I am thinking of adding a wifi mesh system to my home. I currently am running an Arris Media Gateway with the wifi router built in and a Netgear wifi extender to get signal to the rest of the home. The main thing that I want to do is get better wifi throughout the home and down to the garage. The garage is about 90ft from the rear of the home and my wifi signal does not make it inside the garage. My plan, if you guys think it will work is to put one mesh unit at the rear of the house (where the Gateway is located) one in the middle of the house and one in the garage. What I need from you guys is recommendations. If you think this will work and what brand to get. I have a ST hub v2 that has at least 60 things linked to it, and the signal does reach the garage. I am not sure that the ST Mesh system is the best one to use, I don’t want to remove all the things and redo the whole system. I don’t really need an elaborate mesh system, just one that works. Thanks for any suggestions.
The new SmartThings WiFi powered by Plume is a good product, but it is hardly the best option in its price range; especially if you are not intending to use it as a Hub upgrade.
I like Plume for ease of use (and continuous improvement?) - and frankly would consider Plume’s own hardware & subscription (instead of SmartThings) if I didn’t write off SmartThings as a business expense.
Since your problem is in the garage you may want to look at a power line extender like: https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/powerline/PLW1000.aspx. That way you won’t have to worry about the garage wall composition.
I switched to the Netgear Orbi system with two satellites and while it is quite expensive, it works great. What I like about the Orbi is that it reserves one 5ghz channel for back haul communications. Secondly, there is an outdoor satellite available, The newer Orbi routers also have voice control. Research it.
I personally use Asus AC1900 routers. Their firmware allows them to act as a wi-fi mesh. I have two in my home. One downstairs and one upstairs in a 2600 sq ft home. My community pool is caddy corner to my house and is about 100 to 150 ft away at the far end of the pool. I go down there and stream Pandora over my 5g connection with zero problems at all. Using the routers allows me to keep both at full power, unlike an extender, which cuts your signal strength by 1/2.
It’s not much more expensive than the mesh kits, but this also allows you to have full and total control over your system. All of the features of the router are available to the user, unlike in most mesh kits.
Another advantage of Orbi and Asus approach is that you don’t need a active internet connection for the mesh to work. Many of the mesh networking solutions require active internet services to configure and maintain the mesh.