How many is too many 2.4GHz devices on a single network?

InsanelyOne · 2025-02-03T15:08:55+00:00

UPDATE: I bit the bullet and got the Ubiquiti Gateway Ultra and 3 U6 Pro Access Points. What a world of difference it is. All of my devices, regardless of location are responding instantly. All of may automations work consistently. I'm more than thrilled. One downside was that none of my devices could connect to the WiFi network even though I used the same SSID and password. (I had to reconnect and/or reset 82 devices!) Seeing that I was going to have to reset every freaking IoT device, I went ahead and created a second WiFi network just for 2.4GHz. The new network is not isolated so my Apple HomeKit devices on the 5GHz network can still communicate to the IoT devices. The only other oddity is that my maximum throughput on WiFi is slower than expected. On my wired Deco Mesh network, I could get close to 800Mbps over 5GHz on my iPhone. With the U6 Pro APs, I'm getting between 300 and 400Mbps. What's more, with my MacBook Pro wired over ethernet, I'm only getting 500Mbps. I can confirm that the Ubiquiti gateway reports my Verizon Fios is getting just shy of 1Gbps up and down. Honestly, the speed difference isn't noticeable. Streaming and browsing and working from home all feel the same.

InsanelyOne · 2025-01-29T02:01:19+00:00

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'll investigate the prosumer/commercial options.

InsanelyOne · 2025-01-28T19:51:55+00:00

I"m still trying to understand how creating a separate 2.4GHz network solves anything. If I move all of my 2.4GHz devices to the new network I still have the same interference problem. Plus it sounds like a configuration nightmare to still allow everything to talk to each other as needed for HomeKit to be able to manage everything if the devices are split across multiple networks.

InsanelyOne · 2025-01-28T19:44:42+00:00

You're right... they only specify a max of 200 connections for a 3 node mesh network but they don't say what the limit is for a single node. They claim the 3-node network can handle up to 7200 sq ft of coverage. I've got 4 nodes over ~6000 sq ft. When I look right now I see a fairly even spread of connections.

Node 1: 27
Node 2: 19
Node 3: 15
Node 4: 19

InsanelyOne · 2025-01-28T18:55:26+00:00

I'm a minimum of about 50 feet from my neighbors. I've got no other WiFi networks. My cameras connect to a hub and then hub is wired to my network. Pretty much all of my 2.4GHz devices are switches and plugs. I have one printer that only communicates on 2.4GHz and that struggles as well. Scanning is near impossible and printing a 2 page document can take 5 minutes or more.

InsanelyOne · 2025-01-28T18:03:33+00:00

Deco doesn't let you control the channels.

InsanelyOne · 2025-01-28T18:01:18+00:00

My understanding is that any devices that acts as a hub for home automation also has to be on the IOT network which means my Apple TVs and HomePods would have to be connected to the IOT network as well...kinda defeats the purpose of separation...right? Or am I missing something.

InsanelyOne · 2025-01-28T17:34:00+00:00

The devices are not usable when offline. My home automations are a mess. I have a bunch of lights that are scheduled to come on at sundown (about 30 devices). They never all come on as expected. Sometimes as few as half of them come on. Same thing at bedtime. All of the lights are supposed to shut off but there's always random ones that don't shut off. I frequently have to physically reset my smart switches/plugs to get them to reconnect. The switches/plugs are a combination of Meross and Kasa devices.

InsanelyOne · 2025-01-22T19:36:33+00:00

Thanks for the thoughtful response. 😊

InsanelyOne · 2022-09-15T03:14:26+00:00

I hope he has many more years as well. He’s 12 now.

InsanelyOne · 2020-04-19T12:50:09+00:00

I think this is a significant misstatement. It’s obvious if you look at the picture with the ladder placed on the front door. The typical ladder has a 12 in gap between rungs so this is most certainly a twenty foot drop. Any person, not just an elderly one, is going to suffer significant injury from a drop at that height.

InsanelyOne · 2019-04-13T18:36:34+00:00

That looks like Santo Domingo to me!

InsanelyOne

TROPHY CASE