Hi,

I'm helping my sister to fix her wifi coverage at her apartment (~2100 sq ft) and she's currently having low wifi signal in her bedroom (router in the living room). Her router is D-Link DIR-615 router but she doesn't know which Unifi package she's using. Would it help if I replace her router? And if so, which one would you recommend? Thanks!

Hi everyone. I'm currently using unifi 300mbps and my router is located at the red X and i find the connection is not strong at the back room/back toilet at the yellow X. Currently i'm using Asus RT-AC86U router and generally i'm happy with the performance of the it but since its been a few years and i'm thinking of upgrading my router.

Assuming i dont change the location of the router,
1. If i get mesh will it help my wifi coverage? And where would be the ideal location of the mesh unit? Previously i thought mesh more applicable for multi storey houses but i see some ppl recommend for larger single floor units like condo as well.
2. Since i play online shooters (my PC is in the back room with the yellow X) quite often will mesh be worse performance for gaming than gaming router? Is the trade off for better coverage worth it?

Edit: Please recommend router budget RM1k or below, thanks.

Hi i bought 3 tplink mesh router for my house. Plan to install one of each at each floor. (3 floors)

My ground floor has a lan port which is connected/link to the lan port on my 1st floor

Can i connect/link ground floor and 1st floor mesh using lan port only? Without using wifi connection? My 3rd floor mesh will be connected/link via mesh wifi..

Yeah i know wireless is adequate. But with Lan cable connected to the 2nd node ar 2nd floor, the signal will be much stable..

Hello,

Currently unifi 800

As i understand it, i can get 1 XT8 as main and a RT-AX53U as mesh node. (i already own a RT-AX53U as emergency backup router)

I know location/distance is a factor with meshs. For an example, my current set-up is 2 Deco M9Plus's. The distance is roughly 15m, 2 walls. I get at least 300mb at the node currently.

If i switch to XT8 + RT-AX53U in the same spots, would i get at least 150mb at the node? Usage at the node is usually just 1 SmartTV with AstroBox and 2 Cameras. As i understand the AX53U is not as strong as the Deco M9Plus.
I want to switch to ASUS Routers moving forward. But due to my budget, around RM1k only at the moment, im thinking of starting with 1 XT8, then upgrade the RT-AX53U node to better ones (maybe a 2nd XT8/XT9 if it comes out or other tri-band models) in the future.

Also tempted by the AIProtection Pro free for life feature....
TLDR; Is XT8 + RT-AX53U better or worse than 2x Deco M9Plus for speeds at the node, if usage location/conditions the same? Assuming is it worse, how much worse?

Is there any test results to prove your statement? Or, just a thought?

I've purchased Deco M9 but I can't connect from modem to Deco router, need connect from Unifi provided router to Deco like pic

Link: Pic

I tried to connect Deco to modem LAN1, PPPoE with my Unifi account, still get red light. Only the setup above can work. Any ideas why?

Just wondering does this still apply today?

Like for example with new asus router model such as tuf ax4200 and tuf ax6000?

What about RT model such as ax53U and also the ax57?

blacktubi review of tuf ax4200 seems promising. Bought 1 to replace my ax30 lol. Hopefully can reduce wifi latency.

from reading complaints about aimesh in here, it gives impression that • cobbling different models together at start is error prone and need patience, and • continued use after initial set up is unstable.

WiFi Alliance and with their WiFi 7 scam
After doing some research about upgrading my own network, I just want to share my findings to everyone about how absurd is WiFi 7. The price difference between product can be a lot and you shall find out why. The main problem is you will never know if the WiFi 7 device you buy actually support any of the things I shall list below.

What you get with WiFi 7
Preamble Puncturing, Multi Resource Unit and bigger Compressed Block Ack.
These are the only 3 thing that is mandatory in certification. Preamble Puncturing and Multi-RU is the fundamental improvement to spectral efficiency. You rarely see anyone talk about them because the speed improvement are from zero to a bit. Yes, it is possible to see absolutely zero improvement in the real world.
They only matter in high interference environment, or during that short beacon period where your neighbor use a broadcast channel that is between your selected spectrum width.

