Current Best Value Vs Features Mesh Routers

gromit on 17/06/2025 - 19:02
Last edited 17/06/2025 - 20:04 by 1 other user

So long story short, I was an idiot and bought the Amazon Eero pro 6E mesh earlier this year when they were on sale without doing research (seemed good idea at time). despite its rather so so range it has been ok until you actually need to diag any network issues, then the word pro in its name is there purely to mock you as anything beyond basic features requires an additional subscription and you can only admin it from a phone etc (no web interface). warning to others, avoid this garbage if you want more than basic features and even then it is way overpriced for basic features.

So thinking I have to bite the bullet and ditch this garbage and write it off as a bad investment. What is the best value for money vs features at the moment, I need to be able to see traffic stats, system logs, QoS, dyn DNS etc etc. decent performance (without breaking the bank)

Computing Mesh Network Wireless Router

Comments

  • pinchies on 17/06/2025 - 19:24

    I don't know if I am missing something, but I'm still so very contented with my multiple Netgear R7000/R8000 routers running Fresh Tomato Firmware, using them configured both as routers and as bare AP's. Ethernet backhaul to the main router is always best for performance compared to mesh, but I understand that it can be hard to run ethernet around the place in some houses. These routers are usually $50-60 on marketplace second hand.

    • gromit on 17/06/2025 - 23:39

      In an old brick house that i am renting, ethernet backhaul is not an option. New house will be full cat 6, but till then i need wifi with good advanced features.

    • LanceVance on 18/06/2025 - 20:32

      I have a Netgear R7000 that does the job perfectly. I'm not doing anything fancy with it and don't plan to be. Is there any benefit of shifting to the Fresh Tomato firmware?

      • pinchies on 20/06/2025 - 13:12

        If there's no problem — don't touch it :-P.

        I found some of the Netgear firmware(s) to be flakey on wifi. Some firmware versions seemed better than others, but the latest versions in particular gave me some intermittent issues with internet connectivity. I have had better reliability with the Fresh Tomato firmware, as well as more powerful features, and better logging / statistics.

    • StingyMan on 20/06/2025 - 10:19

      Do your devices switch between the networks seamlessly and have you configured anything to help them roam? I was thinking of doing something similar OpenWRT with ethernet backhaul but setting up all the roaming settings seemed like a lot of work.

  • 87percent on 17/06/2025 - 19:25

    Currently have 1st gen Google Wifi with 2 additional pucks. But I’m looking at the Asus AX86U Pro AX5700 as a replacement

  • Guybrush57 on 17/06/2025 - 19:35
    +1

    I have an Eero Max 7. $1200 for rhe most basic run of the mill router. 25Mbps Wi-Fi on 1Gbps FTTP. I can't even disable 2.4GHz or do anything to increase the speed. Even more basic features are locked behind a paywall.

    Don't buy an eero.

    • gromit on 17/06/2025 - 23:34
      +1

      Yep same mistake i made. Eero are shit and make no sense for advanced or basic setup.

      • Guybrush57 on 18/06/2025 - 10:45

        Have a +1. I got mine through Leaptel at a 50% discount so it was actually $600 but it was an impulse buy without research because I thought hey if it's normally $1200 then it's gotta be damn good. I felt so stupid after I realised just how poor it is.

        • gromit on 18/06/2025 - 18:35

          Think i paid 800, but yeah i felt like anidiot within a few days of realising how crap they are. Hell u even need to have a working internet connection before you can configure my model, it is just insane.

          • Guybrush57 on 18/06/2025 - 19:34

            @gromit: Yeah and the requirement for an app instead of a web interface sucks too. I feel somewhat better knowing someone else out there is in the same boat.

  • Twix on 17/06/2025 - 20:03

    The majority of mesh routers lack the more advanced networking settings and web login. Look at Asus, Ubiquiti or a mini PC with a router OS of your choice.

    1. How fast is your nbn plan?
    2. How much do you want to spend?
    • gromit on 17/06/2025 - 23:35

      Nbn is 250/50. But ucally even shi t routers can easily handle that speed nowadays. Absolute max is $1000 but prefer less

      • Twix on 18/06/2025 - 21:26

        Here is the Asus UI.

        Asus RT-BE86U (Wi-Fi 7, no 6GHz).
        Asus RT-BE88U (Wi-Fi 7, no 6GHz).
        Asus RT-BE92U (Wi-Fi 7 and 6GHz).

        Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Ultra + Ubiquiti wireless access point(s).
        Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Max + Ubiquiti wireless access point(s).
        Ubiquiti Cloud Gateway Fibre (UCGF doesn't replace the nbn NTD box) + Ubiquiti wireless access point(s).
        Ubiquiti UniFi Express 7 10G Cloud Gateway (built-in Wi-Fi 7 and 6GHz).
        Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Router 7 (built-in Wi-Fi 7 and 6GHz).

        Note: you may need a Ubiquiti PoE switch or injector for the wireless access point(s).

        Compare Ubiquiti Cloud Gateways here and here is UniFi Network 9.1.

