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Forum Discussion
Mesh using a non Netgear modern as the main router
I have a Modem/Router that is the central connection to four Cat6 cables, each has a switch at the other end connecting to various devices and a ubiquiti mesh AP. I still don't get total house/garden...
Thanks Rinthos.
Yes, I have whole house Cat6.
Yes, I am happy to write off the Unifi hardware.
Yes, I need a new router with parental control built in.
Orbi looks good, if a little expensive.
I guess what I need to know is:
Which routers can manage a mesh;
Which mesh APs can be bought as separates (MS60 looks good but can't be bought on their own afaict);
Do the mesh APs need to be connected directly (single cable) to the router or can they just exist anywhere on the same subnet?
Yes, I have whole house Cat6.
Yes, I am happy to write off the Unifi hardware.
Yes, I need a new router with parental control built in.
Orbi looks good, if a little expensive.
I guess what I need to know is:
Which routers can manage a mesh;
Which mesh APs can be bought as separates (MS60 looks good but can't be bought on their own afaict);
Do the mesh APs need to be connected directly (single cable) to the router or can they just exist anywhere on the same subnet?
Hamsterfangs wrote:
Thanks Rinthos.
Yes, I have whole house Cat6.
Yes, I am happy to write off the Unifi hardware.
Yes, I need a new router with parental control built in.
Orbi looks good, if a little expensive.
I guess what I need to know is:
Which routers can manage a mesh;
Which mesh APs can be bought as separates (MS60 looks good but can't be bought on their own afaict);
Do the mesh APs need to be connected directly (single cable) to the router or can they just exist anywhere on the same subnet?
For Parental Control, if you're happy w/ Circle (or you can pay monthly to upgrade to Circle premium) then you can filter, set times, and the usual category monitoring for your household, so in general the Netgear product lines are nearly the same for this capability.
For Netgear routers to manage a mesh and WiFi 6, Orbi is Netgear's Mesh option. They recently announced a lower cost WiFi 6 alternative:
The MK62/MS60 combination is being released now as a lower cost option....but none of the other Netgear routers can manage a Mesh if you really want a Mesh network.
What you could do is purchase a Netgear Router (RAX120, RAX200, whatever you prefer) and then get WiFi expansion / extender devices.
Arguably that would work with nearly all Netgear's WiFi 6 router, but it's not a Mesh network in the true sense and it's just the classical range extender approach and it's not centrally managed by the routers. Each range extender is managed individually.
For Orbi, there is a new AX4200 lower cost option, vs. the premier AX6000 models, but it's brand new, so don't think you'll get much feedback in these forums for reviews just yet.
To your question of which Mesh APs can be purchased separately, Orbi devices can be purchased separately, and MS60s as you also noticed, but they are not cross-compatible at this point in time. Usually for a Mesh network, the compatibility to form a true Mesh is very important, so likely why you aren't finding too much in terms of multi-model Mesh options.
For Orbi Mesh, each Orbi unit connects "Wirelessly". They have their own dedicated Wireless network (in addition to the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz networks you use) that they create a "backplane mesh". So it's a wireless Mesh. :)
Hope this helps, and appologies for the delayed response.