Kitz Forum
Broadband Related => Broadband Hardware => Topic started by: noseypete on January 27, 2020, 01:00:37 PM
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Hi all,
Another noob request for recommendations for a modem/router setup, I'm afraid!
Current situation:
I'm on Plusnet Business FTTC 80/20 and have been using the Plusnet supplied router for the last year. In that time, I've burnt through two of them because they overheated when transferring files between machines on my network. Despite this, I get a fairly reliable ~67 meg down and ~18 up.
I work from home, have 2 desktop PCs and around 15 wireless laptops/devices. I'm a developer and thus fairly techy but am relatively inexperienced with routers, modems and the like.
I would prefer an all in one modem/router/access point for ease, but am open to using separate units if it gives me markedly better performance at a reasonable cost.
Requirements for me are:
- Reliability. I want this thing to work and keep working.
- Wireless speed. If I'm investing now, I'd prefer to buy something with the latest AC standards - if it's worth it?
- Wireless coverage. I'm in a small terraced house and currently have an extender working at the back of the house - this works fine for me. The router is located in my office where the majority of my devices are. But I still want decent signal coverage.
- Gigabit LAN ports.
- Budget up to £175 ish, but don't want to spunk a load of money if it's not necessary.
Nice to haves:
- VPN capability
- USB printer sharing, possibly additon of NAS (USB 3.0 preferred for that for speed)
- 3G/4G failover
- A decent GUI
Questions:
- Separate modem and router or all in one?
- Do I need to tweak modem settings? Will I see a benefit?
- Draytek and Billion versus TP-Link, Asus, Netgear - the latter seem much cheaper and have more features - what's wrong with them!?
- Do I need MU-MIMO? Is there a real world performance improvement when running many wireless devices?
- Do I need >AC2800 speeds? Again is there a real world difference?
I've looked at the TP-Link Archer VR2800, Billion 8800AXL R2, DrayTek Vigor 2762AC so far.
Any recommendations much appreciated.
Thanks,
Pete
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If you're after after a 1 box setup then something like the Billion 8900AX or TP Link VR2800 are excellent choices.
If you want a separate modem & router then I would recommend something like the TP Link W9970 (in bridge mode) paired with a Netgear R7800 - the R7800 sits on top of Smallnetbuilder router charts for wifi coverage, due to the excellent Qualcomm radios its uses.
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Thanks psychopomp1, that's great.
The TP Link VR2800 is currently around £123 ex VAT on Amazon which makes it much cheaper than the alternatives you mentioned, so seems a good buy.
Could I ask - do you have the ability to tweak SNR settings to play with sync speeds on the VR2800? I know the Billions allow lots of tweakage in this area but have never read anything about the TP Links allowing this. Also, will I gain anything from being able to tweak those settings? As mentioned, I get ~67 down, 18 up anyway.
Also I saw a review on Amazon mentioning IPv6 isn't possible with BT as "TP-Link routers only work with a /64 site prefix length, yet BT uses /56". Do you have any experience of this, by any chance?
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You can only tweak down not up, on the BT network. So its only really a benefit if you are having problems being stuck interleaved and trying to get fastpath.
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TP_LINK is the worst regards tweaking (any tweaking) as the broadcom telnet is locked or not existing at all and is replaced with a custom tp-link cli which actually not useful in anything at all except for some line stats, for tweaking you can choose between billion, asus, or draytek.
I saw people here have some problems with asus dsl-68u which I found popular here and probably the problems may due to it is using mediatek chipset (guess bt not including it in supported devices anymore), what I believe working good is either broadcom which is used in many billion routers (but different chip's versions) but as stated here that some recent billion routers used a more mid-range chipsets than older models so the billion router model should be done carefully for the best result.. or the vigor 130 which is based on lantiq chipset (vigor 130 is a modem only not a full router) it is old so I believe it will not be found new anymore though the vigor 2762AC is available and based on lantiq chipset (all vigors I believe) and you can do some tweaking from web UI or through telnet.
Personally I would recommend the Vigor 2762AC for good performance both modem and router (specially as you are networking user kind) that requires a really good built router but it is difficult to speculate how any router would perform on your line based on the line length and HUAWEI or ECI cabinet that your are connected to.
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Thanks guys, appreciate the responses.
@Alex Atkin UK - I'm on Plusnet, never sure if this really counts as 'BT' or not, seeing as they tend to have differing policies on various tech aspects. Forgive my ignorance but I'm not aware of being stuck interleaved or trying to get fastpath, or what that means!? I get a fairly steady 67 meg-ish down but I do get a lot of drops - I've been attributing this to the Plusnet router as it happens more often when many devices are sucking bandwidth.
