For some of us, wired network connections are not always possible, even if they should be preferred. Generally, there’s nothing to say against the use of wireless networks, as long as all works stable and reliable. But that’s not always the case and the search for the cause is seldom easy.
In most homes there’s a place where many devices (like e.g.: TV, game console, set-top box, streamer, endpoint, …) come together in close space. In my experience, when they all use their own radio to connect to a wireless network, the stability is lost. As most of these devices also have ethernet connectors on their back, the use of a wireless bridge to replace as many of these individual radios as possible with a single one can be highly beneficial.
However as it turns out for me, it is not easy to find a reliable working wireless bridge. Here’s the place to share your experience about working and non-working setups.
Keep in mind that every bridge has two sides and don’t forget to mention the modem, router, mesh-device your using.
First bridge I tried was a ASUS EA-AC87 that can also operate as a access point but I never used that. As a bridge, it constantly lost connection. It seemed to me that ASUS was well aware of that issue by that time but was not willing to fix it.
I currently use MikroTik hAPac and hAPac lite which work like a charm after I managed to set them up correctly. They are fully user configurable and thus the learning curve might be very steep depending on the network knowledge a potential user already has.
Maybe this might help anyone in the UniFi camp…personally I haven’t tried it but might just do so. Will try to update this post if I do. I’m assuming it would work for other UniFi ap’s
I had that bridge plus the “matching “ router RT AC 88U
After 3 routers and 2 Bridges I gave up and Asus couldn’t help, they found issues and changed devices but to no avail
My house has a concrete slab roof so no attic to run cables etc , eventually I bit the bullet and ran a cable across the roof UV protected ( I’m in Johannesburg South Africa hence lots of UV at our altitude)
+1. Use two mikrotik HAPac. One configured as an AP and another as a station using standard wifi protocols(802.11). Have also tried a Mikrotik TDMA wireless protocol - NV2. Like the listening experience better with this protocol (less latency).
Next on my plate to try is the Mikrotik preconfigured 1 ghz duplex 60ghz point to point radios. Should have lower latency and less interference than the 5ghz radios.
