Adding a Mesh Wifi system to my Airtel xStream Fiber connection

[LordSpymaster]

Yeah, I'm back with another home upgrade thread of sorts. Last time it was when I was adding LAN networking to my system, so that I could add 2-3 extenders in AP mode. This worked well for ~4 years, but time to upgrade, and I'm turning to this community for help.

My current setup (also documented in the old thread here - What's the best way to wire up my router to multiple devices with a 50-100 feet gap?)

• 2-floor house (GF + FF) and wifi required across all locations (plus 2 spots outside the house where I have Qubo cameras)
• Airtel router on the FF and LAN cabling goes to 3 points in the house where I have extenders (2x AC 750s and 1 RE 650)

I'm looking at the TP-Link mesh systems, namely the Deco M4 or the X50/X20 systems - I will need 3 nodes that I plan to connect via ethernet to the Airtel router.

So, my questions are:

1. Which mesh system to go for assuming I need maximum coverage and wifi strength equal to, if not better than, the RE 650 router?
2. Do all mesh nodes need to be connected via ethernet or can 1 or 2 of the 3 be wireless?

FYI - my current speed test on the RE 650 extender (wirelessly connected to the main router) is:

And my Bufferbloat grade is B, test is here: Bufferbloat and Internet Speed Test - Waveform

 

[LordSpymaster]

So, seems like I have 2-3 main options:

• TP-Link Deco BE25
• TP Link Deco X60 (or 50)
• M4

Any ideas of real world performance assuming wired backhaul for 3 nodes?

 

[LordSpymaster]

Got a mesh wifi system, the TP-Link BE25, for my 200 Mbps Airtel Xstream Fiber connection. Works pretty well, getting great pings and DL/UL speeds on my wifi devices as well.

Setting it up was easy:

• Connect the first mesh router to your existing internet connection (E.g., Airtel) using wired/wireless. I chose wired since I have ethernet already laid out at 3 points in my house for maximum coverage
• Follow the instructions in the Deco app. Once the first "main" mesh node is done, change that to AP mode if you don't want to use that as a router (and use Airtel as the router) or mess around with Bridge mode in the Airtel router to allow for the Deco's router mode to work correctly (and avoid double NAT)
• Reboot
• Add the mesh nodes by connecting to LAN and power and allowing the app to detect them
• Done!
• Optional - I kept the main network as 5Ghz only since this has an "auto" 2.4/5Ghz option for the main network and can confuse devices. Then I used the IoT option to add another 2.4Ghz network for the wifi cameras and generally longer range in places where the 5Ghz can falter

Speedtest on Tablet/Phone:



Reference - Wired ethernet connection to the laptop:

 

[LordSpymaster]

Did my bufferbloat tests today to check how the internet works for actual buffering with some devices on the network doing video calls, buffering on OTTs, etc. Worked pretty well so still happy with the hardware.

1. Test via wired ethernet to the laptop - Grade B

2. Test via browser on a tablet connected via wifi - Grade A