Anybody using Singtel Mesh?

[jonleelk]

Hi xiaofan,

I am now using Airties 4920 and looking to buy more nodes from Carousell to expand my coverage.

You used to own Airties? Deco M3 performs much better than Airties? Thanks

Be careful buying from Carousell. Airties are factory paired. Thus if u buy another factory paired Airties from Carousell, they cannot join your existing pairs to form one mesh (and u cannot factory reset to pre-paired status). U will end up with 2 different mesh.

Only if u buy single unpaired Airties, then u can pair it with your existing pair to form 1 mesh.

 

[jonleelk]

Better avoid any mesh solution from SingTel with the brand Airties/Askey.

You can probably check with SingTel whether they support the following for Singtel TV.
Netgear Orbi WiFi 6 Mesh AX4200 (RK752)

I will need 3 nodes to run an ethernet backhaul mesh, but need to connect 2 MIO STBs to 2 nodes (as the location of the STB only has 1 LAN point). 5 devices total, exceeding the 4 ports from the ONR.

Thus the Airties are quite ok, other than the not-so-fast 300 Mbps download speed. Only 1 SSID and ease of jumping between nodes is more important for my family.

 

[xiaofan]

I will need 3 nodes to run an ethernet backhaul mesh, but need to connect 2 MIO STBs to 2 nodes (as the location of the STB only has 1 LAN point). 5 devices total, exceeding the 4 ports from the ONR.

Thus the Airties are quite ok, other than the not-so-fast 300 Mbps download speed. Only 1 SSID and ease of jumping between nodes is more important for my family.

Yes Airties and Askey are okay in your case, since you can use Ethernet backhaul and need to support SingTel TV box.

The only alternative in your case is Netgear Orbi triband and the price is higher.

If it is just for the SingTel TV box, then you have cheaper solution by getting SingTel mesh router from Carousell at about S$30. But you are not getting mesh solution and may need different SSID.

Example:
ONR -- SingTel Mesh Router 1 in living room -- SingTel TV box 1 and other wired device or wireless device

ONR -- SingTel Mesh Router 2 in bedroom 1-- SingTel TV box 2 and other wired device or wireless device

ONR -- wired device in bedroom 2

ONR -- wired device in master room

 

[TheV]

Thanks for your detailed reply! Appreciate it.

I have Deco M4 but I am not using it now. I would not recommend Deco M3 though. I am using Asus RT-AX82U China version (set to Australia region) and it can cover the full flat.

In your case, since you already have Airties, then it is easier just to buy more units to expand the coverage.

Do you have LAN ports at home? If you can use Ethernet backhaul, then lower end dual band mesh system like the Airties/Askey can be used.

Main problem is that they are tied to SingTel and you are at the mercy of SingTel on the firmware updates. Lower end TP-Link Deco M4/M5 are better in this aspect. So unless you need wireless connection to SingTel TV box, do not get Airties/Askey in the first place.

For those who have to use wireless backhaul, in general, dual band mesh system may not be good, triband solutions (TP-Link Deco M9+, Netgear Orbi RBK50/RBK752/RBK852, etc) are recommended

 

[xiaofan]

...
Its a bloody nightmare......... dont use google WIFI with singtel.. i am trying now to find alternative.. maybe i will try Deco m5, since i Lan points in most room.. so can use the wire backhaul.

Any other suggestions?

In your case, yes you can use Deco M5.

Are you using SingTel ONR or ONT? Do you have SingTel TV box?

If using ONR, ONR will be the main router, you can set up Deco M5 in AP mode to avoid Double NAT. SingTel TV box should be connected to the ONR.
https://www.tp-link.com/sg/support/faq/1842/

If using ONT, it is not recommended to use the M5 as the main router because it has limited ports (technicaly you can do that and adding switches if you do not have SingTel TV box). You can use the SingTel provided router as the main router (you can disable its wifi) and again set up Deco in AP mode. SingTel TV box should be connected to the SingTel Router.

If you are using ONT, you can also choose to use better router like Asus RT-AX58U as the main router and add RT-AX56U as mesh unit. They are also working with the ONR but a bit wasted if used with ONR.