@mofa2020 - thanks, you've identified the big difference between these cheaper routers and the billions or Drayteks. I'm on a Huawei cabinet which is located no more than 200m away. The exchange is 1.65km away as the crow flies.
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interleaved vs fastpath is all about latency time with lower stable sync. rate vs less latency with probably higher sync. rate but if the line is really not holding it interleaved would be enabled by DLM (a more concern for online games players)
I believe Vigor 2762 would perform well as your line is not considered long from cabinet as distance to exchange does not matter anymore in fttc, these are the specs. for wifi
2.4G WLAN 802.11n 2x2 MIMO 300Mbps (n/ac/Vac model)
5G WLAN 802.11ac Wave 2 2x2 MIMO 867Mbps (ac/Vac model)
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Thanks for the explanation there mofa2020. Good to know. I should have mentioned latency - I get ~6ms generally which isn't too bad, I think.
Interesting to hear your thoughts - my only concerns with Draytek are the price to wireless speed ratio - 867Mbps vs 2167Mbps on the TP Link VR2800 will, I imagine, make a noticeable difference when copying files across a network. The faster models (Vigor 2862) are ~£220 ex vat and run at 1733Mbps, so still maginally slower at a hundred quid more than the TP-Link.
I suppose the question is whether I really need the ability to tweak the modem side of things, and whether it will gain me any more speed than an auto configuration.
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I believe that you are on fastpath with ~6ms and guess that the vr2800 would give you ~ same sync. rate and it is faster over wifi than vigor 2762 but at the expense of tweaking so if the faster wifi is more beneficial to you then go for it, you are the only one to judge it.
do you get the upload speed of your plan and want to squeeze the line little more? or you are not getting it and want to lower snrm to get more speed.
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In the real-world, hitting 2167Mbit is never going to happen and I suspect needs 160Mhz channel width and 4x4 MIMO, a combination almost impossible to get in a client (I believe its only available on expensive PCIe expansion cards).
Most devices only support 2x2 MIMO at 80Mhz (866Mbit) and while theoretically with 4x4 MU-MIMO it should be able to talk to two 2x2 MU-MIMO devices at the same time, very few clients support MU-MIMO so will fall back to normal mode anyway. That TP Link also looks suspect, as its using deatachable antennas that kinda suggest they are plain dipole, that transmit it all directions, so I don't see how it can even work properly with MU-MIMO anyway as the primary use-case for that is being able to send the WiFi signal only in the direction of the desired client (beamforming).
My own AP supports 4x4 MU-MIMO, is ceiling mounted with beamforming and I still found with two devices pushing data at the same time, the speed halved. The speed at range however was better than I've experienced before, but I can't see the TP Link benefiting there due to its antenna layout/type.
Even after considering all that, at 80Mhz channel width (866Mbit) I get 600Mbit real-world and 160Mhz channel width (up to 1733Mbit) 700Mbit, as it struggles to link above 1200Mbit.
So yeah, I wouldn't put too much faith in devices claiming to support super high WiFi speeds, its mostly marketing.
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You can only tweak down not up, on the BT network. So its only really a benefit if you are having problems being stuck interleaved and trying to get fastpath.
You can with Lantiq chipsets, just not with Broadcom chipsets.
That's handy with ECI DSLAM's with a fixed 6dB target.
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You can with Lantiq chipsets, just not with Broadcom chipsets.
That's handy with ECI DSLAM's with a fixed 6dB target.
Wish I'd known that like 6-12 months ago.
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You can with Lantiq chipsets, just not with Broadcom chipsets.
That's handy with ECI DSLAM's with a fixed 6dB target.
Can it work on Huawei cabinet? because his line on one.
I'm on a Huawei cabinet which is located no more than 200m away.
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Thanks again all, I'm learning a lot.
do you get the upload speed of your plan and want to squeeze the line little more? or you are not getting it and want to lower snrm to get more speed.
I currently get ~67Mbps down and ~18Mbps up. Obviously I'd like to get the full 80/20 but I don't know if that is even possible. Is it possible?! There seems to be more room for improvement on the down than the up.
In the real-world, hitting 2167Mbit is never going to happen and I suspect needs 160Mhz channel width and 4x4 MIMO, a combination almost impossible to get in a client (I believe its only available on expensive PCIe expansion cards).
