Gigaport or 2.5Gbps port
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Gigaport or 2.5Gbps port
TP-Link fails to answer emails, live chat and phone calls, so looking for help. I am about to purchase XE-200, as its pricy, so I'm making sure how it will work. I got Virgin Media Hub 5, there are a total 4 ports, Gigabit ports x 3 and 2.5Gbps port x 1. So which port shall I connect to Deco XE-200, any of Gigaport or can I connect VM hub 2.5Gbps to 10Gbps port on XE200?
A) VM Hub 5, 2.5Gbsp port to XE200 10Gbps port?
or
B) VM Hub 5, 1Gbps port to XE200 1Gpbs port?
Thanks.
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The point of WiFi mesh is to have multiple nodes,each providing overlapping WiFi coverage with other nodes. So that your device can seamlessly roam between WiFi nodes, while you walk around the house. Because of that concept, it usually makes sense to buy/deploy more smaller nodes than less larger nodes.
Think about it that way: if you had 5 standalone WiFi routers and each had 20 WiFi devices connected to it, practically any even most inexpensive WiFi router can handle that many. Get instead 2 WiFi routers each with 50 devices connected to them which is same 100 in total, but now not every router can manage that.
If you decided on a budget for Deco mesh, and don't need 10Gbps speed, consider going with XE75 Pro for half the price, potentially deploying twice as many Deco nodes as if it were XE200 for that same price. It is if you can manage to connect approximately same number of WiFi devices to each Deco node - and that would depend on proper placement of WiFi mesh nodes.
Still, it is your choice. It is possible smaller number of XE200s will fit your needs just fine. Unfortunately, with remote conversation like ours, you wouldn't know until you try.
As for the total number of WiFi mesh nodes, ignore someone saying that three nodes will reduce speeds comparing to two. That is not correct, generally speaking.
My recommendation would be to start with one Deco node per floor, and that includes floor with Hub 5 - because you will have to turn off Hub5 WiFi. Deco mesh runs its own WiFi network.
If one node on the floor does not provide enough coverage where you need it - buy and add one more node. Keep doing it until you have coverage you want in every place you need. This applies to both XE200 and XE75 Pro.
The caveat with Deco specifically is not every Deco model is sold in single units. It appears, XE200 does but XE75 Pro does not. If you decided to go with XE75 Pro, the minimum order is 2-unit set. If your place is large enough, you can start with 2-unit Deco XE75 Pro and add another 2-unit set later if you need better cverage.
With XE200 - just get as many as you have floors, and add more later, one by one, if necessary.
You can mix XE200 and XE75 Pro in one Deco mesh. That gives you additional flexibility in deciding how many Deco and of what type you can deploy on a budget you have. In a mixed Deco mesh, XE200 must be Main Deco. If your house is two floors, you can start with 2 XE200 and if that happened to be woefully inadequate for good WiFi coverage, add pair of XE75 Pro.
Be ready to go above the budget. In my case, I started with 2 units and ended with 4. Mine Deco mesh is WiFi5, the coverage for 2.4Ghz was excellent everywhere with just two nodes, but I wanted good WiFi5 signal at every corner of my house and that required 2 more units.
Get yourself WiFi analyzer app on smartphone, I recommend WiFiman from ubiquiti. This will help to map WiFi coverage at every place of your house, so that you can decide if you need better coverage at specific places (office, for example) and if you must get another WiFi node to deliver that.
For Deco mesh specifically, I would recommend running it in Access Point mode. In that mode, basic network management (DHCP, DNS) is offloaded to ISP Router, Hub 5 in your case, while Deco hardware dedicates all its resources to provide WiFi coverage.
More about it here: What’s the difference between Access Point mode and Router mode on the Deco? and here: How to set up Deco to work in Access Point mode
Finally, if you can hardwire Satellite Deco nodes, and directly to Hub 5 bypassing Main Deco which is an option with Deco in Access Point mode, that would improve performance of your Deco mesh even more.
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Which_Port wrote
Besides reading your msg and running the Deco on Access Point mode, I still have no idea what this is, but I gonna read more to understand further. What I understand, I will have to turn my Virgin Media hub 5 from Router mode to Modem mode and then my Deco wifi will perform better.
It is opposite, actually. You will keep Virgin Media hub 5 in its current Router mode. The only configuration change you will need to do on Virgin Media hub 5 is turn off its WiFi.
