A client has two Apple Airport Express WAPs for their entire office.

If they want to extend to the areas with weaker WiFi, what is a good extender to use with their network? They have 29 devices connected to WiFi (computers, phones, tablets... the usual).

NetSpot Enterprise image below:


Thanks for any insights. If they need a more robust business mesh network, we may recommend that instead.

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Week or Ubiquity

Thanks for helping me find NetSpot
From the website--the free trial is neutered-Using the Mac App Store yields a nice nice for my personal use.
Great way to show distance differences 2.4 vs 5GHz
NetSpot
[itunes.apple.com]

Or the more robust NetSpot Reporter for $39.99
[itunes.apple.com]

I dumped my Airport setup (2 time capsules, 3 Airport Extreme) in favor of a Netgear Orbi top of the line system a month ago. Not looking back, I don't have to figure out what Airport has stopped responding and chase it down anymore..... they were getting old.

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Good Luck!
Jamie Dresser
Other World Computing

[www.amazon.com]

Looking at this now, thanks

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I second the recommendation for an Orbi-based mesh network. For a floor layout that size, you are looking at needing one base unit and two or three satellite units.

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It is what it is.

Thanks - you can see that this reviewer used NetSpot, it's a cool tool.

[arstechnica.com]

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Thankful for this post. Jaime... I am also ready to dump my apple system (Time Capsule and few extremes) because of drops. But it's overwhelming the choices. Jaime, what system did you settle on?

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Jamie,

What about the Orbi Pro system, and why all the awful reviews here:
[www.amazon.com]

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I'll 2nd Ubiquiti

Quote
OWC Jamie
I dumped my Airport setup (2 time capsules, 3 Airport Extreme) in favor of a Netgear Orbi top of the line system a month ago. Not looking back, I don't have to figure out what Airport has stopped responding and chase it down anymore..... they were getting old.

What did you use to emulate/replace the "NAS" wireless Time Capsule back up for Laptops?

Quote
decay
Thanks - you can see that this reviewer used NetSpot, it's a cool tool.

[arstechnica.com]

Oh wow, I used to enjoy tinkering more than I currently do. I'm glad I'm down to one wifi point. Will probably get a mesh setup when we get a new place.

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I had an early model Orbi 3 pack from Costco. It worked great for the first year, but then after a few firmware updates, the system started getting flaky with my Macs & iPhones. There were many complaints about this on their forums.

I sold the units on eBay noting this and switched over to Eero 3 unit mesh system. It has been rock stable.

Forget the Orbi Pro line - unnecessary.

Just look at the Orbi AC3000 (although AC2200 would be fine, as well) and 2-3 satellites, as mentioned before.

They did just announce the newest Orbi's with 802.11ax/WiFi 6 model, but it won't be out until the second half of the year.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2019 02:33PM by onthedownlow.

iPad friendly resize. (The office should really be wired with Ethernet.)

Quote
decay
NetSpot Enterprise image below:

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

.....so rub those orbs.....the wrong way.....

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I reject your reality and substitute my own!

Quote
Speedy
iPad friendly resize. (The office should really be wired with Ethernet.)

I concur, but that's a different discussion.

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It is what it is.

Haven’t used orb, but I like the Google Meshsetup from Costco/Bestbuy, set that up at my SIL house. At my house we have ASUS dual band router and a couple of Linksys repeaters. Both setups work for multiple devices.
Have a couple of Apple Airport Routers in the closet.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/09/2019 08:24PM by Carm.

They really should replace and hard wire all the APs. Buy ones with POE and ceiling mount them and place the third one in the center of the Ex. Open Office. Should be able to find an enterprise grade POE switch for relatively cheap. A NetGear Prosafe would work.

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C(-)ris
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Throwback Thursday Signature:

Any desktop Mac is wired, wherever possible. I always push for wired connections over wireless.

Laptops are another story. We do push for dongles & cables.

POE and access points are a good idea.
These look good (Ubiquiti)
[unifi-hd.ubnt.com]

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OP does not mention budget so, the least expensive solution seems another airport express located near the left side exit.
That said, add me to the list of Happy Orbi users.
I’ve only had the AC2200 for a week or so, but I already know that if this thing goes down, I’m getting another.
I have WiFi in places I’ve never thought it would reach.
Thanks s-t, for the lightning deal tip!

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• back to confinement

Carm,

I just put together a Google WIFI Mesh setup for someone. Easy to set up the hardware. However, it has one serious flaw.

If you have a combination modem/router from your ISP, the Google WIFI will create a double NAT situation. That's an issue. You _cannot_ put the Google WIFI into access point (AP) mode. You can either live with the double NAT situation, which isn't recommended or put your modem/router into AP mode. I doubt the average person who is just looking to have a much better wifi network in his/her home is going to know how to change the setting on the modem. That and the ISP ain't going to like seeing people muck with it.

The Netgear Orbi doesn't suffer from this flaw. You can use it as a full-scale router or you can put the Orbi system into AP mode. The one in my apartment is in AP mode and is just dandy. With two satellites, the coverage and speeds are nothing short of astonishing.

Robert

I don't know budget at this stage - I am gathering info and experiences from valued people like yourselves.

Obviously, lower cost is ideal, but they are established and doing well enough that a reasonable proposal wouldn't likely be shot down. The goal would be best performance for money spent, and not a ton of ongoing caregiving.

Meraki was brought up by one of our team members, and Apple is working with them, but hardware plus subscription model puts them up in the higher cost bracket. I'm sure they're worth it, but possibly overkill in this case.

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If the AE located bottom center is moved to the lobby, even in the reception desk, dispersion will be better.

I understand that the Orbi could be controlled from anywhere with internet access, if you create an account with Netgear.
I didn’t bother because, to renew my tin foil hat club membership, I assumed that #They... want my floor plan to sell it to the highest bidder. I also had to turn off the location access twice for the orbi iOS app.
Edit: the app requested access to my camera too (?)

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• back to confinement






Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2019 06:41PM by rich in distress.