I hear you. I guess I want to buy something that is going to be future proof to some degree. I experience stalls quite often when two devices are streaming video (web pages simply don't load until the other device finishes). Can a VR2800 owner tell us what real world speeds they get and how well it deals with multiple devices?
Sounds like another option could therefore be to get a Billion or Draytek for the modem/routing and then a separate AP to get decent WiFi speeds.
Also, any opinions on the Billion 8800AXL R2?
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Thanks again all, I'm learning a lot.
I currently get ~67Mbps down and ~18Mbps up. Obviously I'd like to get the full 80/20 but I don't know if that is even possible. Is it possible?! There seems to be more room for improvement on the down than the up.
can you post your line stats from current router? this maybe as much as it can get and trying to get more may lead to instability..
I hear you. I guess I want to buy something that is going to be future proof to some degree. I experience stalls quite often when two devices are streaming video (web pages simply don't load until the other device finishes). Can a VR2800 owner tell us what real world speeds they get and how well it deals with multiple devices?
Sounds like another option could therefore be to get a Billion or Draytek for the modem/routing and then a separate AP to get decent WiFi speeds.
Also, any opinions on the Billion 8800AXL R2?
Now we are talking, I believe the Vigor in general can take what it gets because it not the wifi raw speed only that matters but also how the device can handle the many connected devices at the same time (the status of being connected)... from what I saw on draytek 2762 live demo on the company's website is that the vigor routers are basically networking routers with many options to balance the bandwidth between devices or put a limit of speed for certain devices, and many many other networking options and I personally can not imagine that any tp-link router would do that apart from that I have the vr400 (I know it different and way below vr2800) but the wifi sucks both 2.5ghz which can not deliver decent 20mbps of 70mbps connection and the 5ghz I really regret buying it...
Billion on the other hand I do not much about it other that what I read hear,, it would be good in performance on vdsl but the wifi under load that may be tricky for it...
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Line stats:
Board version: Plusnet Hub One
DSL uptime: 28 days, 01:09:02
Data rate: 19999 / 79904
Maximum data rate: 28074 / 82204
Noise margin: 15.3 / 6.4
Line attenuation: 14.3 / 12.6
Signal attenuation: 14.1 / 12.8
Will be interested to see what you think is possible, mofa2020...
In other AP related news, broadband buyer recommend the Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO (https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/33704-ubiquiti-uap-ac-pro-cloud/ (https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/33704-ubiquiti-uap-ac-pro-cloud/) £110 ex VAT) teamed with a Draytek Vigor 2762 - apparently that is a pretty bullet proof option with an AP designed to cope with multiple devices. Real world speeds will be faster than the TP Link.
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I see the upload speed has more room for being faster to 28074kbps but the DLM capped line sync. speed at 19999kbps and it will be capped too on the Draytek 2762 since it is your plan, for download speed I am afraid it would be the same even if you lower the SNRm and the maximum data rate increased DLM would probably cap the line on what you are paying for (in other words you can not bypass what you are paying for). SNRm tweaking would be useful in the case that the DLM sees the line not capable of what you are paying for so tweaking and squeezing the line for more speed would be worth it or if you one day think about changing to a higher plan or another ISP offering a higher plan in this case the draytek would do it job about the trying to get higher achievable speeds on the line.
for the AP and wifi I believe you are on the right track with the vigor 2762 and that will be the true difference at the moment for you.
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In other AP related news, broadband buyer recommend the Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO (https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/33704-ubiquiti-uap-ac-pro-cloud/ (https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/33704-ubiquiti-uap-ac-pro-cloud/) £110 ex VAT) teamed with a Draytek Vigor 2762 - apparently that is a pretty bullet proof option with an AP designed to cope with multiple devices. Real world speeds will be faster than the TP Link.
I don't agree with that, the nanoHD is AC Wave 2 with MU-MIMO, its why I chose it over the AC-PRO which is Wave 1 SU-MIMO.
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I don't agree with that, the nanoHD is AC Wave 2 with MU-MIMO, its why I chose it over the AC-PRO which is Wave 1 SU-MIMO.
Will check that out. Only a bit more money for way more features. And physically smaller.
Think I've decided on the Vigor 2762 as a modem/router. AP now just up for debate. So - what about mesh systems? No one has mentioned them so far.
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Will check that out. Only a bit more money for way more features. And physically smaller.
Think I've decided on the Vigor 2762 as a modem/router. AP now just up for debate. So - what about mesh systems? No one has mentioned them so far.
