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Comparison of AC2300 and AX1800 for use in 3 story house
I am moving to a large 3 story house and will need a router and am considering the AC2300 and he AC1800 Mesh MK-63-100NAS. Which those would be likely to provide better whole house coverage? There ...
Biyahero wrote:
Biyahero wrote:
plemans wrote:A couple things.
1. the apple should broadcast further than 35 ft.
2. if you haven't moved in yet, wait until you move in and then see how much coverage the apple provides. Maybe a single router solution is best, maybe a mesh system is the better idea. tough to tell until you're actually in the home.
3. 1300+ sqft could be coveraged by a single router solution (unless its 1300sqft/floor)
4. Most netgear routers have omnidirectional antennas. meaning the broadcast in a radius and not in a direction.
Ref #1. I'll check with Apple tomorrow about the range of the Time Capsule and see if I can get a coherent answer,
Ref #2. That is good idea to wait but I'll have to think on that. If I do wait and see what the Apple device can do, it might be good enough for awhile since we initially won't have all the TV's and devices that will eventually be there, but in the end I'm pretty sure I will need a router that supports MU-MIMO for simultaneous streaming which I'm pretty sure the Apple device does not.
Ref #3 and #4. I'll have to try it and see. If I am able to find the rated coverage area for the AX8 RAX 78-100NAS and if it is significantly greater than the 4500 sq. ft. that the MK63-100NAS is rated for, I'll probably go for that and hope that greater coverage will make it cover more in the vertical plane as well, plus the added speed advantage of the tri-band.
If I do that and it still doesn't cover the whole 3 floors, I guess it sounds like I could add an AX6000 WiFi Mesh Extender (EAX80), although that would end up making the whole setup almost as expensive as the Orbi Mesh Systems which I would really like to avoid.
I called Apple Time Capsule/Networking support and got a real knowlegable person who said that the Time Capsule(s) were actually designed to work together as Mesh devices (and I do have two but one of them is not in an accessible location, so while that is interesting information it isn't pertinent) but he did indicate that I should be able to plug in my Time Capsule to the LAN Port of one of the Satellites of the MK63-100NAS and this would give it access to the internet, but the Time Capsule would have a different WiFi network name than the rest of the NetGear created network.
For my purposes I think that would be OK since if I plug in the Time Capsule to the satellite on the second floor where I plan on using my computer, it sounds like I should be able to connect my computer exclusively to the WiFI transmitted from the Time Capsule and use it that way and it would continue to create automatic backups of my MacBook Pro to the TIme Capsule. I don't plan to move my computer around the house since I basically use it as a desktop, so that will be fine as long as the MacBook doesn't keep changing the WiFi connectrion from the Time Capsule WiFi to the Netgear created WiFi network, which would be super annoying.
Then all the oher devices in the house could use the NetGear created network.
The Apple technicion did also mention that the Time Capsules use Hitachi Deskstar (formerly known as Deathstar) hard drives, which have a service life of about 5 years, and since my Time Capsule is about 4 years old, I may want to consider replacing it soon with some other NAS device that will work with Time Machine such as a Western Digital My Cloud Home or a My Cloud Home Duo, and if I do that then I could just plug that device into any one of the satellites and use the same Netgear created WiFi network for all the devices in the house.
So I'll probably use my existing Time Capsule with a different WiFi network as a temporary solution (if the MK63-100NAS works OK), and eventually purchase a My Cloud Home Duo (or something like that) to continue my Time Machine Backups.
The original subject of this thread was:
Re: Comparison of AC2300 and AX1800 for use in 3 story house
I appreciate all the advice given here in varous topics ... it is really hard to follow some of these threads since whenever I get an email and click on the link that SHOULD take me back to the discussion I get a message either saying Authentication Failed or "This site can’t be reached". I thought I subscribed to some threads, but apparently not.
I purchased a MK63-100NAS and then on further reflection on the thoughts expressed by plemans and another person whose message I can't find (but I did appreciate as well), I changed my mind and returned it since the very day that I had purchased it, the more capable AX4200 WiFi Mesh System (RBK753S) went on sale for $ 70 off, so I purcahsed that since it is Tri-Band, has more range, and has more Ethernet Ports so I can plug in my Vonage Device and can also plug in a Western Digital My Cloud EX2 Ultra Network Attached Storage - NAS - WDBVBZ0080JCH-NESN to use with my Time Machine for backups of my MacBook. and will I will replace my Apple Time Capsule/Router with the Western Digital NAS Storage device to avoid Double NAT issues and because Apple Wireless MultiMedia support mentioned that the Time Capsule is nearing the end of it's service life.
What do you consider a large house?
How many sq ft is it and what are the interior walls made of?
Is there a reason your going AC2300 (which isn't a model) plus the MK63 system?
Why not just a straight mesh system?
I'd also point you more to the triband systems versus the MK63 system. Reason why is the MK63 is a great system but its only dual band. The triband AC systems are actually faster than the dual band MK63 system at distance because the tribands have the dedicated backhaul. The MK system doesn't.
Well I've never been there yet but will be living there soon.
It is a three story house that looks big to me in pictures, but Zillow says it is a
1398 square foot single family home on a 8,356 sq ft lot.
I don't know much about what 1398 square feet means in terms of if that is the footprint on the ground of the building or if it is a three dimensional area.
