Maximum number of routers/points- wired

[fredhartrick]

I have a large house whose walls are plaster covered with drywall- so about 3" of rock-like substance between each room and the next. Obviously WiFi doesn't make it far from its source.

I currently have wired routers-as-APs located through the house. Yes, it's a pain, but at least I have a lot of WiFi.  I understand the problems with combining wired and wireless devices and have no plans to use the wireless option at all (between APs, that is.)

Did I mention "large house"? There is no way to cover it all with 5 devices.  Google's " Adding more might be detrimental to Wi-Fi performance" doesn't cut it here.

1) What detriment?

2) Does this apply to wired devices or ony wireless? Has anyone figured this one out? 

3) And, do any of you have bright ideas of what to do?

Why is the maximum number of devices 5? Does that include all Router/AP devices, whether wired backhaul or not?

[olavrb · Accepted solution]

Maximum of five is with wireless backhaul. You can do more if you got all wired.

The limit/recommendation is because by the point you have five wireless units talking to each other, you loose performance and stability to the overhead of the backhaul alone.

If you wire it all up with an unmanaged switch to avoid daisy chaining, more than five units should be fine. See these diagrams from an earlier reply:

• https://www.googlenestcommunity.com/t5/Nest-Wifi/Ethernet-backhaul/m-p/284073/highlight/true#M31892

[fredhartrick]

I had seen your earlier explanations- Google really should have a reference library of responses like that. It was excellent. 

So, one more question- is any old "unmanaged switch" OK?  None of them has built in unwanted "assistance" that just isn't accessible to the user?  And, I gather I would connect the router/APs to the unmanaged switch, then jump to the managed switch from that?

Thanks for your help on this.

[olavrb]

What make and model for the "old unmanaged"?

What do you want to achieve with a managed switch? It can create problems. About using managed switches with Nest Wifi:

• https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleWiFi/comments/qpurq8

• https://www.reddit.com/r/GoogleWiFi/comments/ghkqnz/comment/fq9uwnx/

[fredhartrick]

I have several unmanaged switches when I have a router/ap and want to connect wired devices to it. Or I could get a new one if there were a need, but is there? My managed switch is Netgear GSS116e. As far as I can tell it doesn't have STP, but it has "loop detection". Since other Netgear switches specifically do have STP I assume this one doesn't. I use the management part mostly to keep track of what's up, down, speed, QOS, traffic, etc.- nothing esoteric. It's just handy sometimes.

I don't have any problems with throughput. The only reason I'm asking about the "unmanaged" part is to find out if I'm missing something in my mental knowledge base. If STP is the only problem, I think I'm good. ??

[olavrb]

I'd leave everything not typically found in an unmanaged switch to Nest Wifi. It has QoS, it has loop prevention (to avoid loops with wireless mesh and ethernet).

There actually exist unmanaged switches with loop detection/prevention, I know QNAP got some. But if your old unmanaged switches don't have that, and they are gigabit, I see no problem in using them.

[fredhartrick]

I'll do that. And I appreciate all your help.

[LovelyM]

Hello everyone, 

Thanks for your helpful responses, @olavrb.

@fredhartrick, it seems like your questions were already addressed, but I want to make sure that everything is covered on your end. Don't hesitate to reply to this thread if you still need help.

Cheers, 
Lovely

[LovelyM]

Hi fredhartrick, 

Checking in should you still have other questions or concerns. Let us know by replying to this thread.

Best, 
Lovely

[LovelyM]

Hey fredhartrick,

It's me again. I want to ensure you are good to go. Please let us know if you are still having trouble, as we will be locking the thread in 24 hours due to inactivity. 

Regards, 
Lovely

[fredhartrick]

All is good. Got an excellent answer. Thanks.

[LovelyM]

Hi fredhartrick,

I appreciate you keeping me posted. Since you already have the answers to your questions here, I'm going to mark this one as resolved and lock the thread shortly. If you need anything in the future, feel free to create a new post.

Many thanks, 
Lovely