Best quality vs price mesh router

Alberto_S · December 2019

I’m looking for a good mesh router, what’s the best device in term of quality vs price ratio?

rooted · December 2019

I don't think any one person could answer this since there are so many options available and no one has tried them all.

What are your needs? What is the square footage you want to cover? What is your WAN speed?

Alberto_S · December 2019

500 sq feet, poor ISP speed, 10 MB in download, no finer yet. I guess an Eero kit should do the job?

rooted · December 2019

At that footage I wouldn't get a mesh, I would spend the money on a great router instead.

But if you're looking towards the future I would go with either Google WiFi (not Nest), FreeMesh since it's open source, or Linksys Velop because it's good and inexpensive.

Given those three choices I would go with Velop, you can get a three node dual-band setup for $129 if you are in the US.

Pax0707 · December 2019

That's less than 50 square meters so it really shouldn't require a mesh setup, even if you have a load-bearing wall.
Get a decent router and put it in the middle if needed. I can almost guarantee that it will be enough.

Pixelpopper · December 2019

I have been using the Linksys Velop for 18 months (1500 square feet, with some thick walls) and would recommend it for speed & reliability.
However, unless you have special requirements, physical problems (very thick walls or unusual layout) you are likely be better off with a decent Wi-fi router. Alternatively, if you have a reception problem with a specific location running an Ethernet cable to that location may be a better, and cheaper, option.

rooted · December 2019

With Velop being so inexpensive I don't think it would be a bad idea, you can get two for $75 (new on eBay) or 3 for $129 on Amazon.

You would be hard pressed to find a better router for less.

A couple of reasons why.

One is to blanket your space in your own WiFi signal to drown out nearby APs.

Two, even with a small space you can benefit by placing one of the units near the wall where you go outside (patio, back yard, etc..)

kltaylor · January 6

Anyone can answer the question, it's a matter of what their bias is and their personal experience.
Currently my home network is an ASUS AI Mesh network, and it practically dominates the signals in my neighborhood.
What are your needs? House dimensions, etc?

PShare · January 10

I recently installed a 2 unit Razer Portal mesh system. It works OK but one drawback to the mesh systems I investigated is that they all insist on controlling the WiFi channels they use. More often than not, it will settle on channel 6 which can be very busy. Some mesh systems don't allow you to separate 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz channels and people often complain that they are stuck on 2.4 Ghz and a slower speed than they want.

I live in a multi-unit building with hundreds of WiFi networks around me. The chance of interference is significant. I chose the Razer Portal because it supports "FastLanes" which are supposed to be less busy. In practice though, since a number of my devices that I need to connect don't support them, I have to turn that feature off.

As others have said, in your case with only 500 sq. ft. to cover, I would just get a good quality single router and place it as close as possible to the middle of the area you'd like to cover. If nothing else, you would be able to specify the channel you wish to use if you find that it's slow due to congestion.

Mosby · January 10

It’s a little pricey, but I’m extremely happy with the Eero Pro mesh system I recently installed to replace my years-old Apple Airport-based network. Easy set up and the house is thoroughly blanketed with wifi, despite thick brick walls. Solid tools as well. I also added a separate NAS storage unit, which is awesome.

dtemple83 · January 10

I can't believe some of you are recommending a belkin (linksys) product. I mean if we're going to drop the standards then one should mention the TP-Link Deco systems and you would still be a whole 5 standards above belkin (these are the same hardware as google wifi units). We have several different ones out in the wild, including: Ubiquiti Amplifi, Eero, Google WiFi, Velop (customer already had it), and one other whose name is evading me at the moment. Out of the ones we have used, the Amplifi is the best as far as performance but is costly. The TP link Deco system is the first runner up and is our go to when the customer is on a limited budget; they perform very well (they're not belkin after all), are easy to setup and manage with a fairly comprehensive backend that shows all sorts of details in the app, and you can get a 3 pack of the M5 units for 170 bucks and is good for 5000+ sqft with 1600Mbps(I think) of AGGREGATE throughput. For 500 sqft.... You can get the Amplifi Router for 100 bucks or the tplink ac1750 for around 80 and are both solid routers for the price, no need to go 2-300 bucks for a nighthawk (one of the shittiest, overrated routers on market btw) for that type of space and upstream speed.

rooted · January 10

Plenty of people run Velop and are happy with their devices, the dual-band are almost half the price of the deco.

If price doesn't matter then sure there are better options.

dtemple83 · January 10

rooted said:

Plenty of people run Velop and are happy with their devices, the dual-band are almost half the price of the deco.
If price doesn't matter then sure there are better options.