 

[chngz8]

Thanks Xiaofan. I dont have Singtel TV
So i went with M9 instead. bought the 3 pack. I did have to do the following set-up in order for the Wire backhaul to work.

ONR -> Deco M9 Router -> Switch -> Deco M9 Points.

When i have this set-up, all my Deco M9 wire backhaul works and viola............. fast internet everywhere.

But as you can imagine, considering the size of my house, I still have certain spot that can be better. So I need to add more points. I am wondering if i can save some money and buy M5 for additional points or should i stick to M9. I intend for to connect wire backhaul for all the points.

I am assuming M9 can work with M5

 

[xiaofan]

Thanks Xiaofan. I dont have Singtel TV
So i went with M9 instead. bought the 3 pack. I did have to do the following set-up in order for the Wire backhaul to work.

ONR -> Deco M9 Router -> Switch -> Deco M9 Points.

When i have this set-up, all my Deco M9 wire backhaul works and viola............. fast internet everywhere.

But as you can imagine, considering the size of my house, I still have certain spot that can be better. So I need to add more points. I am wondering if i can save some money and buy M5 for additional points or should i stick to M9. I intend for to connect wire backhaul for all the points.

I am assuming M9 can work with M5

Correct. You can use M5 together with M9+.

And indeed it is better to use M9+ as the main router compared to M5 as it has better CPU. But for the other mesh nodes, you can use M5 or even M4.

 

[chngz8]

Correct. You can use M5 together with M9+.

And indeed it is better to use M9+ as the main router compared to M5 as it has better CPU. But for the other mesh nodes, you can use M5 or even M4.

Thanks!

I need to upgrade my switch to 8 ports.. i am looking through the available TP-link switches.. any difference in them? Confuse.

https://www.challenger.com.sg/produ...LINK-TL-SG1008D-8-Port-Gigabit-Desktop-Switch

https://www.challenger.com.sg/produ...108GUN-LiteWave-8-Port-Gigabit-Desktop-Switch

https://www.challenger.com.sg/products/detail/6935364021856/TP-LINK-8-Port-Gigabit-Easy-Smart-Switch

 

[xiaofan]

Thanks!

I need to upgrade my switch to 8 ports.. i am looking through the available TP-link switches.. any difference in them? Confuse.

https://www.challenger.com.sg/produ...LINK-TL-SG1008D-8-Port-Gigabit-Desktop-Switch

https://www.challenger.com.sg/produ...108GUN-LiteWave-8-Port-Gigabit-Desktop-Switch

https://www.challenger.com.sg/products/detail/6935364021856/TP-LINK-8-Port-Gigabit-Easy-Smart-Switch

Last one is a smart switch with VLAN support and you do not need it.

This one (TL-SG108 dumb switch) should be good enough, metal housing is better for 24/7 operation
https://www.hachi.tech/biz-solution...t-101001000mbps-desktop-switch--6935364021153

 

[lancer6238]

I seem to be facing some dead Wifi zones in my HDB flat.

My Singtel AC Plus router is in my room, connected to my Singtel TV box via Ethernet. There are some issues connecting to the Wifi in my room, and the Wifi connectivity is very poor in the study and master bedroom.

• In my room where the router is, I usually have no problem on my tablet, Samsung S8 phone, TV and laptop. But my Mum's Samsung A12 phone sometimes cannot connect to the Wifi unless it's right next to the router, and even then, the signal is weak.

• In the study, Wifi connection to a Samsung tablet drops regularly.

• In the master bedroom, Wifi connection to another Samsung tablet is usually fine, but all 3 Samsung phones (A3, A12, S8) cannot connect to the Wifi at all (cannot find the network, though it can see many other networks outside of my flat).

I'm thinking of buying the Askey wifi mesh (tri-pack) to boost the Wifi connectivity - the main one connected to my router, and one mesh in the study and master bedroom each.

I'm looking for something cheap, simple and easy to setup, and need not be very advanced because I just need the Internet for things like Youtube and Facebook only, so need not be too high-speed. Can anyone advise if the Askey mesh could help with my poor Wifi connectivity situation?

