out first home i had every room wired back to a central location for cable/Ethernet/phone. This way what every room you landed in just plug in. The house did have Wi-Fi for your handheld.

Preach, this is the dream here. We will eventually rehaul all the security systems and network one day to be able to have more things hardwired. Was a clear difference playing the PS4 on wifi vs having it plugged in.

 

[durendal]

Are you using both 2.4 and 5 GHz band across the extenders and mesh?
I have the stock verizon router for ISP connection. Connected the google wifi mesh 3 pack to it and it does the job but I have over 15+ IP cams that cannot be hardwired all running on the 2.4 band and I can see the latency in real time and it kills me.

For my Mesh, I'm using both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz, but they're banded, meaning I only use 1 SSID for both bands. But for my Extender, I separated the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz since most of my smart devices require a 2.4Ghz connection. Getting them to connect to a banded SSID can be tricky sometimes. So my 5Ghz in my extender is mostly vacant and occasionally used as a backup in case my mesh goes down. I use 2 ISP by the way, one is connected to my Mesh, and the other on my extender.

My only issue with the extender is that when I want to extend a range to an area with a weak signal (the far corners of the house), I can't as 2 extenders cannot exist in the same area. Since my coverage area is pretty small (at the moment), I didn't bother looking for a solution for a problem that won't exists for a very long time. I imagine this won't be an issue for those with a wider area to cover.