Question because you seem knowledgeable on mesh. I’ve got a network that spans a large area. I connected 3 mesh network aps to one switch which connects to my main router. Should the aps still be close together, or I’m good to spread them a bit since they’re all hard wired?
If they’re all hard wired, I don’t think you need to worry much about the mesh functionality at all. Wired networks can effectively be placed wherever they’re necessary, the only thing mesh will solve for you is wireless extensibility in the future and automatic switching between access points. I don’t know for sure how the wired backplane of different brands work (and if they all even come with wired interoperability at all) and if the devices can run without being in range of each other at all.
I haven’t needed to deal with this myself, but you may need to create some minor overlap for automatic hand-off to work well, so movable devices like phones automatically connect to the closest access point. You wouldn’t want two networks with equal, bad reception, because there’s a chance devices may flip-flop between access points constantly. I believe manufacturers should have documentation for this stuff if it’s important, though as long as the routers can “see” each other this should be dealt with automatically.
Close vicinity is only important if the routers use a wireless network to connect to each other. Even then the antennae and bands used for the interconnection are likely much more powerful than those of your phone or laptop. You’ll likely have some kind of app or web interface that’ll tell you how well connected the wireless devices are, and that’s probably the best guide to finding the boundaries of the signal.
That said, “close vicinity” can mean anywhere from 5 meters to 50 meters. The exact requirements depend on the interference you get and the obstacles between the different devices. Sometimes moving a mesh router 15 centimeters to the left can be the difference between spotty WiFi and perfect speeds.
Question because you seem knowledgeable on mesh. I’ve got a network that spans a large area. I connected 3 mesh network aps to one switch which connects to my main router. Should the aps still be close together, or I’m good to spread them a bit since they’re all hard wired?
If they’re all hard wired, I don’t think you need to worry much about the mesh functionality at all. Wired networks can effectively be placed wherever they’re necessary, the only thing mesh will solve for you is wireless extensibility in the future and automatic switching between access points. I don’t know for sure how the wired backplane of different brands work (and if they all even come with wired interoperability at all) and if the devices can run without being in range of each other at all.
I haven’t needed to deal with this myself, but you may need to create some minor overlap for automatic hand-off to work well, so movable devices like phones automatically connect to the closest access point. You wouldn’t want two networks with equal, bad reception, because there’s a chance devices may flip-flop between access points constantly. I believe manufacturers should have documentation for this stuff if it’s important, though as long as the routers can “see” each other this should be dealt with automatically.
Close vicinity is only important if the routers use a wireless network to connect to each other. Even then the antennae and bands used for the interconnection are likely much more powerful than those of your phone or laptop. You’ll likely have some kind of app or web interface that’ll tell you how well connected the wireless devices are, and that’s probably the best guide to finding the boundaries of the signal.
That said, “close vicinity” can mean anywhere from 5 meters to 50 meters. The exact requirements depend on the interference you get and the obstacles between the different devices. Sometimes moving a mesh router 15 centimeters to the left can be the difference between spotty WiFi and perfect speeds.