After you have Deco mesh up and running, you will configure Deco mesh to run in Access Point mode.
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@Alexandre. Thanks.
1GB by Virgin Media (and as per the spec listed its 1100Mbps downloads and 100Mbps uploads)
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Then, the answer is: VM Hub 5, 1Gbps port to XE200 1Gpbs port.
I have follow up question: why XE200? It is an expensive piece of WiFi 6E equipment, which is an overkill for gigabit Internet link. Less expensive WiFi 6 Deco mesh can handle such speeds.
Also, your Virgin Hub is WiFi6 already.
Even if you want WiFi 6E, there may be different Deco model that is probably less expensive and better fit with your Virgin Hub 2.5Gbps Ethernet port.
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That is a million-dollar question and let me give you a detailed reply.
I moved to the UK a year ago and still working for a Singapore-based firm, due to my work nature, I need very high-speed internet. Virgin Media Hub 5 does support Wi-Fi 6 but its very bad on the 2nd floor and some other parts of the home especially at my working desk. Plus, we have around 100 WiFi smart devices such as lights, thermostats etc..and VM Hub5 cannot handle it, if we connect around 30 devices the connection drops. The most annoying is our iPhone, if we go out and come back home, it shows connected to the wifi but there is no connection, and once we disconnect some wifi devices, wifi will be back on our phones. After watching dozens of YouTube videos, discussing with some folks, and talking to the Virgin Media technician, the best solution is Mesh WiFi (the PowerLine plug was not ideal).
Why I go for XE200. I spent a few days (almost one week) searching for which system should i go for which can be stable and long-lasting. And after all the search, I narrow down 4 models
Netgear Orbi 800 Series : Wifi 6
Netgear Orbi 900 Series : Wif 6 E
TP-Link XE75 Pro : Wifi 6 E
TP-Link XE200 : Wifi 6 E
The reason I finally selected XE200 is because
A) Netgear is just out of reach (Or I don't want to spend too much)
B) XE200 got 16 Antennas (XE75 Pro only 6 I guess)
C) XE200 got 2.2 Ghz Processor (XE75 Pro got 1.7Ghz)
D) Spec of XE200 is equal to or more than the Netgear 900 series but almost half of the price
E) and number of other options which are better on XE200 as compared to XE75 Pro
Having said that, if the XE75-Pro or any other model is as good as XE200 then, yes, sure, I will go for that. XE75Pro is almost half of the price of XE200.
(and pls note, 2 weeks ago, my knowledge on Mesh wifi system was almost zero)
May I ask which model you are referring to that will be more suitable for VM Hub 5 2.5Gbps port ?
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You did your research, which is great.
With gigabit Internet you have now, there is no issue whatever Deco model you are going to choose. If you plan to upgrade Internet speed later, that may create an issue.
The issue is: when device with 10Gbps port connects to router/switch with 2.5Gbps port, they will (usually) negotiate only gigabit speed. One might think the speed will be 2.5Gbps, but 2.5Gbps is an unlowed child of Ethernet networking. Standard is 100/gigabit/10 gig.
10Gbps Ethernet port might just not support 2.5Gbps and, because of that, will drop to gigabit which both sides do support.
Based on that, these are scenario for you to consider:
1. You plan to keep gigabit Internet speed for years to come. No problem whatsoever with any Deco model you choose.
2. You plan to upgrade Internet speed to 2-3Gbps, while keeping Virgin Media Hub 5. In that case, you must have Deco with 2.5GBps Ethernet port, such as XE75 Pro, and connect its 2.5Gbps port to Virgin Media Hub 5 2.5Gbps port.
3. You plan to upgrade Internet speed to 2-3Gbps and beyond, and your ISP will replace Hub 5 with another router/gateway, the one that has 10Gbps Ethernet port. In that case, you should buy Deco such as XE200, with 10Gbps Ethernet port.
-------------------
A bit later I'll write another reply here with recommendations on how to deploy and configure Deco mesh. These recommendations will be general enough to be applicable to any brand of WiFi mesh.
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@Alexandre. wonderful, very very helpful.
one more question sorry, some suggest going with 2 nods only, as adding 3 nodes may reduce the speed. What you will say ? 2 nods set or 3 nods set ?
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The point of WiFi mesh is to have multiple nodes,each providing overlapping WiFi coverage with other nodes. So that your device can seamlessly roam between WiFi nodes, while you walk around the house. Because of that concept, it usually makes sense to buy/deploy more smaller nodes than less larger nodes.