One question I was thinking of is whether the WiFi signals travel vertically below the router since all the coverage maps in the advertising for the various models (at least the ones I have seen so far) show horizontal coverage areas, but I'm not sure how that translates into vertical coverage.
One thought I had was to wonder if it would be advantageous to have the cable modem port come into the house on the second floor and have the router there if the WiFi signal would reach down to the first floor and up to the third floor, as opposed to having the cable modem and router on the first floor and expect the signal to reach the third floor and outside in the yard.
Currently I am using an Apple Time Capsule as a router where I live now, but I have read that that only is good for a range of about 35 feet, so it is unlikely that will be adequate for this new location. Also since there will be at least 2 and likely 3 TV's in this new location, it appears I need to be sure whatever router I get will have MU-MIMO, which the Apple Time Capsule doesn't, to support multiple devices streaming simultaneously, but it appears most or all of the routers now have that.
Having said that I will still want to have that Apple Time Capsule device as part of the new network so that I can continue having it take continual backups of my MacBook Pro. So any tips on integrating that device with whatever Netgear router I choose would be appfreciated.
A couple things.
1. the apple should broadcast further than 35 ft.
2. if you haven't moved in yet, wait until you move in and then see how much coverage the apple provides. Maybe a single router solution is best, maybe a mesh system is the better idea. tough to tell until you're actually in the home.
3. 1300+ sqft could be coveraged by a single router solution (unless its 1300sqft/floor)
4. Most netgear routers have omnidirectional antennas. meaning the broadcast in a radius and not in a direction.
plemans wrote:A couple things.
1. the apple should broadcast further than 35 ft.
2. if you haven't moved in yet, wait until you move in and then see how much coverage the apple provides. Maybe a single router solution is best, maybe a mesh system is the better idea. tough to tell until you're actually in the home.
3. 1300+ sqft could be coveraged by a single router solution (unless its 1300sqft/floor)
4. Most netgear routers have omnidirectional antennas. meaning the broadcast in a radius and not in a direction.
Ref #1. I'll check with Apple tomorrow about the range of the Time Capsule and see if I can get a coherent answer,
Ref #2. That is good idea to wait but I'll have to think on that. If I do wait and see what the Apple device can do, it might be good enough for awhile since we initially won't have all the TV's and devices that will eventually be there, but in the end I'm pretty sure I will need a router that supports MU-MIMO for simultaneous streaming which I'm pretty sure the Apple device does not.
Ref #3 and #4. I'll have to try it and see. If I am able to find the rated coverage area for the AX8 RAX 78-100NAS and if it is significantly greater than the 4500 sq. ft. that the
MK63-100NAS is rated for, I'll probably go for that and hope that greater coverage will make it cover more in the vertical plane as well, plus the added speed advantage of the tri-band.
If I do that and it still doesn't cover the whole 3 floors, I guess it sounds like I could add an AX6000 WiFi Mesh Extender (EAX80), although that would end up making the whole setup almost as expensive as the Orbi Mesh Systems which I would really like to avoid.
plemans wrote:What do you consider a large house?
How many sq ft is it and what are the interior walls made of?
Is there a reason your going AC2300 (which isn't a model) plus the MK63 system?
Why not just a straight mesh system?
I'd also point you more to the triband systems versus the MK63 system. Reason why is the MK63 is a great system but its only dual band. The triband AC systems are actually faster than the dual band MK63 system at distance because the tribands have the dedicated backhaul. The MK system doesn't.
As far as I can tell, the walls are wood.
Well you have a good point about why not a triband system instead of the MK63-100NAS
system, since the MK63-100NAS is only dual band. I guess the reason I originally thought of the AC2300 was I believed it was rated as having a higher speed. Now I have modified my thoughts (as well as the title of this reply) to consider the AX8 RAX 78-100NAS as an alternative to the MK63-100NAS since that is tri-band. One of the issues with that decision is nowhere can I find the coverage area that the AX8 RAX 78-100NAS is rated for.
The MK63-100NAS supposedly has a range of 4,500 sq. ft. according to a spec sheet on Costco's site, where it is also on sale for the next 10 days or so, so that should be adequate for a house of that square footage ... certainly a radius of 4,500 sq. ft would more than cover a radius of a 1300+ sq. ft. house, but who knows about coverage vertically to the second and third floor.
One reason I am hesitant for that choice of the MK63-100NAS, aside from it being only dual-band, is that it has only one Ethernet receptacle on the back of each of the three components and if I want to connect my Apple Time Capsule to one of them in Access Point Mode, then I would have to locate that particular satellite in a location close enough to where I would use my MacBook so I could continue to use the Time Capsule to create continuous backups, and maybe I would want to plug in a TV or other wired device to the same satellite.
I guess that actually leads to another question ... can I do that to connect the Time Capsule in Access Point Mode to one of the satellites and continue to use it as I do now?
But what I really want to find out is what is the range of the AX8 RAX 78-100NAS, whichI can't find the answer to anywhere! If it would be far in excess of the 4,500 sq. ft that the
MK63-100NAS is rated for, I would probably choose the AX8 RAX 78-100NAS on the belief it would cover all 3 floors, plus it would be a tri-band.
Thanks for your continued advice and help!