Current "tech favorites" for mesh WiFi for a large home or business covering about the same square footage

[britechguy]

I've got a potential client that has two offices locally, one that's expanding to approximately 5000 square feet across one level inside a building that was once a grocery store many moons ago. This suggests, to me, that the interior walls will be "less problematic" as far as WiFi signal goes than it might have been in something constructed with more substantial walls at the outset. They also have a much smaller office at another location, but appear to be having WiFi issues there.

The ISP at the moment is Comcast, in case that might have any bearing, but I'm doubting it does.

Just wondering what are folks current favorite mesh systems for a layout such as the above. I know that these can change over time, and this would be the first mesh system I'm putting in place.

Also, as a side question, do these systems work well if the "master access point" is 5G wireless? Around here our only real ISP options are Glo Fiber or Comcast for wired (and where available) or T-Mobile 5G wireless. Locations that are not in town often use 5G wireless because our coverage in this area for that service is quite good. I haven't had a client using any satellite service in a very long time.

 

[HCHTech]

If it has drop ceilings, I wouldn't do mesh. In fact, I would avoid mesh if you can. Wiring the space for a few ceiling-mounted APs isn't likely hard and you'll end up with a much more robust system than any mesh setup. We have used Ubiquiti stuff exlusively for a few years now, and one you get over the hurdle of figuring out which of their products does what, it's pretty easy to know what's needed.

What is the shape of the space? Do they have any particular needs as far as wifi goes? What business are they in? Who will the uses of the wifi be? Just employees and company equipment or also visitors? How many of each? Any unusual usage patterns (e.g. Churches have 10-20 users during the week but 500 on Sunday) Those are all ingredients needed to pick the equipment.

We always do a walk-through as part of the investigation before we put together a quote. It gives you the lay of the land, what kind of wiring they have in place, etc.

 

[britechguy]

@HCHTech,

Thanks for the input. Much appreciated.

I definitely plan a walk-through of both spaces, but it's well before that at the moment. It's a small business and I believe that there will be no more than 20 devices, tops, connected at either location, and strictly for the business. But those details have yet to be definitively determined.

 

[timeshifter]

Ubiquiti for small business. eero for residential. The latter is a mesh.

 

[britechguy]

I'm actually considering eero, based on this being a micro business that will remain such. WiFi 7 capability should keep them going for years.

When I speak of small business I generally mean micro business with 20 or fewer employees, often no more than 10. Enterprise scale is not a current nor future need for businesses of this type.

I'm not an MSP, so to the degree that I can leave things such that "the basics" can be checked by the client, the better. I still get plenty of calls, though.

 

[HCHTech]

There is a pretty good argument that Ubiquiti is NOT enterprise. They are trying to sneak into that space - my "fanciest" install has one of their pro aggregation switches, 2 48-port regular switches and a 16-port PoE switch. I think there are only 4 APs there, but I wanted everything to be rack mountable so..... It's been almost bulletproof since 2021. You can install the controller on a local computer and they can self-manage.

On the other end, we do tons of small residential installs with just one or two APs using PoE injectors. I mean, they just work. We get hardly ANY callbacks to tinker with them. Set the APs to auto-update and you pretty much don't have to touch them. I wish ANY of the other vendors' products I use could get such high praise from me.

 

[Satman]

I've used TP-link Omada for jobs like this. They have a controller (stand-alone or pc program) that you use to configure everything and even allows remote monitoring. They have indoor and outdoor access points, great mesh setup and unlimited expansion capabiility. I've got some installations out there for 5+ years with no issues..I believe they are transparent as far as "master" ISP system go. All the mobile internet systems I have seen have an ethernet jack on them to connect other devices. I'd do that if you have to use mobile and turn off the radio in the device itself. It also lets you setup multiple SSIDs, guest network and VLANs. I believe much of Ubiquiti's devices do the same .

 

[carmen617]

I'm actually considering eero, based on this being a micro business that will remain such. WiFi 7 capability should keep them going for years.

When I speak of small business I generally mean micro business with 20 or fewer employees, often no more than 10. Enterprise scale is not a current nor future need for businesses of this type.

I'm not an MSP, so to the degree that I can leave things such that "the basics" can be checked by the client, the better. I still get plenty of calls, though.