512 MPDU compressed block ack is a double edge sword. It try to save a bit of airtime by doubling the ack period for MPDU. If there is no loss, then you save a tiny bit of airtime. If there is loss, you need to retransmit the whole 512 MPDU and actually get hit with massive latency spike.

WiFi Alliance deliberately hide the fact the specification is incomplete
They already knew from the start there will be at least an Release 1 certification, and Release 2 certification that is coming December, 2025 (end of this year). It feels like 802.11ac Wave 2 all over again. I have no idea what is inside Release 2 so just know that it will appear starting 2026 (next year).

WPA3 and mandatory PMF
If you disable any of these due to compatibility with your IoT or whatever shitty device you have, your WiFi 7 effectively operates as WiFi 6. Not just for the single IoT device, but for everyone.

4k QAM
For the first time in WiFi standard, QAM improvement is optional. Even with 4k QAM, you must have at least 42dB SNR for it to actually work, which is 128x more sensitivity than WiFi 6 (25 dB) !!!
dB is not linear. Every 3dB = 2x. You are free to do the math and correct me.

The old trick of comparing chipset and match them to feature will not work for WiFi 7. I will explain starting from 4k QAM.
For such a high QAM, the amplifier and all frontend components must be linear and distortion free. What each manufacturer put inside their product is up to them. As with amplifier, they won't be perfectly linear and all of them will introduce distortion as EIRP increases.

So don't see that it contains Qualcomm xxx model or Intel yyy model and assume they can do 4k QAM.

MLO
MLO is an operational mode in WiFi 7. The marketing is the one that keep peddling how it will almost double your transmit rate.
Only MLMR mode will do that. Every other mode can't. Guess what? MLMR is an optional feature.

For every device that claim MLO support, which mode do they actually support? This is the real question.

The challenge for MLMR is that if the frontend do not have enough air gap isolation, the signal will interfere with each other. So depending on how manufacturer pack all the components together, there is a chance that it won't work. WiFi 7 requires a totally new way of component placement. For manufacturer that just swap the chipset and retains the PCB layout, this won't fly.

320 MHz channel width
For the first time in WiFi history, doubling of channel width is optional. We have gone from 20MHz to 40, 80, 160 and... 320 is optional.
Every generation of WiFi get their speed predominantly by doubling the channel width. We have reached a point where the channel width is so large now, your neighbor will definitely interfere with you. For the rest of the world where 500 MHz is all there is in 6 GHz, the 320MHz channel is already taking up more than half the spectrum.

If your WiFi 7 device is cheap, it probably cannot do 6 GHz, won't do 320MHz and has the exact same performance as WiFi 6.

EDIT:
Decide to page people who is known to be interested in WiFi 7
tng55 QuantumEdge cyberic

What you said is indeed true.
At least in the coming WiFi 8, the advertised speed is the same as WiFi 7. But I don't see how this will go on forever considering they already maxed out the channel width. Maybe they will further segment it with 320+80 or something.

I would say the speed improvement is due to better frontend hardware. Lower distortion, more linear amplifier, different way of component placement leading to better shielding against self interference.

This will bump up MCS so older device works better. If OEM use the same frontend and swap to WiFi 6 SoC, I believe performance will be similar. This is especially true for router that support 4k QAM.

Still, 4k QAM is optional. There's a chance you see zero improvement.

I think you need to read my post again.
I explicitly call out WiFi 7 spec due to all the OPTIONAL features.

As a consumer you suddenly need to know all these thing to get the full benefits of WiFi 7. It used to be that you buy a WiFi 5 or WiFi 6 gear and expect them to perform better.

Not with WiFi 7. I never say 6GHz is a scam. But not all WiFi 7 has 6Ghz.
Same goes for 320Mhz, 4k QAM, MLO. They are all OPTIONAL