        I'm not up to date with mini PC specs however you can load pfSense or OPNsense router OS + wireless access point(s).

        Does the new home have nbn FTTP?

      • peteru on 19/06/2025 - 00:38

        With that budget, the Ubiquiti gear that I list further down should cover you. POE+ or WiFi backhaul in the rental and once you get to your new place, you'll hopefully have wiring throughout and can place additional U7 Pros as/if required. If you are rebuilding, start planning the cabling now, before the sparky arrives on site. Remember, it's better to pre-cable more locations and not use the infrastructure, then need it and not be able to get there without ripping up new walls. Don't cheap out on the cabling, make sure that it'll be good enough for 10GigE.

        Good luck with it!

        • gromit on 21/06/2025 - 11:18

          Not a big fan of the ubiquiti gear. It is good but way overpriced for what it is, their bottom end stuff under performs while the top end stuff is just a little too pricey to justify.

  • 7ekn00 on 17/06/2025 - 20:08
    +1

    The ASUS Mesh is crazy good, easy and stable! Load up Merlin firmware and they are perfect (set and forget - I haven't had to tinker for over 12 months)!

    I would suggest the 86U variant as the boss (where your internet enters the premise) and 68U's as the mesh extenders …
    (I run ethernet backhaul cables to each of the AIMesh nodes)

    Not sure what the AX (WiFi 6) or BE (WiFi 7) variants are the same!

    AX86U here: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/910923

    • gromit on 17/06/2025 - 23:37

      I cant run ethernet backhaul. In a rental till new build is complete, at least another 10 months.

      • 7ekn00 on 17/06/2025 - 23:44
        +1

        Works fine over WiFi too, just limits bandwidth a bit more :P

    • peteru on 19/06/2025 - 00:50

      The Asus solutions are hit and miss. Merlin is definitely an improvement over stock firmware - almost a must. However, WiFi performance will very much depend on the exact model. Some work great, others are WiFi yo-yos. Up-down-up-down. Still down.

      If you do a lot of torrenting or run any externally accessible servers, pay attention to the amount of RAM on the Asus router and the maximum NAT/firewall table sizes. I've had to tweak the configuration on my Asus router running Merlin because long lived ssh sessions (days) would get dropped when the network got busy. Even with keep alives.

  • soan papdi on 17/06/2025 - 20:28
    +3

    I'm a fan of TP-LInk. Cheap and long lasting. My Deco S4 has been very good for 3+ years now, no plans to replace it any time soon. There are newer faster models now

  • SwagGetterPro on 17/06/2025 - 20:41

    I recently had the same question recently, then got the Deco XE75 and have no ragrets

    • Shoocat on 17/06/2025 - 22:56
      +1

      As a counterpoint, I have the XE75 and have nothing but regrets.

      Poor stability, very slow handoff to different satellites, satellites randomly going offline.

      Really regret purchasing it.

      • SwagGetterPro on 18/06/2025 - 00:09

        Mines been fine, but I've read people recommending to set up one main node first and turn off any other existing wifi. Have you tried that?

        • Shoocat on 18/06/2025 - 17:40

          Thanks, unfortunately I've tried that with no success. Also tried a factory reset after installing the latest firmware.

          Might just have a dodgy set, but from a Google search it seems others have the same stability issues as me.

    • life is suffering on 18/06/2025 - 10:57

      No ragrets huh ?

  • Boioioioi on 18/06/2025 - 09:04
    +2

    TP Link mesh has similar issues - I hated it and returned them. Only manage through app, web interface can do barely anything. App does have more settings but its pretty frustrating for an advanced user.

  • peteru on 19/06/2025 - 00:27
    +2

    If you want "Pro" then Ubiquiti gear is the way to go. Sure, it may cost a bit more than the typical Netgear or TP-Link, but you buy once and you get everything you need to last you for at least the next two iterations of tech upgrades. Most importantly, you get gear that is configurable and manageable.

    I've been using Netgear Orbi since before they went on sale in Australia and most of the upgrades since then (many other Netgear products too). Orbi went from very good to OK, but they have been dumbing down their firmware over the years and forcing you to use apps and pushing cloud subscriptions. They lost me at around the time they introduced the WiFi-6e range of Orbi. And that's saying something, since I've been getting Netgear stuff for free for the last two decades, being a beta tester.

    I still use the Orbi mesh network in AP mode, but for the routing I use a Ubiquiti Edgerouter and for DNS/DHCP/Servers a Linux Gentoo box.

    If I was buying a new router today, I'd go for Cloud Gateway Fiber UCG-Fiber. For WiFi mesh, I'd hook up a few U7 Pro XGS or U7 Pro Max. That configuration will outpace any NBN connection speed that you will be able to get for the next few years as you get 10GigE WAN port and IDS throughput of 5Gbps. WiFi should be good enough to stream 8k BRAW video from a camera, if you are inclined to play with such things. Certainly good enough for a bunch of Netflix UHD or Amazon UHD Dolby Vision streams.

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