Mesh systems are too unpredictable, they can be great if you have no option for running a wire, but wired to the Access Point is so much more reliable.
Sure some mesh systems allow wired backhaul, but then IMO you might as well use Ubiquiti gear which is designed for business reliability vs residential mesh kit which is not. You're less likely to need to add a second or third Access Point in the first place.
Again this is just my opinion, but I've been very impressed with the nanoHD.
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I got rid of my BT Whole Home mesh Wi-Fi system with 3x discs, and replaced it with 1x ceiling mounted Ubiquiti UBI-UAP-AC-PRO (£130 from Amazon).
The Ubiquiti UAP-AC-PRO performs better for me.
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I think is worth to query what for mesh is needed if at all? If property is really big then yes, but if not why use mesh? Because of clients got poor wifi cards? I used my wifi in neighbours house cross the road, will say good 10 meters from router and it still working fine. I use asus rt-ax88u.
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Well I think that's given some good opinions on mesh! Thanks guys. Worth the question, as all I see on consumer sites is 'mesh is the future' type reviews praising Google wi-fi and so on and hardly mentioning router + AP combos.
Currently opting for Draytek 2762 with Ubiquiti nanoHD AP or the Pro. The nano's specs are better than the pro as Alex Atkin UK points out, although from some tests I'm seeing on YouTube at the expense of range.
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The nano's specs are better than the pro as Alex Atkin UK points out, although from some tests I'm seeing on YouTube at the expense of range.
I saw that too, but I think this is mostly a problem in places like the US where bigger houses are more common.
I've been really impressed with the speed of mine, even as far away from it as possible in the house I get 240Mbit on my phone (tested with iperf3 to my NAS), as long as I'm still facing it. If I add myself as an obstruction too by having my back to it, it drops dramatically to low double-digits, but I'd expect even a Pro to do the same.
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Thanks Alex.
Just ordered a Draytek Vigor 2762 router (no wi-fi) and a Ubiquiti Unifi nanoHD access point from Broadband Buyer. They matched the best price I could find anywhere online for the whole basket, and you can speak to actual humans on the phone there. Very helpful, friendly and as I have heard from friends, they offer phone support if you need it. They also pre-configure the AP for you and offer the cloud managed solution for free. Good deal, I think.
Big thanks to everyone who answered my annoying questions. There's some really valuable advice on this forum and it's great to hear first hand accounts from knowledgeable people instead of marketing b*llsh*t or biased reviews on consumer sites. Much appreciated.
Will report back once it's set up!
Pete
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So, I've got the draytek and the nanoHD set up...
My wireless speeds are sooooo much better than with the plusnet router. No stalling, no lag. Handles multiple devices with ease. Transfer speeds are great and seem rock solid. Did some speed tests with iPerf and the cabled speeds are actually a tad slower, but not significantly. Speed to the outside world is about the same as what I was getting with the plusnet router, but I've not tried fiddling with SNR yet.
Range of the nanoHD is not significantly better than the plusnet router, which surprised me, and is a bit disappointing. But I need to experiment with its positioning and settings as I'm sure this can be improved with some tinkering.
Thanks again all for your recommendations.
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Hi
So, I've got the draytek and the nanoHD set up...
My wireless speeds are sooooo much better than with the plusnet router. No stalling, no lag. Handles multiple devices with ease. Transfer speeds are great and seem rock solid. Did some speed tests with iPerf and the cabled speeds are actually a tad slower, but not significantly. Speed to the outside world is about the same as what I was getting with the plusnet router, but I've not tried fiddling with SNR yet.
Range of the nanoHD is not significantly better than the plusnet router, which surprised me, and is a bit disappointing. But I need to experiment with its positioning and settings as I'm sure this can be improved with some tinkering.
Thanks again all for your recommendations.
Have you got your nano ceiling mounted? If not it is unlikely to perform much better range wise than any other access point. It is the fixing location of ceiling access points that improve the range/signal, internally they are little different to any other Wi-Fi router. I'm also not a fan of the Uni-Fi access points, it's built cheap and runs hot, is hard to manage as a single device (needs software installed on a PC) and I didn't find them reliable, so got rid. There is a review here comparing the build quality https://sviko.com/t/review-of-the-solution-for-small-office-from-zyxel-zywall-vpn-gateway-vpn2s-and-the-access-point-nwa1123-acv2/81/4 of a Uni-fi access point and a ZyXel. Night and day build quality wise and the prices are not that different.
