Best AP for 60+ connected devices

[Sylvain Gagnon]

So my Bell 3000 router is being stretched with over 60+ connected devices, most of them being Tasmota lights/switches. Sometimes, devices will disappear from the network and even a reboot will not make them connect. When looking at the Tasmota device's console (I make then connect to my cell's hotspot when that happens so I can see the console), I get invalid password for its SSID although I'm 100% sure the password is fine. So this points to my AP acting up therefore what's the best AP to handle 60+ connected devices?

Thanks!

[Fred]

...for a pure AP (single or multiple), I'd suggest to look into the "Unifi nanoHD" from Ubiquiti, see: https://unifi-nanohd.ui.com/

[Philip Knowles]

A lot of ISP provided routers limit the number of WiFi devices to 32. As IoT devices often communicate at slow speeds (your WiFi runs at the speed of the slowest device) it makes sense to set up a separate SSID for those devices. I have run an ethernet cable to a central point in the house with a TPLink router there. It has all the IoT on it on its own subnet. I haven't got 60 devices (high 40s) and it's working a lot better. 

Regards

Phil K

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From: sonof...@googlegroups.com <sonof...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Fred <ford.pre...@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, March 2, 2020 7:02:40 AM
To: TasmotaUsers <sonof...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: Best AP for 60+ connected devices

 

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[Ian Lewis]

*Most* home routers have an artificial cap on the number of clients that can connect - it can be as low as 8 or 16 (more common is 32). The internet is full of useless feedback that there's apparently a 'sensible' number of clients that should be allowed to connect, i.e. people answering not knowing there is a limit coded into the router, and virtually no information on which routers have which hardcoded limit. This has nothing to do with the DHCP range or NAT forwarding constraints, or even usage, just some arbitrary limit hardcoded into the firmware. Of course if you want many clients streaming movies, you *will* have network congestion before you hit this limit.

This 'client cap' is *very* difficult to find documented in any home router documentation - we have a project with 130 smartplugs and have used them as a daisy-chained 'bar chart' of the button LED's to find the router limit (by plugging them all into each other and powering up the first so the power 'on' ripples through the chain but only the first N get a wifi connection). Fun to watch, actually.

So here's a very incomplete answer for 2/cents:

It seems all TP-Link routers, even the $250 ones, have some stupidly low max-client limits (e.g. 32). I've searched their data sheets and manuals but never found the limit documented. (Search "tp-link max clients" to see the ill-informed answers)

Ubiquity (as Fred says), are the only brand I'm aware of that actually document their hard limits (but you still see well-meaning but ill-informed comments from people who think there's a 'sensible' limit):

https://community.ui.com/questions/Actual-client-limits-of-UAP-AC-PRO-HD/31288a8e-4c6a-46df-9e4c-b572700a2c2a

[Phil]

Recycling an old ISP provided router or two is a great idea,  

Avoid netgear Rx7000 hw  its what i bought a few years back and have regretted since, it requires an all too frequent reboot thankfully now tasmota controlled.. 

[Laurentp]

Hi there,
wouldn't switching firmware (if possible with this router, or buy supported, even cheap one) to OpenWRT be a remedy? There it is You who has control .
Just my 2 cents

Laurent

>> It seems all TP-Link routers,even the $250 ones, have some stupidly low max-client limits (e.g. 32). I've searched their data sheets and manuals but never found the limit >> documented. (Search "tp-link max clients" to see the ill-informed answers)

[Sylvain Gagnon]

That's an idea. I have an old Linksys router at the cottage that I don't use. I could put it downstairs and direct the devices there and just above it on the ground floor to connect to it instead. That should alleviate the stress on my main router. I'll be crowding the 2.4GHz channels but hey, if it works...

[Sylvain Gagnon]

I bought a cheap DLink DIR-819 router that I disabled its routing and connected it (Cat5e) to my main router. It is now servicing the basement and half of the first floor Tasmota devices through a different SSID (and they are not near each other so they won't interfere with one another). I have 15 devices connected to it. Lets see if performance of my main router will improve now that some devices have been offloaded to another AP. Should know within a day or two.

[Christian Lyra]

Hi,

If possible, lower the tx power of your secondary APs. It should be enough to serve your nearby devices but not enough to interfere with the rest of the house.

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[Sylvain Gagnon]

Good point, thanks. 

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[Wyszków]

Hi there,
wouldn't switching firmware (if possible with this router, or buy
supported, even cheap one) to OpenWRT be a remedy? There it is You who
has control .
Just my 2 cents

Laurent

>> It seems all TP-Link routers,even the $250 ones, have some stupidly

low max-client limits (e.g. 32). I've searched their data sheets and
manuals but never found the limit >> documented. (Search "tp-link max
clients" to see the ill-informed answers)

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