I hated the WiFi 6 Orbi system I bought. It was lacking so many fairly basic features, such as QoS, firmware updates breaking basic functionality, and a very lackluster app-focused experience.
I replaced it with an ASUS WiFi 7 system comprised of a RoG router with two Zen nodes and it’s been a lot more solid with far more configuration options than I’ve ever seen on a residential router.
Maybe the Orbi WiFi 7 line has solved their earlier issues, but I’ll never buy one again based on my prior experience.
My opinion. Asus aimesh. I have tried TP Link X50 but they spend more time offline than on. Orbi is superb however its too rigid. One router and 2 satellites doesnt like bridge mode or AP Mode. I moved to Asus with RT-BE92U as router and XD4 mini access points. Router mode, AP mode both work well. Versatility of being able to use most of their routers interchangeably as access points. There are downsides. Asus mesh doesnt seem to like IoT devices for smart home. Speakers, bulbs etc. Haven't tried Ubiquiti which a lot of people absolutely praise. If it was within my budget I would try it. Comes down to budget. If you can afford it. Ubiquiti by all accounts. Asus is a great option, Orbi is good if you use it as they want you to. TP Link for me is budget friendly but I think you would end up replacing it and spending again.
I don't know. Mine is ethernet backhaul. I have them running on the separate IoT ssid that Asus provide and that is on 2.4ghz frequency only. Its just seems to be certain branded bulbs it doesn't like. I was looking at hubs like Homey Pro. Not sold on them yet though.
I use a Netgear Orbi Mesh system with a router and satellite, super easy to set up and very reliable! Unifi is great but not as user friendly in my experience.
ONT Bridged to Netgear Orbi mesh system with 2 additional satellites. 70+ wifi devices and 0 hardwired. It's been working great for 2+ years now. Latency is around 5-10ms. I have no hit registration issues in fps games.
The difficulty is that every house/local environment is different.
But, as a VM customer where it’s not possible to run cables throughout the place, we have a Netgear Orbi setup (have had Orbi setups for about a decade but other systems are available), running wireless backhaul and are getting reasonable coverage and speed (750/800Mbps peak, which I’m largely happy with on a 1.1Gbps service).
My suggestion would be to try the minimum number of nodes of whichever solution you choose ie maybe start with the base and perhaps one satellite that you can add to if needed.
You might get away with one satellite and save yourself spending and having too much WiFi (which is possible) and as another comment has said, focus on getting the placement right.
Word of warning that UniFi kit apparently doesn’t do mesh very well, so, choose one that has a dedicated wireless backhaul that UniFi doesn’t. Also, put the ISP kit in modem mode and use the mesh as the router.
No problem.
Also worth noting that for Orbi (and I assume most other mesh systems) if you later are able to run Ethernet cables to the satellites, they will happily then become wired APs so your investment isn’t wasted if you start off wireless.
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GL.iNet
GL-MT6000 (Flint 2)
91% positive of 197 users
OpenWrt enthusiast's choice; good value, but lacks 6GHz.
MaderaJE
