Existing Nighthawk R7000P with Nighthawk Mesh wifi
I have an existing R700P Nightwalk router. This worked great in my old apartment and had no issues with it. I just recently moved into a house with 3 floors. The new house has beautiful antique tin ceilings that not only look lovely but block wifi signals really well (/sigh). The AX1800 Mesh system looks like it would be a viable solution to providing coverage throughout my house. Wanted to check with the community to make sure I understand the information correctly.
1) The AX1800 Mesh system is backwards compatible. It should work with my existing (R700P)router.
2) The AX1800 Mesh comes with a router and satellite. I liked the seamlessness of the mesh system, will having 2 routers cause a conflict?
3)Should I just use range extenders instead of the mesh?
Implementation.
I have hardwired my house with Cat6 cable already. Right now my existing R700P router is in the basement acting as a network switch to the 3 endpoints on each floor of the house. I am planning on purchasing a gigabit network switch for the basement, running the Mesh router on the 1st floor, the Nighthawk(R700P) router on the 2nd floor, and the mesh satellite on the 3rd floor.
Model: R7000P|Nighthawk AC2300 Smart WiFi Dual Band Gigabit Router
Re: Existing Nighthawk R7000P with Nighthawk Mesh wifi
The R7000P won't integrate with the system. Its not a mesh router. You can set it with the same ssid as the mesh system but it'll be "sticky" in that device that connect to it, will tend to stay connected to it and not roam.
You'd be better off to get the mesh system with a router and 2 satellites. With 1 for each floor.
it is ideal to have them hardwired in. If you were using wireless backhaul, I'd have advised you to avoid it because the tin blocks the wireless backhaul. And I usually tell people to avoid the dual band mesh systems. But hardwired, it'll work great.
It sounds like a solid plan in terms of having decent coverage using a hardwired backhaul and the mesh setup.
I was thinking about the Nightwalk mesh hoping it would integrate with the existing router. If it won't integrate what is the benefit of the Nighthawk mesh vs the Orbi? In either case I would need a new router. I don't actually have a large home, but I have 3 floors (with the metal ceiling). I was looking at the different Orbi systems but my home is only 1600sqft. It's not a 7000sqft manor. The ceilings mean I'll need an access point for each floor. For either system I won't really need the backhaul channel as they will be hardwired, does that make a difference between either the Orbi or the Nighthawk? Not really clear on why I would choose one over the other, but I don't want to have to replace it for the next 5 years.
Re: Existing Nighthawk R7000P with Nighthawk Mesh wifi
Nighthawk + Wifi 6
Nighthawk - Reports of dropping---You'll see reports of both on here because this is the community support forum. Where people come with issues. I'd recommend reading reviews on amazon as well as here.
Orbi + Reported faster than Nighthawk----Because the nighthawk is dual band and most are using it with the wireless satellites. If you're hardwired, your speeds will be close the same for an equivelent rated system.
Orbi + More Stable----The orbi's AC more than likely are more stable. They're quite a bit more mature system. If you're not needing AX, the RBK43 is consitently on sale refurb/renewed on amazon for around the price of the nighthawk system. I've used that system and its pretty solid
Orbi - Wifi 5---There's orbi AX (wifi 6) but its a whole step up in price point. And since you're hardwired in, probably not needed.
I'm not sure what speeds you pay for but I'd also throw the RBK43 renewed into the mix. Its a solid system and quite capable. Right around the MK63 system in price (when bought renewed). It also would give you the option of expanding the system if you'd like with things like orbi voice, orbi outdoors, or even if you plan on moving and move to place without metal ceilings.
