If you can run cables I suggest looking into Ubiquity APs. At the moment I have a basic CenturyLink router and added the Ubiquity AP and it works great with it. Eventually I’ll setup an entire Ubiquity managed network but they bolt onto an existing network just fine.
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It seems a bit too good to be true. So, the management is as simple as they say it is? That alone might be worth the price.
Yeah it’s ultra simple, even stuff like port forwarding and assigning static ip’s. It also has really simple offline/online hours if you want to disable certain devices at certain times etc.
I like the idea of offline/online hours with my kids getting older. That price is just really off-putting. However, if it works well throughout the area, it might be worth it.
My last home was very difficult to cover with a single wireless access point, so after a lot of research, I bought some of those “powerline extenders.”
They extend the physical cable connection, so what I did was have one next to the router where the cable came into the house, and another on the other side of the house, where I installed a second wireless access point.
It was a bit of a pain when you were in the middle if you had both networks set up on a laptop, tablet, phone, but for most devices I could only set up one or the other as they were either static (TV, printer, desktop computer, etc.) or generally used more in one area vs. another (laptops)…
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I replaced a TPLink Archer with Google WiFi and it is super simple with kid-orientated features. I have no kids so could care less, but they’re there. You can monitor your home network remotely from your smartphone. The problem with the TPLink is that it was a single device and the glowforge was on the opposite side of the house and the signal was weak. It seems a lot of old, thick walls covered in a century’s worth of lead paint does that. The Google WiFi has given me not only solid coverage over the entire house, but also the detached garage and across the street as I discovered the other day.
I forced the IT consultant at work to replace our flaky Apple Airports and he chose the Ubiquities mentioned above over the Google WiFi because he said they were more business/security orientated (the Google WiFi is consumer household orientated.) They’ve worked great. In fairness to Apple, of which I personally feel none, he said the Airports worked great at the local Ronald McDonald house. Ours were just flaky.
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Great to know you went from the TPLink Archer to Google WiFi and are having good results, because that is one of the routers I have. How large of an area would you say the wifi covers? You said across the street…is that like a 8,000 sq ft area? Like about two houses worth? Just trying to get a visual.
I don’t even have all of the lead paint you talked about, but the TPLink still seemed to have trouble with the walls. Any kind of a referral code for Google WiFi? 
I have a small lot, about 8,750 square feet. The garage is in the rear on the alley. Maybe 50 feet to the other side of the street. I only know about these two because sometimes I forget to check traffic before I leave the house and only remember once I’m in the car. When I saw I still had WiFi and wasn’t on the cellular network I was impressed. So a large house should be no problem for the Google WiFi.
No referral code. I did a little searching for deals and found it was basically the same price everywhere. I can’t remember if I bought from Amazon or straight from the Google Store. Probably Amazon for free Prime shipping.
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I use one of these to get signal to the xbox downstairs in my town home.
if your cable box has a wired network as well as wifi then this should also help get the signal through the walls.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N5AT8DC/ref=twister_B075S4B37C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
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I have one of these…and I’ve never been able to get it to do much in the room where I will have the Glowforge. I don’t know off the top of my head if it is this specific model, but something very similar, and I believe it is Netgear too.
I screwed around with 4 or so different router brands some of which were using DD-WRT to wirelessly bridge and extend the network. Sucky connection off and on.
I tried powerline adapters. My house is old so when they worked at all the speed was terrible.
I tried to coax adapters, but my rooms were wired in isolation and so couldn’t communicate to all rooms.
Buy the google wifi, if it doesn’t work, return it. If it works, it’s far simpler and more reliable than most options making it worth the money. I get 500 Mbs in my back bedroom and play lots of video games that are sensitive to jitter.
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Range extenders of all kinds never worked very well. The newer mesh systems are much, much better.
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Whoa! That is some serious speed!
What you’re describing with different brands and bridging some of them has been precisely my issue as well.
That has been my experience as well. Thanks for the input!
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I also have never heard much good about range extenders, but the powerline adapters worked great in my last home, built in the 50’s with two-wire (no ground) receptacles. My current home was built in the late 60’s, and they are working perfectly here as well.
Of course you would need a wireless router in addition, but it would then give you good wifi coverage for other devices over on that side of the house.
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Thanks for the information!
Well, I just purchased the Google WiFi system, with the 3 separate bases. Amazon had the cheapest I saw at $259 for the set of 3.
It is arriving Saturday, and I hope to setup and test soon so I’m just that much more ready for the Glowforge.
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Let me know if you like it - hubs has been complaining about reception at the other end of the house lately, and the single booster we put in isn’t great. (I’m probably just going to have to bite the bullet and upgrade one of these days.)
Will do. I originally thought it was going to be $300. Then, Google was selling them at a $20 discount. Then, amazon had them even cheaper so I grabbed them.
I’ve read a lot about this other brand, eero, that are apparently similar and really good, but 3 of their pods are like $489!
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So, I started setting up Google Wifi tonight. I plugged in one of the units, and then plugged it via ethernet to the modem, per the instructions. Then, I downloaded the app and followed the steps to setup the network. I ran a couple of tests…wow! I know I was standing in the same room, but what never tested above about 64Mbps down hit 120Mbps twice in a row.
I walked about 35 feet and around the corner in the kitchen. Tried it again…same…120.
Walked another 20 feet, to our office kind of under/beside the stairs. Then, it dropped to 45. Walked upstairs to my office where the Glowforge will be…3.70Mbps. That’s pretty much to be expected with the distance
Here’s what’s weird though…when back in the room with the Google Wifi unit, tried it multiple times again ( to make sure it was registering that I was back in front of it ), and I’m now getting 12.8Mbps right in front of the unit. I don’t get it.
Is this a Comcast throttling? What is going on?
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If they’re throttling, I’d bet anything that AT&T does it too.
I’m gonna have to seriously look into a mesh. Thanks for testing it out. 