Is The Tenda Nova MW6 Suitable for ABB Gigabit Plans?

TheAccountant on 19/09/2020 - 10:53
Last edited 19/09/2020 - 12:27 by 1 other user

Hi everyone,

A family member recently moved house and signed up to Aussie Broadband's (ABB) 1000/50 FTTP NBN plan.

I've purchased the Tenda MW6 for them based off of seeing a lot of posts on OzBargain recently. However I'm wondering if the MW6 is suitable for gigabit NBN or if there's something I need to know. Can it handle the speeds?

Since it's FTTP, I'm planning on connecting the MW6 directly to to NBN NTD at the Front of the house and then setting up another mesh point in the living area closer to the rear of the house. I'm also assuming they will have about 10-20 devices on WiFi most of the time and require 4K streaming on 3 TVs.

Can anyone with a bit more knowledge comment on whether this device is suitable for gigabit or if I need something more expensive like the Nest Wifi that ABB provides?

Thanks in advance

Internet Mesh Network Tenda Wireless Router

Comments

  • stratbargain on 19/09/2020 - 11:03
    +2

    The MW6 is gigabit so should be fine but the wifi link between nodes won't be super quick. And I'm not sure the processor will handle the full 1000mb. If you can hardwire each node then it will probably give a much better experience.

    One thing I find about the MW6 mesh units is my device will often get stuck on a slower node rather than the hard wired one that is closer to me which can drop my speed.

    I guess it all depends on your budget though.

    I've recently purchase the TPLink Deco M9 hoping for a bit of a better experience.

    • TheAccountant on 19/09/2020 - 11:40

      Thanks for the help. The house has a few Cat5e points so I'll most likely set up the satellites using ethernet.

      I'm thinking I'll give the MW6 a go based off of what you've said and look into upgrades in a few months based on real life usage.

      What made you decided to get the deco m9 besides the connection issues on the MW6? Also if you don't mind me asking, what is your connection speed and how many mesh points were you using with the MW6?

  • Twix on 19/09/2020 - 11:46
    +1

    Not really. Here is a Tenda Nova MW6 review with Gigabit speedtest results.

    A router with a 1G WAN port alone is not enough to max out Gigabit speeds. At minimum the CPU should be a dual core or ideally a quad core CPU. At minimum 256MB RAM or ideally 512MB or more RAM. For best wifi results you want the router and your devices to have wifi 6.

    Tenda Nova MW6

    CPU - single core 1Ghz.
    RAM - 128MB.
    Ethernet - maximum of around 700Mbps.
    Wifi - up to around 400Mbps.

    Nest wifi

    CPU - quad core 1.4Ghz.
    RAM - 1GB.
    Ethernet - maximum of around 920Mbps.
    Wifi - up to around 650Mbps.

    • TheAccountant on 19/09/2020 - 12:10
      +1

      Thanks for that. Seems like the Nest Wifi is a better device all around but at 3x the price of the Tenda + one satellite. Do you have any recommendations for a middle ground? The Deco m5 seems to be in a similar price range with a quad core CPU and 512 mb ram

      • Twix on 19/09/2020 - 12:24
        +1

        Yeah Deco M5 for mid ground.

        Ethernet - around 850Mbps.
        Wifi - up to around 460Mbps.

  • scrimshaw on 19/09/2020 - 12:01
    +3

    It's actually too low-end and the WAN-to-LAN speed for it is likely going to be hamstrung by it's rather weak processor. It runs Realtek RTL8197FS (1ghz, single core) with 128 MB of RAM

    Deco M5 has Qualcomm IPQ4019 quad core CPU and 512MB of RAM…
    Google Nest Wifi has 1.4ghz quad core and even more RAM at 1GB (for Router) and 768MB (for nodes)

    read the Wiki page for suitable modems for Gigabit NBN on Whirlpool to get some ideas on what to buy
    https://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/suitable_modems_routers_for_gi…

    • TheAccountant on 19/09/2020 - 12:22
      +1

      Funny that they're still recommending the R7000. I used to have one back in 2012-2013 when we got FTTP 100/40 at my old address. Unfortunately I messed around too much when flashing openwrt and wrecked it.

      Thanks for your recommendation. I think based on your's and Twix's suggestions and i might cancel my Tenda order and buy the Deco M5 instead. Should hold them through while I do more research/look into the whirlpool recommendations.

  • Baa on 19/09/2020 - 12:55
    +1

    I have found the Tenda to be rather underwhelming, lots of issues with nodes dropping out and not reconnecting without restarting the nodes.

    I had better performance on my R7000 in terms of stability, and the Tenda barely solves the issue I bought it for which was to provide faster connection speed to the far corners of my house.

    Tinkering with the settings has made it better, but still not anywhere near perfect.

    I will likely upgrade to a better product at some point myself.

    • TheAccountant on 19/09/2020 - 13:20

      Thanks for sharing. I've cancelled my MW6 order and bought the Deco M5 instead. Let me know if you want me to run any tests on it when I have it set up so you can see if it fits your needs.

      • stratbargain on 19/09/2020 - 13:46
        +3

        Just FYI if you can get goodguys commercial access… they have some good prices on Deco gear

        2X Deco M9 = $243
        2X Deco M4 = $122
        2x Deco X20 = $243
        3X Deco X60 = $455
        3X Google Nest = $393

        $8 postage

  • Magus on 22/09/2020 - 20:51
    +1

    The M5 and M9 are interchangeable, so you can get a M9 later to improve performance. Once you add a few routing rules, the light processors slow dramatically.

    Sadly stuck on 25Mbps, with 4G the only hope of improvement..

    • TheAccountant on 23/09/2020 - 08:28

      That's good to know. I think it will be fine for their usage now but when they eventually do smart lights, etc I'll probably get the M9.

      Regarding speeds, they moved into a new build that's serviced by Opticomm. 4G coverage is bad in their estate and the NBN doesn't show any planned builds in their area so they're thrilled to have any sort of fibre. Seems like Opticomm is better anyways.

      • Twix on 23/09/2020 - 20:52

        NBN won't install FTTP if the estate developer has chosen Opticomm FTTP. Opticomm is fast in some estates and at times slows down a lot in some estates. NBN FTTP is much better.

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