Best Mesh WiFi System for Large Houses and Multiple Floors | Expert Review

[john4037_john4037]

I researched the best mesh WiFi system for large houses and multiple floors for the past few days because I need strong coverage across every level of my home. I read reviews on The New York Times (Wirecutter), Consumer Reports, and Popular Mechanics, and they are marking these two as best:

NETGEAR Orbi 370 Series Dual-Band WiFi

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Dual-Band-Network-System-RBE373/dp/B0FH39S1XJ/?th=1

TP-Link Deco BE63 Tri-Band WiFi
[https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-wifi-7-mesh-system/dp/B0CN8QLS4K/?th=1
However I am having trouble deciding which one would best suit my needs and need your expert advice. My house has multiple floors, several rooms, smart TVs, security cameras, laptops, and other connected devices. I am currently facing slow WiFi, dead zones on the upper floor, and weak signals in the backyard. I really need a mesh system that can cover long distances and maintain stable speed everywhere.So which one should I buy any recommendation will be appreciated.
thanks in advance

[j_a_m_i_e]

Don’t take this the wrong way, I expect you have already exhausted yourself researching this elsewhere and have read every pro, con, conflicting opinion and AI summary available, so not sure there is much to add to there

But it sounds, more than anything else, that what you really need is a well installed network.

A consumer mesh package, however good, isn’t going to magically solve issues in a large house with multiple floors, rooms and solid walls if you just arbitrarily plug in the extenders. And even if installed well, there are limits to how far you can reliably extend coverage with mesh networking before you start seeing a drop in speed or latency. There’s a good reason installers still run physical cables to WiFi access points in commercial settings.

In the UK at least, many ISP now offer whole home coverage as part of their premium packages, while that makes little sense for a small apartment, for a large house it does mean you can get them to come back and install additional access points where they are needed — I have non-technical friends who have gone this route with some success. But again, there are limits here if relying purely on mesh networking.

Alternatively find a local network engineer who can guarantee coverage as part of an install, ideally using kit that you can maintain yourself after they leave.

If you want to install the system yourself, then I’d think about whether you can run wired connections to each floor and from there extend out with one or more wireless access points? Or at the very least use a WiFi mapper to help with placement.

If you own and plan to stay in the house long term it may be worth investing in a proper semi-wired network setup built around a prosumer platform like UniFi. Long term this is by far the best way to ensure you have a decent signal in every room and will give you maximum flexibility / control over everything. Or is this a rental or a listed/heritage/architectural property where cable installation is massive no go?

Sorry, that’s not a direct answer to one package over the other. But I expect the biggest issue you’ll face isn’t choosing the package itself but getting even coverage across your house with either mesh system, at least without some extra effort in terms of working out best placement. I’d look for reports/feedback on how good each package you’ve shortlisted helps with that part, far more than simple metrics of raw signal strength.

But honestly, for a large house over multiple floors, I’d probably get someone in to install a semi-wired network if at all possible. Or look at installing it yourself using prosumer networking gear from UniFi if you have the technical skills and inclination.

[ged_hickman1]

I have a three unit deco be65 which I think is similar to the 63.
It works well in my 3 story brick walled house but I’m not convinced that it would work in a larger rambling house. It doesn’t give a strong enough signal in my detached brick built garage twenty feet away.
I went the mesh route as I had strong push back on drilling holes etc from the major power in the household.

[Ciaran_Henry]

Welcome! I have a large house with 2 floors and a garage and my last place was 3 floors. In both places I have been using the Orbi 3 - pack mesh system and the coverage and reliability have been excellent. I do have my Roon server and streamer plugged directly into the Router though. I have no experience of TP link but I did start with the BT (this is in the UK) supplied hub and 3 discs and was unhappy with the drop-off in speed with the extenders.

[Guy_Taylor]

I have a similar situation. I’ve had great success with the Orbi mesh system. Based on my experience it is worth the cost for very good coverage. My house also has several patio/deck areas and I get good coverage in those areas as well. Right now I use the base unit and 2 repeaters. Hope that helps.

[j_a_m_i_e]

@Ciaran_Henry

did start with the BT (this is in the UK) supplied hub and 3 discs and was unhappy with the drop-off in speed with the extenders.

Maybe I was being overly harsh, the newer mesh packages with dedicated backhaul channels certainly seem a lot better than the earlier generations, I know my parents manage to cover most of their house and an outbuilding with one.

I still think you want to get the placement right for good, reliable coverage and for large properties, wired access points will always win out.

[Ciaran_Henry]

My experience with the BT gear was previous generation and WiFI 5 limited - I expect today’s offerings to be improved and at least WiFI 6 or maybe 7. You are absolutely correct on placement and I have 10 wired access points on a switch connected to the router which I use for work laptop , Roon and a few other devices. Fo the rest , the Tri Band Orbi has been great.

[Tom_Hudson (Brian Voce)]

I’ve been running a TP Link Mesh system for 5 years, it’s been my best hi-fi purchase and has worked perfectly without ever missing beat.
I use 4 units, the Base connected close to the Virgin Modem and 1 on each of three floors, sited where I need a Roon endpoint/streamer. Connected by ethernet cable to the Mesh boxes, there’s no intrusive cabling and no more network issues with Roon.
A repurposed 2012 iMac, dedicated only to Roon duties, serves the library which also means I don’t have the ‘worry’ of using a headless configuration.