It seems you may be comparing the cost of the highest priced deco and the lowest priced velop... Decos are pretty cheap and affordable

alister55 · January 10

https://community.fing.com/discussion/comment/11037#Comment_11037

I spent lots of time researching mesh and agree that Ubiquiti Amplifi is probably one of the best out there but expensive. I was on a budget and went with the deco m5 and overall I am very happy with it. I stuck with my existing router setup and just added the m5 pucks as access points for wifi throughout the house. All setup with ethernet backhaul and have no issues or dead spots in house (and garage).

rooted · January 10

https://community.fing.com/discussion/comment/11041#Comment_11041

$129 vs $170, that is quite a difference.

Alderete · January 10

At only 500 square feet, as @rooted wrote, you shouldn't bother with a mesh-based network. It could actually make things slower, as your devices bounce back and forth between multiple access points, and your traffic gets relayed across the mesh backhaul.

The Wirecutter has good recommendations for regular Wi-Fi routers that will easily handle twice that space. Buy a good, regular router instead.

If you _must_ buy a mesh system, because it's what the cool kids are doing these days, consider getting something like the AmpliFi Alien, https://www.amplifi.com. You can buy just the one router now, and add mesh repeaters later, when you move to a larger space. And you'll be one-upping the cool kids, because the Alien is Wi-Fi 6, which they probably don't have on their older mesh routers.

JohnnieGadget · January 10

If you need (want) a mesh network, don't mess around with anything other than AmplFi by Ubiquity. It's a powerful system that maintains bandwidth across longer distances. I also like that it allows you to use an ethernet backbone to connect multiple access points. The plug in modules are great for an area like garage or other remote parts of the home the don't have ethernet accessibility, but I'd purchase additional mesh routers (available separately) and turn off their DHCP server capability, since you can obviously have only 1 router on your network. These things are ROCK SOLID, and I've never had to reboot the system in the 18+ months they've been installed. Linksys and Apple Airports, I used to need to reboot at least once a month!

rooted · January 10

https://community.fing.com/discussion/comment/11060#Comment_11060

That router is crazy expensive (but nice), and with WiFi 6E being approved I wouldn't buy WiFi 6 yet (unless needed). Since 6E has 6ghz it will be important when standard AX becomes congested.

https://www.wi-fi.org/news-events/newsroom/wi-fi-alliance-brings-wi-fi-6-into-6-ghz

JGSING · January 11

I've been using a NetGear Orbi RBR50 with two satellites for almost a year. It has been an excellent choice with great coverage.

Pixelpopper · January 11

Test

dtemple83 · January 11

rooted said:

@rooted<\/a> wrote, you shouldn't bother with a mesh-based network. It could actually make things slower, as your devices bounce back and forth between multiple access points, and your traffic gets relayed across the mesh backhaul.

The Wirecutter has good recommendations for regular Wi-Fi routers that will easily handle twice that space. Buy a good, regular router instead.

If you _must_ buy a mesh system, because it's what the cool kids are doing these days, consider getting something like the AmpliFi Alien, https:\/\/www.amplifi.com<\/a>. You can buy just the one router now, and add mesh repeaters later, when you move to a larger space. And you'll be one-upping the cool kids, because the Alien is Wi-Fi 6, which they probably don't have on their older mesh routers.","bodyRaw":"At only 500 square feet, as @rooted wrote, you shouldn't bother with a mesh-based network. It could actually make things slower, as your devices bounce back and forth between multiple access points, and your traffic gets relayed across the mesh backhaul.

The Wirecutter has good recommendations for regular Wi-Fi routers that will easily handle twice that space. Buy a good, regular router instead.

If you _must_ buy a mesh system, because it's what the cool kids are doing these days, consider getting something like the AmpliFi Alien, https:\/\/www.amplifi.com. You can buy just the one router now, and add mesh repeaters later, when you move to a larger space. And you'll be one-upping the cool kids, because the Alien is Wi-Fi 6, which they probably don't have on their older mesh routers.","format":"Wysiwyg","dateInserted":"2020-01-10T20:02:41+00:00","insertUser":{"userID":871,"name":"Alderete","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031733\/uploads\/userpics\/651\/n1BY526FARBAL.png","dateLastActive":"2020-01-10T20:09:58+00:00","label":"✭✭"},"displayOptions":{"showUserLabel":false,"showCompactUserInfo":true,"showDiscussionLink":false,"showPostLink":false,"showCategoryLink":false,"renderFullContent":false,"expandByDefault":false},"url":"https:\/\/community.fing.com\/discussion\/comment\/11060#Comment_11060","embedType":"quote"}"> https://community.fing.com/discussion/comment/11060#Comment_11060

That router is crazy expensive (but nice), and with WiFi 6E being approved I wouldn't buy WiFi 6 yet (unless needed). Since 6E has 6ghz it will be important when standard AX becomes congested.
https://www.wi-fi.org/news-events/newsroom/wi-fi-alliance-brings-wi-fi-6-into-6-ghz

I'm gonna need y'all to go ahead stay the f off 6GHz, thanks...

Best quality vs price mesh router

Answers