@Jaybird80 

Im going to guess you live in the UK so its brick building with wooden frame interior?   If so then you should be fine with positioning, but really the only way to test this for sure is with a signal test or heat map (google free heat map if you want to go that path).

The way I look at it, generally signal is signal.. range doesnt really improve unless you massively change the antenna so most devices (BT Disc vs Deco) are roughly the same coverage area, what will change is the speed you get in that area.

I do the reverse, namely my APs are mounted on the ceiling in the first floor so it covers downstairs.. never had an issue so you should be fine doing it the other way!

  @Philbert 

Ok thanks, like you say probably the only way to see if it will be suitable is to give it a go. 
 

Many thanks again 

  @Jaybird80 

No worries mate

If you have any other questions just reply!   Happy to help :)

  @Philbert 

Go on then - one more question - sorry! :)

There's a huge choice of devices - Argos do the 3 pack of Deco E4 for £89, the Deco M4 for £129 and then there's the Deco X55s for £189 on Amazon. 

Any advice on which is best? I have a BT Fibre 500mbps connection and achieve between 350-450 mbps currently throughout the house.

  @Jaybird80 

No worries

This is just my opinion, but if you are going to do this I would recommend going for the X range.  Let me show my working out! :)

E4

Dont get this one!   In short its an older device and has a 100mbps LAN port, it was released when ADSL was still the standard and would therefore 100 was fine.   Sadly now it will limit you to 90mbps wired or wireless, not for you

M4

Same as E4 but has a faster port (1GB) so will work fine for you.   WiFi wise its AC (WiFi5) so speeds of 866mbps, which in reality is ~ 400/450mbps so pretty much exactly what you have at present.     Just FYI.  Whatever WiFi speeds claim, generally expect roughly 50% of that when in real world terms, if it says 866, its likely 433 in reality.. just how WiFi works.

X55

This is the AX (WiFi6) version and therefore has faster WiFi which should get you ~700mbps in real speeds, provided the device you are connecting is WiFi6.   WiFi6 is sorta becoming the standard now, AC (5) is being end of life so personally I would go for the X range from now on.   Also if you are getting 700ish speeds means you can use all your current internet speeds, and possibly even support 1GB internet a few years down the line.

Just my 2 cents, but WiFi6 is the best choice for you now..  Yeah its £100 more but gives you support for faster internet in a few years if you decide to go that way.

  @Philbert 

That's great thank you for the info - you've been super helpful and I really appreciate it. 
 

I think I'll keep an eye on the price of X55 system and see if there's any deals on it between now and when my BT contract expires, and if not I'll bite the bullet a month or so before hand and try it out. I'll probably go down the route of getting rid of the BT hub and see if these X55s will do the job.

Once again thanks for your help. 

  @Philbert 

Hello Philbert, I'm posting back in the original thread I made in the hope you might see it....!

I replaced my BT WiFi hub and black complete WiFi discs today with 3 Deco X50s. Set-up wasn't great, lots of red lights and can't connect to internet messages. Finally got it all working then the deco said it needed to update its firmware... so I clicked update and everything went red after the reboot, no internet, so I had to start from scratch. It's currently saying it needs another firmware update but I'm hesitant to do it now I've got them working! 
 

Everything seems to be working ok for now though.... the main Deco is in place of the smart hub in the cupboard under the stairs, the other two decos are Ethernet backhauled and are in the living room and kitchen. 
 

I'm getting good speeds everywhere apart from the upstairs bedroom/office that once had the sole BT wifi disc that wasn't connected via Ethernet in it and ran off the weak WiFi signal from the BT smart hub. 40/50mbps now compared to 200 that the BT disc provided.

My question is.... should I buy another deco and use it wirelessly in that room, and does it need to be another X50 or could a cheaper X20 work just as well? Or will it struggle to pick up the signal if the speed in that room is already quite low (40/50 compared to 500 nearly everywhere else in the house).

I could try and run an Ethernet cable up there but it'll be difficult, and I've already used all 3 ports on the back of the main deco.

Any advice greatly received! 

  @Jaybird80 

It is hard to predict if a Deco will struggle to pick up the wifi signal.  It is designed to efficiently pick up wifi signal, better than done by devices such as computers and phones.

You can perhaps temporarily move one of your satellite Deco to the upstairs bedroom/office, and see if it provides good coverage at that location.

It will connect by wifi to the main, or to the remaining satellite Deco.  So you want to move the satellite that is less likely to be used to provide wifi into the upstairs bedroom/office.

It is possible that the best location for that satellite is between the upstairs bedroom/office and another Deco, not inside the upstairs bedroom/office.

If you go for a cheaper X20, I suggest installing it at the location where it is less useful to have an excellent wifi signal, perhaps for a Deco that is not connected by wifi to another Deco.

  @Jaybird80 

Hey

Sorry the slow reply, was away on holiday for a bit

By the sounds of it you have an area that is hard to reach in the bedroom/office and what is happening is the Deco is switching to the slower 2.4ghz frequency.  This will offer a better signal (2.4 has better penetration) but does reduce the speed massively, the way round this as you say is a middle man AP. 

You could go for the cheaper X20, Deco can mix and match as you feel necessary.   However rather than placing it in the bedroom/office, try to find somewhere mid way to get the best bounce of signal, placing it near the receiving client isnt going to fix the issue, ideally you want to 50% of the way there.  I had a this a few times and found landings or hallways sometimes the best. 

Running ethernet is always going to be the best and quickest way, but its not always ideal either!   Have you tried running the network optimisation tool on the Deco App?  It may change the channel for you and could help with this!

  @Philbert 

Hi, many thanks for your response and sorry I haven't replied sooner.

I've been monitoring the mesh over the last few weeks and it appears relatively stable - one or two drop outs of Internet connection that a quick reboot of the main deco seemed to resolve. 
 

I definitely think signal is weaker than my previous BT black WiFi discs, which is a shame as the Deco is technically more advanced. I've tried the network optimisation setting in the app but it just said everything was 'perfect' 😂

To strengthen the signal in the one bedroom bedroom where it's considerably weaker, I plan to move the main deco from the hallway into the garage (which is directly below said bedroom) and purchase an extra deco X20 for the hallway.

All being well the main deco will connect to the modem in the garage via Ethernet, then feed the other 3 decos in the house, again, by Ethernet.

Placing the main deco in the garage also places it on the other side of a brick wall to where it is currently, meaning the signal then only has to get through a ceiling (wooden joists with insulation) to reach the bedroom above.

I'm hoping this will improve the speed in the bedroom above.