Ask HN: What mesh routers should I recommend to my parents?

8 points by ls612 2 years ago

My parents are older and have a large home and are not at all tech savvy, but they realize that they need more Wifi range because their one existing router isn't good enough. However some of the good mesh routers can be a pain to manage, which ones can be easily "set and forget"?

8b16380d 2 years ago

My eero setup have been running strong without any intervention for a couple years now, across a couple different houses and isps. It’s been a great investment so far.

  • cpach 2 years ago

    I agree. I’ve set up Eero for my myself, my mother, father and two other relatives. It works extremely well. Zero support required.

solardev 2 years ago

The Google Mesh (Nest Wifi) is easy to set up and requires no ongoing admin. It just auto updates in the background.

On the downside it's not very configurable, like you can't even have separate 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz SSIDs.

But your parents probably won't care about that. Just get a three pack, set it up in 10 min, and you probably don't have to worry about it again (until Google abandons that product line like every other).

enjoyyourlife 2 years ago

The Google mesh system is easy to set up in the app

wojciii 2 years ago

How about a system that you can remotely admin if your parents need help?

I don't like mesh and installed the same system that I have at home at my parents. Multiple APs connected to GW/switch with Ethernet.

aristofun 2 years ago

Mercku m6 is pretty good, best wifi 5 throughput ive seen in real conditions (~800mbit from behind closed door ~3m away).

tra3 2 years ago

Piggy backing on this if you don’t mind - what mesh system is there that is reasonably advanced but doesn’t require a huge time investment?

I got eeros but Amazon hides everything behind a $10/month paywall. I used to run ubiquiti gear but that was too much work.

Is there something in between?

  • RulerOf 2 years ago

    I set up TP Link Omada in less than an hour. All wired backhaul for me though. If it supports mesh I'd expect it to be easy.

  • cpach 2 years ago

    AFAIK Eero doesn’t require any subscription!? I don’t have a subscription for my Eero nodes and they work fine.

    • tra3 2 years ago

      If you want more than basic functionality, you have to subscribe to eero plus: https://eero.com/eero-plus

      For me it’s telemetry mostly.