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This is a pretty good deal for a tri-band wifi-6e/7 2-piece system.
Personally, I was in the market for a new mesh wifi system late last year, and ended up just getting 2 of these dual band wifi-7 TP-Link routers with "Easy-Mesh" that lets you link 2 or more easy-mesh supported devices to basically build your own mesh system since each router had more ethernet ports https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Du...9N2T8?th=1
Here are some considerations:
1. Dual-band vs Tri-band - Tri-band wifi 6E and wifi 7 systems allow traffic over 2.4ghz, 5ghz and 6ghz bands. - The 6ghz band also enables wireless backhaul (connections between access points) over less congested channels. The downside is 6 ghz is similar to mmwave, in that it loses a lot of power/speed going through walls and materials. Basically, your device antenna needs to be able to "see" the antenna of the the router/access point to experience max data speeds. So, unless you can mount your router to a wall or ceiling, your 6ghz band won't be as useful tucked away in a corner or in some cabinet.
2. Ethernet ports: One of the biggest downsides to these pre-made mesh system units, is the relatively few ethernet ports included on each station. (Eero is like 1 or 2, and the OP item only has 3). The Archer BE230 has 4 ports, plus a WAN/internet input port. This is also important if you use a ethernet connection between units for a wired backhaul (instead of wireless).
which mesh system do you recommend for Xfinity, then?
Xfinity with non-Xfinity routers in general can be an issue...Deco in general just lack some of the configurations that can help alleviate what is really more of an Xfinity problem.
Basically, Xfinity really wants you to use their equipment. Without speculating as to the "why," this can lead to problems and is also possibly hardware dependent.
I know for my situation, I got Deco BE63's to mostly cooperate with Xfinity's XB7 model gateway, but only by disabling the Wifi on the XB7 (which required extra configuration). This still results in an unavoidable double NAT situation for me (which is generally not desirable for all people/applications but ok enough for mine). However, I have seen reports that the XB8 does not even allow this at all, and I believe past firmwares for the XB7 allowed greater flexibility (but not on mine). There was an option for gateway mode (I think that's what it was called), which was supposed to allow traffic to pass through to the router...but I simply never could get it to work and in frustration just disabled the XB7 wifi. It seems Xfinity's trend is locking stuff down more over the course of firmware/hardware versions.
In short, compared to Lumos/TMobile, Xfinity configuration was considerably harder and acceptable to me only through the wifi disable workaround. If I had received an XB8 (which I believe Xfinity did try to "upgrade" me to almost immediately after beginning service), I'm really not sure what I would have done.
If you already have your hardware from Xfinity, research it. If not, perhaps one should brace for the worst on what they would receive.
I hope this helps.
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Personally, I was in the market for a new mesh wifi system late last year, and ended up just getting 2 of these dual band wifi-7 TP-Link routers with "Easy-Mesh" that lets you link 2 or more easy-mesh supported devices to basically build your own mesh system since each router had more ethernet ports
https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Du...9N2T8?th=1
Here are some considerations:
1. Dual-band vs Tri-band - Tri-band wifi 6E and wifi 7 systems allow traffic over 2.4ghz, 5ghz and 6ghz bands. - The 6ghz band also enables wireless backhaul (connections between access points) over less congested channels. The downside is 6 ghz is similar to mmwave, in that it loses a lot of power/speed going through walls and materials. Basically, your device antenna needs to be able to "see" the antenna of the the router/access point to experience max data speeds. So, unless you can mount your router to a wall or ceiling, your 6ghz band won't be as useful tucked away in a corner or in some cabinet.
2. Ethernet ports: One of the biggest downsides to these pre-made mesh system units, is the relatively few ethernet ports included on each station. (Eero is like 1 or 2, and the OP item only has 3). The Archer BE230 has 4 ports, plus a WAN/internet input port. This is also important if you use a ethernet connection between units for a wired backhaul (instead of wireless).
Basically, Xfinity really wants you to use their equipment. Without speculating as to the "why," this can lead to problems and is also possibly hardware dependent.
I know for my situation, I got Deco BE63's to mostly cooperate with Xfinity's XB7 model gateway, but only by disabling the Wifi on the XB7 (which required extra configuration). This still results in an unavoidable double NAT situation for me (which is generally not desirable for all people/applications but ok enough for mine). However, I have seen reports that the XB8 does not even allow this at all, and I believe past firmwares for the XB7 allowed greater flexibility (but not on mine). There was an option for gateway mode (I think that's what it was called), which was supposed to allow traffic to pass through to the router...but I simply never could get it to work and in frustration just disabled the XB7 wifi. It seems Xfinity's trend is locking stuff down more over the course of firmware/hardware versions.
In short, compared to Lumos/TMobile, Xfinity configuration was considerably harder and acceptable to me only through the wifi disable workaround. If I had received an XB8 (which I believe Xfinity did try to "upgrade" me to almost immediately after beginning service), I'm really not sure what I would have done.
If you already have your hardware from Xfinity, research it. If not, perhaps one should brace for the worst on what they would receive.
I hope this helps.
Join The Conversation
Share information with the community. Please follow our Community Guidelines and be kind!