Wifi Signal boost

[rbochan]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

...taottronics...That said I am a bit nervous about Chinese made electronics that see all you home traffic.

Look at a google nest wif...

I'd be entirely more concerned with the nest.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by rbochan

I'd be entirely more concerned with the nest.

Fair but not me.

Google has a clearly stated privacy policy. It is policed by the tech media, and sneaking anything in the language has been caught and publicized.

Chinese tech goes like this.

You want cheap, we got cheap!
What is your privacy policy?
What do you want me to say?
That you won't spy on me?
Oh sure, are you going to buy it or not?
OK

Several months later cyber researchers find a back door that can be exploited.

See just about every security camera they make, and TCL TVs.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I bridged my Shaw modem into a mesh network. There is no way I can go back to having dead zones or super low speeds in certain areas of my home.

This is where being the primary IT infrastructure guy at work has it's perks. We upgraded to Aruba gear at work for wireless, leaving our old Ubiquiti stuff free for the taking. I was able to snag 3 AP Pro's and a cloud key management server for free, I can connect to my wifi network from across the street

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

This is where being the primary IT infrastructure guy at work has it's perks. We upgraded to Aruba gear at work for wireless, leaving our old Ubiquiti stuff free for the taking. I was able to snag 3 AP Pro's and a cloud key management server for free, I can connect to my wifi network from across the street

I have heard about Ubiquiti a lot from infra folks here. How hard is it to setup? I am IT/Comp Sci background but from the software not hardware side. So a lot of concepts are lost on me from lack of experience.

Given a comparison, I use a eero Pro system because it is fairly fast, but it is also zero maintenance. I am not sure if it is worth it to switch to a more manual system? One upgrade would be speed as I have Telus Fiber but eero tops out at 300mbps. Another would be coverage as you mention outdoors. I have an erro in the garage wired but something with more coverage would be great.

That was a bit of a ramble, but in your opinion is it worth ditching a high end consumer mesh for this type of system if your not a infra person?

[DoubleF]

From my understanding, Ubiquiti stuff is a takes a bit of extra set up, but it's pretty darn powerful and hard to beat once it's up and running. When it goes down though, very few people know how to fix it. There's benefits to sitting down and figuring it out, but that requires at least a few hours of investment.

If you want Ubiquiti grade stuff, but easy set up, go with their AmpliFi line. That's what I use. It has all the extra bells and whistles and set up was nearly plug and play.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

From my understanding, Ubiquiti stuff is a takes a bit of extra set up, but it's pretty darn powerful and hard to beat once it's up and running. When it goes down though, very few people know how to fix it. There's benefits to sitting down and figuring it out, but that requires at least a few hours of investment.

If you want Ubiquiti grade stuff, but easy set up, go with their AmpliFi line. That's what I use. It has all the extra bells and whistles and set up was nearly plug and play.

The Ubiquiti business grade stuff is as easy as their home line as far as setup goes now. Install an app on your phone, plug in the access point, adopt it and configure your wireless network settings, that's it. The cloud key gives you a lot more control but is completely optional, only reason I have it is because it was free

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

The Ubiquiti business grade stuff is as easy as their home line as far as setup goes now. Install an app on your phone, plug in the access point, adopt it and configure your wireless network settings, that's it. The cloud key gives you a lot more control but is completely optional, only reason I have it is because it was free

Ah that's great to hear that it has an easier setup now. I've been really happy with the AmpliFi with ethernet backbone and I just grabbed a powerline mesh system for my parents which was easy as hell to set up, but super lacking on settings.

My brother has a Ubiquiti set up that he said was a PITA to get up and running, but once he got it up and running he has no regrets choosing it and it's been reliable for over a year now.

I think there was someone on CP that had a Ubiquiti set up and it was chaos when it suddenly went down while he was out of town. He said it was an easy fix, but he couldn't do the basic stuff to reset it and get it back up nor explain to his family how to quickly fix it remotely.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Ah that's great to hear that it has an easier setup now. I've been really happy with the AmpliFi with ethernet backbone and I just grabbed a powerline mesh system for my parents which was easy as hell to set up, but super lacking on settings.

My brother has a Ubiquiti set up that he said was a PITA to get up and running, but once he got it up and running he has no regrets choosing it and it's been reliable for over a year now.

I think there was someone on CP that had a Ubiquiti set up and it was chaos when it suddenly went down while he was out of town. He said it was an easy fix, but he couldn't do the basic stuff to reset it and get it back up nor explain to his family how to quickly fix it remotely.

Not sure why it would suddenly drop, I ran this same system at the office for the last 2 years without a single issue. I also love that the APs are PoE, so there's only a single cable running from the wall to where they're mounted

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

Not sure why it would suddenly drop, I ran this same system at the office for the last 2 years without a single issue. I also love that the APs are PoE, so there's only a single cable running from the wall to where they're mounted

No idea. Hopefully whoever that member was chimes in. I wonder if it was like a brown out in the middle of something and the system somehow got stuck trying to restart?