Regards
Phil
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Hi
Have you got your nano ceiling mounted? If not it is unlikely to perform much better range wise than any other access point. It is the fixing location of ceiling access points that improve the range/signal, internally they are little different to any other Wi-Fi router. I'm also not a fan of the Uni-Fi access points, it's built cheap and runs hot, is hard to manage as a single device (needs software installed on a PC) and I didn't find them reliable, so got rid. There is a review here comparing the build quality https://sviko.com/t/review-of-the-solution-for-small-office-from-zyxel-zywall-vpn-gateway-vpn2s-and-the-access-point-nwa1123-acv2/81/4 of a Uni-fi access point and a ZyXel. Night and day build quality wise and the prices are not that different.
Regards
Phil
I can understand the standalone issue, I had to install Unifi to enable 160Mhz channel width. But on the other hand, Unifi is an amazing piece of software. I just discovered it logs every AP it sees, absolutely fascinating as I had no idea so many modern cars had built-in WiFi which I can only assume its picking up from the nearby dual carriageway. Its logged 900+ APs which really drives home why WiFi is so horrible for gaming, as it can be tanked for a second or two just from someone driving past your house.
As for the build quality, that's partly subjective as just because a unit uses minimal parts, doesn't mean in real-world terms is any worse than something heavily overbuilt. The nanoHD specifically is designed to be as small as possible for aesthetic reasons and always seems to be barely tepid to the touch, although I've never checked under load.
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. . . Unifi is an amazing piece of software. I just discovered it logs every AP it sees, absolutely fascinating as I had no idea so many modern cars had built-in WiFi which I can only assume its picking up from the nearby dual carriageway. Its logged 900+ . . .
Did you note the band being used?
I suspect only 2.4 GHz usage was visible, as I wouldn't expect 5 GHz to pass from a car, through the fabric of your home, to your AP.
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I can understand the standalone issue, I had to install Unifi to enable 160Mhz channel width. But on the other hand, Unifi is an amazing piece of software. I just discovered it logs every AP it sees
Not a unique thing, the ZyXEL I have does the same thing, only you don't a software package on your PC to see it :-)
As for the build quality, that's partly subjective as just because a unit uses minimal parts, doesn't mean in real-world terms is any worse than something heavily overbuilt. The nanoHD specifically is designed to be as small as possible for aesthetic reasons and always seems to be barely tepid to the touch, although I've never checked under load.
Not true that it is subjective, I've designed and built PCBs and circuits, I know what I see. Nothing about minimal parts is the issue, it was other problems, clearly it was built cheap, certainly the model I was using. No heat-sinks on mine, their heat sink design was to add a thick soft heat-sink pad to bridge the gap on the back of the circuit board behind each LSI onto the plastic case! Worse though, in the factory none of these pads were lined up correctly on mine, one missed the silk screened location on the PCB completely, probably quite hard to line up quickly in a typical sweatshop Chinese factory. The back of the device, that would in most installations be flush up against a foam (so insulating) ceiling tile, had a couple of 'hot spots' because of course the heat can't dissipate in plastic. The plastic case is as cheap as it could be and just clips together (saves money in the factory). The blue LED for the light piped ring was being over driven because they only use one LED (cost thing again to save pennies) so after several months of 24/7 operation that started to dim. Nothing about it was designed to last. There may be improvements with their other models but it is clear they build for cheap and not quality.
The money basically is going on the software, and even that isn't great, I got fed up with every few weeks when I wanted to get at the access point settings that I had to update it, update yet again the firmware on the access point (they never have stable firmware), then update Java because that was complaining it was out of date. The UI was horrible, it was over complicated and even then many settings available on cheaper consumer kit for the AP were completely missing. Fancy requiring Java just to access some AP settings, some companies ban Java for security reasons! Had a whole set of hassles when I moved to a new computer then suddenly realised I couldn't 'manage' the access point. Just far too much work for one or two access points on my own home.
Uni-fi almost has a cult following, presumably because it is the poor companies 'Cisco' of kit and everyone want's to believe it is just as good.
I also tried one their routers, just as bad, could have fried an egg on it and just as cheaply made, even though it was quite expensive, sent it back.