Think about it that way: if you had 5 standalone WiFi routers and each had 20 WiFi devices connected to it, practically any even most inexpensive WiFi router can handle that many. Get instead 2 WiFi routers each with 50 devices connected to them which is same 100 in total, but now not every router can manage that.
If you decided on a budget for Deco mesh, and don't need 10Gbps speed, consider going with XE75 Pro for half the price, potentially deploying twice as many Deco nodes as if it were XE200 for that same price. It is if you can manage to connect approximately same number of WiFi devices to each Deco node - and that would depend on proper placement of WiFi mesh nodes.
Still, it is your choice. It is possible smaller number of XE200s will fit your needs just fine. Unfortunately, with remote conversation like ours, you wouldn't know until you try.
As for the total number of WiFi mesh nodes, ignore someone saying that three nodes will reduce speeds comparing to two. That is not correct, generally speaking.
My recommendation would be to start with one Deco node per floor, and that includes floor with Hub 5 - because you will have to turn off Hub5 WiFi. Deco mesh runs its own WiFi network.
If one node on the floor does not provide enough coverage where you need it - buy and add one more node. Keep doing it until you have coverage you want in every place you need. This applies to both XE200 and XE75 Pro.
The caveat with Deco specifically is not every Deco model is sold in single units. It appears, XE200 does but XE75 Pro does not. If you decided to go with XE75 Pro, the minimum order is 2-unit set. If your place is large enough, you can start with 2-unit Deco XE75 Pro and add another 2-unit set later if you need better cverage.
With XE200 - just get as many as you have floors, and add more later, one by one, if necessary.
You can mix XE200 and XE75 Pro in one Deco mesh. That gives you additional flexibility in deciding how many Deco and of what type you can deploy on a budget you have. In a mixed Deco mesh, XE200 must be Main Deco. If your house is two floors, you can start with 2 XE200 and if that happened to be woefully inadequate for good WiFi coverage, add pair of XE75 Pro.
Be ready to go above the budget. In my case, I started with 2 units and ended with 4. Mine Deco mesh is WiFi5, the coverage for 2.4Ghz was excellent everywhere with just two nodes, but I wanted good WiFi5 signal at every corner of my house and that required 2 more units.
Get yourself WiFi analyzer app on smartphone, I recommend WiFiman from ubiquiti. This will help to map WiFi coverage at every place of your house, so that you can decide if you need better coverage at specific places (office, for example) and if you must get another WiFi node to deliver that.
For Deco mesh specifically, I would recommend running it in Access Point mode. In that mode, basic network management (DHCP, DNS) is offloaded to ISP Router, Hub 5 in your case, while Deco hardware dedicates all its resources to provide WiFi coverage.
More about it here: What’s the difference between Access Point mode and Router mode on the Deco? and here: How to set up Deco to work in Access Point mode
Finally, if you can hardwire Satellite Deco nodes, and directly to Hub 5 bypassing Main Deco which is an option with Deco in Access Point mode, that would improve performance of your Deco mesh even more.
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wow. ok, I am gonna post this on my Facebook page, anyone who planning to adopt Mesh wifi, or struggling to understand it, should read this.
I think I am gonna go with XE75 pro, with 3 nods pack. I got a double-story house (G Floor, 1st and 2nd Floor) and I will connect VM Hub 5 (2.5g to 2.5g port) and keep the main Satellite near Hub 5 (on G floor) and then each floor 1 nod.
Besides reading your msg and running the Deco on Access Point mode, I still have no idea what this is, but I gonna read more to understand further. What I understand, I will have to turn my Virgin Media hub 5 from Router mode to Modem mode and then my Deco wifi will perform better.
Ordering XE 75 Pro now and meanwhile, I will read further on how to set up as Access Point Mode.
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Which_Port wrote
Besides reading your msg and running the Deco on Access Point mode, I still have no idea what this is, but I gonna read more to understand further. What I understand, I will have to turn my Virgin Media hub 5 from Router mode to Modem mode and then my Deco wifi will perform better.
It is opposite, actually. You will keep Virgin Media hub 5 in its current Router mode. The only configuration change you will need to do on Virgin Media hub 5 is turn off its WiFi.
After you have Deco mesh up and running, you will configure Deco mesh to run in Access Point mode.
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@Alexandre. ok, I think I am all set now. Look, I have no words for your help. amazing.
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