 

[xiaofan]

You may want to post your floor plan. One critical question is whether you have LAN ports in the rooms. If yes, Askey can be an okay solution. If not the placement can be challenging depending on the floor plan.

 

[jonleelk]

Yes Airties and Askey are okay in your case, since you can use Ethernet backhaul and need to support SingTel TV box.

The only alternative in your case is Netgear Orbi triband and the price is higher.

New AX product from Netgear that is more affordable and supports MioTV.

https://netgearstore.sg/collections...bi-rbk353-wifi-6-dual-band-mesh-system-ax1800

 

[xiaofan]

New AX product from Netgear that is more affordable and supports MioTV.

https://netgearstore.sg/collections...bi-rbk353-wifi-6-dual-band-mesh-system-ax1800

Nice updates.
https://netgearstore.sg/blogs/news/orbi-singtel-tv-vlan-tag

It seems to all the Netgear Orbit mesh solutions support SingTel TV, including ONT case and ONR case.

For ONT users, VLAN needs to be set up. From the diagram, only one SingTel TV box is supported through the Orbi router.

For ONR users, Orbi needs to be in AP mode to avoid Double NAT and to work with SingTel TV. Good thing is that it supports one or more SingTel TV boxes through both Orbi Router and Satellite. And SingTel TV box can also be connected to the ONR.

 

[lancer6238]

You may want to post your floor plan. One critical question is whether you have LAN ports in the rooms. If yes, Askey can be an okay solution. If not the placement can be challenging depending on the floor plan.

Unfortunately, there are no LAN ports in the other rooms.

My place is similar to the floor plan below. My router/singtel tv is where the red dot is, and the purple shaded areas are where the poor wifi coverage is. Is the poor wifi coverage because the areas are too far from the router? Would Askey be sufficient?

 

[rAcEr]

Actually you might wanna consider getting a gigabit powerline kit to solve this issue. I recently installed it for my wife's parents and it works very well to eliminate the blindspots. We tried Askey but without wired LAN backhaul the speeds were still slow.

https://www.hachi.tech/biz-solution...ine-ac-wi-fi-kit-tl-wpa8630kit--6935364093648

You will need to buy two kits (one adaptor without the WiFi antennas is redundant and can be kept as spare).

 

[rAcEr]

Alternately buy a next gen WiFi 6 router to replace the AC Plus. But that will be more expensive perhaps the Asus rt-ax58u?

 

[lancer6238]

Actually you might wanna consider getting a gigabit powerline kit to solve this issue. I recently installed it for my wife's parents and it works very well to eliminate the blindspots. We tried Askey but without wired LAN backhaul the speeds were still slow.

https://www.hachi.tech/biz-solution...ine-ac-wi-fi-kit-tl-wpa8630kit--6935364093648

You will need to buy two kits (one adaptor without the WiFi antennas is redundant and can be kept as spare).

Alternately buy a next gen WiFi 6 router to replace the AC Plus. But that will be more expensive perhaps the Asus rt-ax58u?

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll take a look at them.

 

[xiaofan]

Unfortunately, there are no LAN ports in the other rooms.

My place is similar to the floor plan below. My router/singtel tv is where the red dot is, and the purple shaded areas are where the poor wifi coverage is. Is the poor wifi coverage because the areas are too far from the router? Would Askey be sufficient?

Looks like your router location and the walls (most likely thick and concrete walls) are causing the wifi coverage problems.

Askey with wireless backhaul will be difficult to sort out the issue. If you have the mesh node outside of bedroom 2 it may improve the wireless coverage but no guarantee it will sort out the issues.

The best is to bite the bullet and get LAN ports in the master room and living room.

If not powerline kit or powerline based mesh (eg: TP-Link Deco P7) can be used, the speed will not be great (most likely around 100-250Mbps) but at least that is good enough for most of the wireless clients.

Upgrade the router may help a bit but it is difficult for a single router because the location of the router is pretty bad.

 

[20kjinsatki]

The askey mesh is trash. Can't reach the place I want it to

 

[rAcEr]

The askey mesh is trash. Can't reach the place I want it to

Well considering it is one of the cheapest mesh wifi kits u can buy - u get what u pay for lah. it works well for me cos i have wired LAN backhaul