[Vincent_Kennedy]

Look at Ubiquiti Unifi. The rest are consumer-grade at best.

[Mr.Flibble]

+1 for UniFi

[macnet427 (Marc C.)]

I have an eero Pro 6E mesh system with 5 boxes with all being set up as access points. Four of the 5 eero boxes are plugged into the LAN network that is controlled by a Ubiquiti gateway. The gateway is connected to the AT&T fiber internet modem. The 5th eero access point is on the second floor reading the 5G WiFi from the first floor underneath it. I have a several Ethernet switches connected via wire to the 5th eero box that is connected via WiFi. My Roon server runs on a Window 11 PC that is connected to the 5th eero access point reading WiFi. I also have Roon ARC set up and that has been working great since I figured out how to set the modem up to punch a hole in the firewall, I had to set up a policy on the gateway to forward the traffic to the Windows 11 PC.

Setup was somewhat of a challenge, but it has been running smoothly for almost a year now. The only issue I had was when AT&T decided to reset my modem, I had to go through the setup again and didn’t document it. Lesson learned as I now have it all documented if I have to set it up again.

I use both Roon and ARC every day. I can’t live without it and purchased a lifetime license before they decided to discontinue selling them.

[Cuong_N]

Used to have an Orbi wifi 4 or 5, can’t remember which. Recently I’ve bought the BE63. Definitely an upgrade from the Orbi. Everything connected to it seems to be faster and linked up real quick. Stable as hell once you’ve set it up. During setup I have to manually “force stop” the app several time to make it link up to the system. However no downtime yet and it’s been on for two months straight.

[David_Moore2 (David Moore)]

I use Asus ZenWifi BQ16. WiFi 7 with 10gbps and 2.5 gbps ports for connection to endpoints or wired backhaul. Had Orbi in the past but the Orbi Satellites are limited to 2 ports and are ”dumb” ie will not function as routers. BQ16 sets are all routers with 5 ports plus USB. The BQ16 has been recently tested on network sites as the fastest performers (time of the review) Other advantage over Orbi is the security software is free Netgear uses software which is subscription after the first year.

Use the Mesh in a 4600 sqft apartment which has solid concrete walls and has been flawless in terms of performance.

[TFT]

I am using Devolo Powerline System since many years utilizing your power network at home. Various endpoints with LAN sockets and or Wifi available. Easy set up, stable and fast. I moved house once after initial set up and just plugged in the devices and it was up and running without intervention.

For a powerline system you may want to check upfront if you power network is a single or split circuit.

I have no experience with Mesh Networks. At the time many years ago my choice was to go for a powerline based system due to stability and performance.

[Frank_Berens1 (Frank Berens)]

+1 for Unify

[LiveSteam (Bill G)]

I have the Deco BE63 system. The house is 7000sq.ft. No issues with connectivity even in the yard. The phone app UI is very easy to navigate and to know what’s going on in terms of what has access to the internet, what devices are connected to what access point and has good options for security - there’s an IOT (internet of things) band that locks these devices out from connecting to your main wifi mesh. The setup is simple and straight-forward. I have no experience with the Netgear system.

[LiveSteam (Bill G)]

I should add, all of the hubs are connected via ethernet and are backhauled to the main hub. The Deco is tr-band vs the Netgear dual band.

compare the deco BE63 vs NETGEAR Orbi 370 Series Dual-Band WiFi at DuckDuckGo

Had to edit this. Sometimes AI isn’t that smart. Said the Deco BE63 was dual band. Here are the specs and comparisons.

[Jason_Kim]

@j_a_m_i_e

But honestly, for a large house over multiple floors, I’d probably get someone in to install a semi-wired network if at all possible. Or look at installing it yourself using prosumer networking gear from UniFi if you have the technical skills and inclination.

I totally agree on this. Mesh WiFi is very handy but it’s not magic. You need a stable connection between the mesh devices. Or you need many many dense wifi mesh devices to connect all of them through walls and floors.

I suggest installing some wire ethernet running through your house and connect the mesh wifi routers with it. It doesn’t need to be very expensive one if you are connecting them with wired ethernet. I’ve been using a cheap Korean iptime brand routers for years without any issues.

[Vincent_Kennedy]

We have several outbuildings all communicating fairly decent workloads over wirelessly meshed Unifi AP’s. This setup has been working really well for several years. Bandwidth is fantastic, and monitoring performance is really easy in the console. I wouldn’t necessarily go through the expense to retrofit a house or building before I tried a quality wireless mesh solution.

On the other hand, if I was doing a renovation or a net new build I’d run Cat 6a throughout. I’d also consider running fiber if I was planning on downstream switches. Our main building has fiber to several locations within that is backhauled to the core.

[Downtheroad (Mike G)]

I was a DECO user but went with a 10Gbps core and various switches. Omada equipment by TP-Link here. Great visibility and control. The is an invisible firewall in here and multiple VLANs. A bit overkill for most. Have one more cable to run btw my outdoor and 3008.