[GoinAllTheWay]

Setting up Uqiquiti was dead simple IMO. I'm techy but not hardcore by any means. Lots of videos out there that show you how to set up a new home network and can confirm, rock solid when done and has a lot of neat features.

Only drawback I've had with them is they tend to release firmware updates that can break things. Perfect example is using Chromecast. There latest firmware basically made them drop off my network. Long story and I originally thought I just wasn't setting up my separate VLAN for IoT things correctly but turns out all my access points upgraded to new firmware and that caused issues with CC. Easy enough to roll back once I read forums and found what the problem was but annoying none the less.

Other than that, my wife and I work from home at the same time. She's doing video meetings, I'm streaming HD movies while connected to work computer, no issues at all. Really happy with the equipment outside the occasional firmware frustration.

[red sky]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I bridged my Shaw modem into a mesh network. There is no way I can go back to having dead zones or super low speeds in certain areas of my home.

Do you have to bridge your Shaw modem with a mesh network?

I bought this and plugged it in but didn't have to do anything with the Shaw modem

https://www.amazon.ca/Meshforce-Whol...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by red sky

Do you have to bridge your Shaw modem with a mesh network?

I bought this and plugged it in but didn't have to do anything with the Shaw modem

https://www.amazon.ca/Meshforce-Whol...NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Not sure. I haven't really thought about it for a while.

I found that the last few generations of Shaw modems since the Hitrons/Motorolas seemed to get pretty hot and seemed to need occasional power cycling if the wifi broadcasting was left on.

[You Need a Thneed]

Is this a good deal for a wifi mesh system?

https://www.londondrugs.com/netgear-.../L1111876.html

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Second, taottronics makes routers now. Wow. They make everything. That said I am a bit nervous about Chinese made electronics that see all you home traffic.

Is there any one of these mesh network products that isn't made in China?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Is there any one of these mesh network products that isn't made in China?

While made in China is also a risk, it's the companies that are Chinese, particularly those with Government ownership that are the most concerning to me, and I stay away from.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Is Taotronics owned by the government?

[Fuzz]

I looked at it earlier, and couldn't find anything definitive. It mentions being founded in California, but is headquartered in China. Not sure if the government has a stake in it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunvalley_Group

[CaptainReboot]

TaoTronics also compensates “buyers” for their reviews on Amazon, so all the 5 star ratings you see are most likely fake. Same with RavPower, who is also under the Sun Valley Group.

I have a Netgear Orbi RBK5000 and it’s great. It has a dedicated 5GHZ backhaul channel if you don’t have Ethernet in the satellite location. Main one in my basement office and the satellite in the bonus room. It’s on clearance at Staples right now for $400 and there is a coupon code that gives you an extra 25% off clearance items with code 93205.

https://www.staples.ca/products/2479...d-wi-fi-system

I had two Asus RT-AC68U’s before running AiMesh and it didn’t work as good I found. I found my phone would get stuck on a node and wouldn’t hand off properly to the closer one.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I bought the taotronics one after watching a couple of youtube vids reviewing it that weren't sponsored and if the "HQ in China" thing doesn't bug you I can strongly recommend it and I'm not getting paid. I have a 150 mbps shaw plan and I get more than that literally anywhere on all 3 floors of my house. And the router is in the basement. With my old ASUS router I was like 25-30 mpbs upstairs. Now a clean 150-160 most of the time.

I do get the China thing I guess. If it comes out that they've been doing nefarious things at Taotronics I won't be shocked, but I'm willing to take the risk of them getting some data from me. It's not going to be very interesting to them if they do spy on me, and all my work stuff is inaccesible anyway.

They did give me 20 bucks to review a humidifier of theirs a year or so ago but it wasn't contingent on any star rating.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Is Taotronics owned by the government?

All Chinese companies are owned in some shape or form by the CCP. You cannot do business as a company there without strict obedience to them. That isn’t close to arguable.

While Google or Apple manufacture their products there China government don’t control company directly. There is much less chance a piece of code is dropped that opens a back door.

I mean this respectfully, but after the whole Huawei incident I am shocked people still don’t grasp how China government and Chinese companies work. They are one and same and anything the CCP can do to leverage private business for national goals is on the table. We would say highly unethical, but its a different set of rules for the CCP.

Anyways I am not saying you should not buy it. Just that the technology used in that router is possibly compromised and the patents lifted from law abiding companies. To me it is the problem with North America. We are inviting a pretty big threat into our country and homes because its cheap.

I guess I am too exposed to the threat I guess. Kind of like a cook at a very bad restaurant. But keep in mind this stuff is running our companies out of business and setting up some huge risks for our society.

Just my two cents.