Regards
Phil
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Not true that it is subjective, I've designed and built PCBs and circuits, I know what I see. Nothing about minimal parts is the issue, it was other problems, clearly it was built cheap, certainly the model I was using. No heat-sinks on mine, their heat sink design was to add a thick soft heat-sink pad to bridge the gap on the back of the circuit board behind each LSI onto the plastic case! Worse though, in the factory none of these pads were lined up correctly on mine, one missed the silk screened location on the PCB completely, probably quite hard to line up quickly in a typical sweatshop Chinese factory. The back of the device, that would in most installations be flush up against a foam (so insulating) ceiling tile, had a couple of 'hot spots' because of course the heat can't dissipate in plastic. The plastic case is as cheap as it could be and just clips together (saves money in the factory). The blue LED for the light piped ring was being over driven because they only use one LED (cost thing again to save pennies) so after several months of 24/7 operation that started to dim. Nothing about it was designed to last. There may be improvements with their other models but it is clear they build for cheap and not quality.
The money basically is going on the software, and even that isn't great, I got fed up with every few weeks when I wanted to get at the access point settings that I had to update it, update yet again the firmware on the access point (they never have stable firmware), then update Java because that was complaining it was out of date. The UI was horrible, it was over complicated and even then many settings available on cheaper consumer kit for the AP were completely missing. Fancy requiring Java just to access some AP settings, some companies ban Java for security reasons! Had a whole set of hassles when I moved to a new computer then suddenly realised I couldn't 'manage' the access point. Just far too much work for one or two access points on my own home.
Uni-fi almost has a cult following, presumably because it is the poor companies 'Cisco' of kit and everyone want's to believe it is just as good.
I also tried one their routers, just as bad, could have fried an egg on it and just as cheaply made, even though it was quite expensive, sent it back.
Regards
Phil
You make a lot of very good points here, I admit I got caught up in the hype. Think I will be picking up a Zyxel once a WiFi6e unit comes out.
The nanoHD doesn't look too bad, but my god the Zyxel here looks like a proper industrial design intended to last a long time in a commercial space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4GW4rzN90
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Amen PhilipD.
I have no idea why Ubiquiti kit gets the following it does. I had no idea you had to use an installed program (let alone a java one) to manage things... what gives?
Many corners of the internet recommend their stuff without question. :shrug2:
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Amen PhilipD.
I have no idea why Ubiquiti kit gets the following it does. I had no idea you had to use an installed program (let alone a java one) to manage things... what gives?
Many corners of the internet recommend their stuff without question. :shrug2:
I think its because for a while at least, they were about the cheapest provider of commercial grade (as in, better than consumer) equipment.
They seem to get there by releasing Beta firmware at launch of products, which often still makes them better than consumer gear (which feels like Beta forever in some cases) but rather problematic if you actually need commercial quality.
I had no idea Zyxel were in this market at similar prices or I would likely have considered them.
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Hi
Amen PhilipD.
I have no idea why Ubiquiti kit gets the following it does. I had no idea you had to use an installed program (let alone a java one) to manage things... what gives?
Many corners of the internet recommend their stuff without question. :shrug2:
I bought into as well as the first ceiling access point I got was a Uni-Fi after reading up about options on the Internet. I'm sure there stuff isn't terrible, I just don't consider it good at the price and can't understand why people rate it so high. I suspect though once a network manager has made the decision to go Uni-Fi and a company is flooded with their kit and echo system costing thousands of pounds, it becomes very difficult for that IT manager to turn around and admit that perhaps it wasn't the best kit after all and they should be fired :-) So perhaps everyone keeps up the pretence.
I think its because for a while at least, they were about the cheapest provider of commercial grade (as in, better than consumer) equipment.
They seem to get there by releasing Beta firmware at launch of products, which often still makes them better than consumer gear (which feels like Beta forever in some cases) but rather problematic if you actually need commercial quality.
Yes you are probably right there, they sort of came about first and offered an alternative to Cisco type kit that is the opposite end of the price spectrum.
The nanoHD doesn't look too bad, but my god the Zyxel here looks like a proper industrial design intended to last a long time in a commercial space. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YH4GW4rzN90
The nanoHD does look a bit better build wise but still appears to be the cheapest design possible, you can see what I mean about the snap together case, just cheap, and feels cheap. Granted they don't need to built like tanks being mounted high up on the ceiling, but even so.
Regards
Phil
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You know what would be neat? A ceiling mounted AP with RGB LEDs around the edge that show which direction and signal quality the beam forming is transmitting in. ;)
As it stands, I have no idea of MU-MIMO is even functioning as when I tried both my laptops at the same time, performance seemed be halved between them, just as you'd expect from SU-MIMO.
Then again, they were both on the same side of the AP which I'd imagine for optimal performance you want them on opposites sides so they use different antennas?