I am staying in double storey terrace house and currently using Asus RT-AC1200G+ for 2 years+.

I had a bad experience with TP Link Repeater (RE200) as there are some deadspots in my house
Reason being
1. instable connection
2. somehow the repeater interfere with the original wifi signal (eg. status may indicate that my device is connected to to the router SSID but through the repeater. I found out after i tried connecting to the web interface: 192.168.x.x)

This experience causes me to have a dilemma to go for Wireless Mesh.

However I'm also skeptical about new router like Asus RT-AC86U can cover that dead spot.

Help me senpaisss!

I am on unifi 800Mbps. I use tplink to-wpa8630p powerline to cover upstairs. Managed to get around 230 mbps on WiFi 5ghz ac at upstairs. Before this I can get around 100mbps since my main WiFi Apple AirPort Extreme is located at downstairs.

I am not sure if using mesh the speed at upstairs can get better or not.

This post has been edited by neekun: Jun 4 2019, 09:29 AM

Bro, I used to do that too. That is the issue with repeater/extender, it will cut your bandwidth by half.

I used to be skeptical until a month ago where I tried Mesh WiFi, I only got 2 packs of Tenda Nova MW6 from OOKAS, can cover my double storey house.

My experience is really seamless internet, normally if u use extender, you will notice some buffer time on wifi (like walk from upstairs to downstairs, will experience some lag), no such issue at all when I am using mesh wifi.

Really highly recommended.

I'm using mesh TP-link Deco M4 AC1200, works well but my fibre is only 30mbps. You will no longer see 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz band separately. All become one and managed by the mesh node.

Wireless mesh also half in second node unless you use cable backhaul.

Personally, I prefer single powerful router.

What is your package speed? Mesh WiFi is best choice for you to solve the issue. You may Google for more info about mesh wifi, you will know it is not like WiFi extender.

Yes, a single powerful router such as the Asus RT-AC86U can solve your coverage issues. Change to either that or the TP-Link AC2300 if you want to save money, and throw the old router and extender away. You don’t need them anymore.

Must budget way is to position your router in the middle of the house. deadspots are usually caused by too many walls.


My place is around 1200sqft using AC1200 have blindspot at certain area after changed to AC86U flawlessly.
infact even can connect at the swimming pool area like 6 storeys below lol

I would suggest if you could, buy a wireless access point or turn a router to access point mode, set it up at 2nd floor then pull a cable from your main router to your access point. This in turn would give you a pretty good coverage around your house without losing much of the speed, the downside is ugly cable and having multiple WIFI network

Tested with powerline. Ping latency is good but instable speed if there's high usage of electrical from some appliances like hairdryer etc etc. So i don't think i will opt for Powerline.

Thanks for your info! For wireless mesh i'm still thinking about which brand/model to go for. my list at the moment is asus lyra trio or tp link deco m9. That is if i opt for Wireless Mesh. Haha.

can i know what are the speed and ping latency that you are achieving?

Any suggestion for 1 single powerful router?

My package now is 500 Mbps. I do understand its different from extender/repeater but working on the similar concept of extending your coverage with a mesh topology.

Kind to share what setup are u using?

Well, all the cables including fibre optics are concealed after renovation, thus it is almost impossible to relocate the router. it is impressive to reach 6 storeys! you put it outside your windows? lol

trying to avoid running cables ;(

Asus AC86U at least. If have budget, go for AX88U.

In the past I tried avoid running cable as well so in few years I spent over RM800 on powerline. Just few days ago finally decided to run the cable to the furthest room as there are just too many walls between the router and the furthest room. run the cable and hide the cable in the white casing, it is a one time work and in the long run you will find it's worth it to do it

Maybe try getting the Deco P7. It uses hybrid mesh technology. The only thing is that in Malaysia TP-Link only sells 2 units per pack. If you need 3, you need to buy 2 packs which will give you 4 units. Anyone want to share 1 pack just let me know as I plan to get 3 units.

Just get Deco M9 Plus the best so far. It has another 5Ghz band for backhaul connection between the nodes so the speed does not get halved or what not.

that's 2k for a router @@

o well. lets just put it as last resort. thanks for your input.

1st time seeing this model cause it wasn't promoted as heavily as m9+. really interested in this now. i'll let u know if i will be buy 2 sets den share 1 unit with u.

can u explain little more details about why using 5Ghz band for backhaul connection will not halved the speed?
In my case, i afraid that my 5ghz cant be connected due to the wall.

I'm on 30mbps line, 26mbps in the furthest room with Deco mesh, ping 24ms.

One router, TP-Link AC3150 v2 in my big double-storey house and it is enough.

Cable is always the best.

Deco M9 Plus has a dedicated 5Ghz band to handle the communication between nodes, as a result it will not cut the speed to half like repeater.

Nova MW6 supports K,V,R like Decos do, it uses a very good Skyworks PA (almost same with AX88U), but pairing with crappy Realtek radio chipset, end up it has very strong coverage but slow wifi speed, very weird combination. Even worst, it now has v2, which changed the PA to low cost 1 and antennas design also changed, end up the performance even worst than v1

Asus Lyra Trio has a surprisingly low performance, based on SmallNetBuilder review, not sure why, especially with his good reputation in making great routers.

if you have ethernet cable for each floor, then I highly recommended mesh wifi, I'm using TP-Link Deco M4 with ethernet backhaul, 1 x M4 for each floor, my iphone speedtest at the very far corner of the house with a wall in between still run the max Unfi 100Mbps speed.