upstatemike
Senior Member
I am having enough Network/Wi-Fi issues lately that I am looking to upgrade but I am not sure what the best strategy would be.
Current environment: PepLink Balance 20 router with 2 WAN connections. 4 Engenius dual band APs plus various gigabit unmanaged switches.
Problems:
1 The DHCP server on the PepLink sometimes stops giving out addresses. I have to reboot the router to fix it. This is a recent development.
2 Home Automation devices that are Wi-Fi connected to the nearest AP will switch to a more distant one if the nearest AP reboots or otherwise goes offline (this is good). Once the nearest AP comes back online most of these devices will NOT switch back but rather will continue to cling to the marginal distant signal and ignore the closer AP(this is bad).
Solution requirements:
1 Need a router that does not need to be rebooted regularly. Would like a 2+ year continuous operation between boots.
2 Need a way to ensure all devices will actively change their connections to the strongest signal.
3 Need to maintain my multi-WAN failover functionality.
4 Need to reserve approximately 170 IP addresses (all existing devices) so only guests get random addresses from the server.
5 A way to monitor Wi-Fi so I can verify connection quality and troubleshoot issues. Ideal tool would show all wireless connected devices and all APs within range of each device with a signal strength indication for each AP the device can see. The AP the device is currently using should be highlighted somehow so I can confirm that the strongest signal is the one being used by the device.
Am I looking at just upgrading my router and/or APs? Or do I need to look at one of these mesh network systems (assuming they support multi-WAN)?
Current environment: PepLink Balance 20 router with 2 WAN connections. 4 Engenius dual band APs plus various gigabit unmanaged switches.
Problems:
1 The DHCP server on the PepLink sometimes stops giving out addresses. I have to reboot the router to fix it. This is a recent development.
2 Home Automation devices that are Wi-Fi connected to the nearest AP will switch to a more distant one if the nearest AP reboots or otherwise goes offline (this is good). Once the nearest AP comes back online most of these devices will NOT switch back but rather will continue to cling to the marginal distant signal and ignore the closer AP(this is bad).
Solution requirements:
1 Need a router that does not need to be rebooted regularly. Would like a 2+ year continuous operation between boots.
2 Need a way to ensure all devices will actively change their connections to the strongest signal.
3 Need to maintain my multi-WAN failover functionality.
4 Need to reserve approximately 170 IP addresses (all existing devices) so only guests get random addresses from the server.
5 A way to monitor Wi-Fi so I can verify connection quality and troubleshoot issues. Ideal tool would show all wireless connected devices and all APs within range of each device with a signal strength indication for each AP the device can see. The AP the device is currently using should be highlighted somehow so I can confirm that the strongest signal is the one being used by the device.
Am I looking at just upgrading my router and/or APs? Or do I need to look at one of these mesh network systems (assuming they support multi-WAN)?