You and I have very similar business models, but I might be even more residential than you are. I install 2-3 eero systems a month in homes around here - it's my standard go-to for people who are having wifi range problems, which happens a lot because Comcast and Verizon often install their modems in the basement, and many people around here have 3000+ square foot homes. I particularly like the eero because each access point has two ethernet ports, so I can strategically place the nodes and then choose either wireless or ethernet connection, depending on the device.

In general, I've found eero installs to be pretty simple, and very rarely get a call back because of any issues. I have an older one in my own home. It's pretty much set it and forget it until their ISP upgrades their modem.

 

[timeshifter]

It's pretty much set it and forget it until their ISP upgrades their modem.

And adds the ISP modem and now you've got double NAT and things on different networks. Had to straighten that out last week. But ISPs messing up our carefully crafted WiFi and network improvements is something I've been dealing with for about a decade.

 

[lan101]

You and I have very similar business models, but I might be even more residential than you are. I install 2-3 eero systems a month in homes around here - it's my standard go-to for people who are having wifi range problems, which happens a lot because Comcast and Verizon often install their modems in the basement, and many people around here have 3000+ square foot homes. I particularly like the eero because each access point has two ethernet ports, so I can strategically place the nodes and then choose either wireless or ethernet connection, depending on the device.

In general, I've found eero installs to be pretty simple, and very rarely get a call back because of any issues. I have an older one in my own home. It's pretty much set it and forget it until their ISP upgrades their modem.

I've only started seeing Eero routers in the last year or so. It's what Frontier is using now for all the customers getting fiber upgrades. I like them other than "having" to use the mobile app to set it up. They seem to work well from what I've seen. I don't really mind the app it's just a lot of clients by the time they have an issue will probably have a new phone and who knows if they'll have the app etc. Not really sure if that will create any issues. From what I see as long as they have the same phone number they should be able to get into it again should something need configured again. Quite a bit cheaper than the Netgear Orbi setup which I've found those to be pretty good for residential's.

 

[britechguy]

You and I have very similar business models, but I might be even more residential than you are.

Probably not, in reality. Well over 90% of my business is residential, and when I tend to post here with a question is when it comes to a micro-business client (or potential client) where what I think I'll be having to do is not something I've done before in that context.

This potential client has 2 offices, each with under 10 employees, that provide treatment services for autism spectrum disorder (and a few other things). They are not at all likely to ever grow much beyond what they are now, by choice, and really need a WiFi setup that's "more like residential" than like larger businesses. Even with HIPAA requirements, as far as I can determine for WiFi they're not particularly stringent beyond having encrypted traffic (which I always do - passwords are a must) and, if there is to be a public network, that it be isolated from the one used for protected health information, but not necessarily *physically* isolated. So far, my research indicates that if you have your router set up with separate SSIDs for business/HIPPA PHI traffic and guest traffic, that's sufficient.

eero's product line seems pretty robust, security wise, from the lowest end to the highest.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Going with common "home brands"...it's not so much a brand that matters, but...the design, and selection of the technology used. Important part being "design". Meaning...how you lay out the equipment, where the "central/main unit" is...and where the "satellite units" are.

The strength of the signal between the satellites...and the main unit...that's the "mesh uplink"...aka the "wireless backhaul". You don't want that to be too weak. I see a lot of people complain about the performance of mesh....and will find that the wireless uplink signal is....something horrible, like...-78dBm. Well..yeah, it'll suck! Should be a much stronger signal between the satellite IP and the main unit. I'm not talking about the wireless signal between the wireless client and the satellite. Lots of guides out there on how to locate and places APs for optimal wireless performance.

Another thing to consider is, the technology of the mesh kit. There are dual radio kits (lower budget)...and there are tri radio kits (higher budget). The dual radio kits...will usually share the 5.0 radio between wifi clients...and..the backhaul link. I mean...think about it...they're busy with wifi clients...and trying to handle backhaul traffic like a busy ethernet run between two switches. Radios with a dedicated 3rd radio JUST for the backhaul...perform MUCH better.

Brand wise, I am not a fan of Netgear, but they hit a home run with their Orbi "Pro" mesh kits.
Ubiquiti has a product line aimed at residential, their Amplifi product line.
I'm a Ubiquiti guy, it's what we used for businesses and ...larger residential (I don't dabble in regular residential, but I will take on large upscale homes).

Of course, bridge the ISP gateway so the main mesh router pulls the public IP address, avoid double NAT.
Compliance wise, such as HIPAA, may also bring in PCI compliance...so pick a product line that allows proper segmentation of networks...such as VLANs, firewall rules, port assignments on the switch, etc.