When placing the remote mesh point, you don’t want it at the far point where you need the wifi, you want it closer to the base mesh so that it gets a good signal from the base and also so the item that needs wifi gets a good signal from the mesh point. The way you describe it makes me wonder if some placement change could help.

Unless you’re willing to run ethernet - which would be the optimum choice - you might consider a better mesh system. If so, I would do another post on the sub, and title it “looking for replacement mesh for [your mesh model]”.

No.

If you have coax in the house, you could leverage MoCA as an ethernet replacement - next best thing to ethernet. Powerline as mentioned, but it can work great, work poorly, or not at all. The only way to know is to try it out and return if it doesn’t for work you.

You don’t say what the existing router is, so it’s hard to know whether a better router could help or not - sometimes that’s all you need. A mesh router and satellite might help in terms of signal, if properly placed. Best to be directly connected from your console to the router rather than via a mesh satellite, if you can do it.

Ridiculously reliable is how I describe my UniFi setup - I’ve been running it since 2019 and I could not be happier with it. Updating to a UDM Pro next week from a USG-Pro-4/Cloud Key Gen2+.

I dragged my feet on updates, there were issues a few years ago. However, each update went fine for all devices when I was pushed along, so I’ve gained confidence in them and have been impressed with the improvements in things. I am a former sysadmin and didn’t want to have to have my old job as a new hobby and so far, so good.

Chinese company, little info about them out there. Website is very generic with little info about who they are. Like you saw, there are very few reviews and even those are just promo types without any real data. Amazon reviews are lousy. I would avoid it. There’s a reason the larger brands cost more - they have actual support and engineering in place. I’d opt for reliability over price.

Hard to know which one would bring you instant relief.

I would move out on #2 in terms of getting some wiring around. If you’re adding cable, do ethernet (unless you have a need for the coax for some reason). Ultimately, to improve your network in general, you want to wire around the house and provide ethernet to devices that can use it (saving the wifi bandwidth for those that can’t, and convenience items). Also, you can add wifi APs (access points) to improve your wifi coverage for the devices that use it.

1. Not yet - do your cable planning and upgrades - or at least integrate that planning when buying hardware.

2. Yes. It’s a good idea for separation if needed, but still a good idea if they are colocated.

3. Ethernet. Do ethernet. No extenders, you want access points. They will perform better in general and often have more capacity for number of devices they can each support.

4. No mesh. Mesh is for people who can’t or won’t wire ethernet. Mesh is wirelessly uplinking access points, so it’s wifi over wifi. Ethernet (or MoCA, which leverages coax into near-ethernet speeds) is far preferable. Mesh is not a better network, it’s just for getting around wiring things.

5. If you are not confident in your ability to crimp the coax, you could have someone with proper tools and connectors re-do it.

https://www.amazon.com/Synology-DS120j-DiskStation-Diskless-512MB/dp/B07ZKSLVT5/

Technically, a router is just the interface that creates your network and connects to your ISP’s network. Typical consumer “routers” are really a router, switch, and AP in one box (as are the UDR and UDM.)

You can add an AP to your network, so you could be using the one built into the existing router and an additional AP to provide more wifi coverage. Ubiquiti’s UniFi gives you the ability to easily add network components via the unified interface, part of the benefit of their ecosystem. ( As does Omada and Asus’ AI Mesh, and others also allow intelligent management.)

With regard to 6E and “longest lasting” - wifi 7 is coming. If you aren’t going to really use the 6E band capability (you need compatible clients) I would avoid the extra cost of 6E at this point. In 2-3 years there will be more choice and more wifi 7 device availability.

I also think a UDR or UDM would be a good choice for your situation. The UDR is a bit slower simply because of processing power (hence the lower price) when using cameras and the app that runs them.

Two cables to each location, even if you do conduit. If you have an office planned, multiple network outlets in the room. Ethernet to the AV/TV locations, garage(s), patio/deck, front driveway, and any place you might want to surveil from (like - backyard looking towards the structure, for instance). Plan to wire everything that can be wired, leave wifi for the convenience and IoT stuff. Do a good study on locations for APs for optimal coverage.

Since you have “financing”, you could step up into prosumer with a Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Router or Dream Machine. The DR has wifi 6. The DM is wifi 5, but can handle a bit more.

r/synology