Why buy a decent wifi extender? This is why. Fi.

It’s crazy that Tim Higgins is still around, still doing reviews. He used to run PracticallyNetworked.com, which was the go to site back in the early days of home networking. The folks who bought it from him tried to monetize it and really destroyed a lot of the value in the site. Glad to see that Tim is still putting out great content at SmallNetBuilder.com.

I think he just redid the site not too long ago because it has a totally different look. I’ve enjoyed his testing and reviews for a while but didn’t know the history with PractiallyNetworked.com.

Back in the day (and when I worked for a reseller) I did a few reviews on hardware for an early networking site. I don’t miss that stuff. You really have to stay ahead of the hardware curve and it’s tough to source some things.

FWIW no extender or mesh works between my 2 floors. I finally pulled brand new CAT 6 so the 2 routers could be linked to each other by cable, and now internet works reliably. (This feature is called Ethernet backhaul)

I’m pretty sure it’s because the tiles in the kitchen and bathroom have this metal mesh on them that blocks all the wifi.

Thanks! I’m not entirely sure I would need mesh or an extender if I went with the U6 Lite AP, as I’ve been told they have really strong signal range, like cover a two-story home and still get good signal halfway down the block kind of range. If I am plugging that AP directly into the EdgeRouter X (which in turn is directly connected to the incoming fiber line) then I should have full 500Mbps to the AP via wired connection, leaving it to do all of the wi-fi coverage work without any assist. I’m not buying for a few weeks yet though, I want a firm date on when they think the fiber line will actually be installed first. Thanks again for the link to SmallNetBuilder, that site is very informative!

So when you picked out flooring tiles they had Ceramic, Porcelain, Marble, Travertine and Faraday? =)

Must have bought an old CIA safehouse.

I think it’s a somewhat old-fashioned practice now but I think this is it:

" Regarded by some professionals as the best underlayment for tiles, a mud bed with wire mesh adds both stability and support to your tile installation. Wire mesh reinforces the mud bed and minimizes separation of pieces of the bed should it ever crack."

The $30 range extender is not worthwhile in my opinion. A higher-end model with MU-MIMO might work.

What device will the ISP give you? Often they give a wi-fi router these days.

My understanding of Ubiquiti is that they’re more hobbyist oriented. Do you want port forwarding on one bandwidth / channel / SSID and not another? I would go consumer grade instead.

Network hardware is a mature commodity these days. I’d try your existing router. If you get a solid 200 down Mbps where you need it, good enough. I have a mesh setup with main floor on ethernet backhaul and upstairs on wireless, but not too far from the main floor node.