Router Talk... Wireless AP vs Mesh Setup

[Rayzah]

So I currently in the Apple ecosystem I never had a problem before, however I am now in a 2 level townhouse and my router (airport Extreme) is upstairs,sometimes my apple tv struggles to stream 4k content from my plex server which is just upstairs.

So I connected my Airport express as a AP downstairs and it works........ sometimes... The issue is sometimes my devices are still connecting to my Airport Extreme upstairs, despite getting a poor connection.

Do I
A. consider getting a "better" WAP
B. Say fukk apple and get a mesh router
c. Go all and do the enterprise ubiquiti setup?

 

[Dat Migo]

So I currently in the Apple ecosystem I never had a problem before, however I am now in a 2 level townhouse and my router (airport Extreme) is upstairs,sometimes my apple tv struggles to stream 4k content from my plex server which is just upstairs.

So I connected my Airport express as a AP downstairs and it works........ sometimes... The issue is sometimes my devices are still connecting to my Airport Extreme upstairs, despite getting a poor connection.

Do I
A. consider getting a "better" WAP
B. Say fukk apple and get a mesh router
c. Go all and do the enterprise ubiquiti setup?

For my three story place, I got the Linksys Velop mesh set up. I keep a node on each level and I never have any problems with streaming from anywhere in the house. It's integrated in Apple Home kit too.

On another note, are you sure it's not the plex server that's the issue? I know you need a certain amount of cpu power to properly transcode high quality files.

 

[Hood Critic]

So I currently in the Apple ecosystem I never had a problem before, however I am now in a 2 level townhouse and my router (airport Extreme) is upstairs,sometimes my apple tv struggles to stream 4k content from my plex server which is just upstairs.

So I connected my Airport express as a AP downstairs and it works........ sometimes... The issue is sometimes my devices are still connecting to my Airport Extreme upstairs, despite getting a poor connection.

Do I
A. consider getting a "better" WAP
B. Say fukk apple and get a mesh router
c. Go all and do the enterprise ubiquiti setup?

Your issue is the transmission strength on your extreme and express, your extreme is probably set to broadcast at full strength. Also when you have multiple APs in an area you want to make sure that each AP is broadcasting on different channels.

 

[Rayzah]

For my three story place, I got the Linksys Velop mesh set up. I keep a node on each level and I never have any problems with streaming from anywhere in the house. It's integrated in Apple Home kit too.

On another note, are you sure it's not the plex server that's the issue? I know you need a certain amount of cpu power to properly transcode high quality files.

I have a dedicated Plex server with a 7th gen i5 and I’m doing transcoding on my ssd drive. The server is dedicated to Plex only

Your issue is the transmission strength on your extreme and express, your extreme is probably set to broadcast at full strength. Also when you have multiple APs in an area you want to make sure that each AP is broadcasting on different channels.

Edit.
I’m going with the orbi mesh wifi6

 

[Rice N Beans]

C. With less of a lean on full-enterprise. Just grab some GOOD APs and let that do the job. Your initial routing and switching should be done by something with strong CPU power.

If you need mesh on the cheap, you can scoop up some used ASUS routers.