aboutsummaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/build/mango/index.html
blob: 0bc8bb07dfdc314cf9d8dfdf6ea39d492524fcc1 (plain)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
	<meta charset="utf-8">
	<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
	<meta name="color-scheme" content="dark light">
	<link rel="icon" href="data:,">
	<title>Replacing My Eero Mesh Network with Two Mangos</title>
	<link href="/atom.xml" type="application/atom+xml" rel="alternate" title="Atom feed for blog posts" />
	<link href="/rss.xml" type="application/rss+xml" rel="alternate" title="RSS feed for blog posts" />
<style>*{box-sizing:border-box;}body{font-family:sans-serif;line-height:1.33;margin:0 auto;max-width:650px;padding:1rem;}blockquote{background:rgba(0,0,0,0.1);border-left:4px solid;padding-left:5px;}img{max-width:100%;}pre{border:1px solid;overflow:auto;padding:5px;}table{text-align:left;width:100%;}.footnotes{font-size:90%;}</style>
</head>

<nav>
	<a href="#menu">Menu &darr;</a>
</nav>

<main>
<h1 id="replacing-my-eero-mesh-network-with-two-mangos">Replacing My Eero Mesh Network with Two Mangos</h1>
<p>2023-03-09</p>
<p>It has been one week since I retired my Eero mesh network setup and replaced it with two <a href="https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-mt300n-v2/">Mango Mini Travel Routers (GL-MT300N-V2)</a>. There were some obvious reasons to make this switch but I was initially unsure how the overall performance on the Mangos would hold up compared to the &#8220;cutting edge&#8221; tech that Eero devices claim to have.</p>
<p>Spoiler (in case the post title didn&#8217;t give it away): I was pleasantly surprised.</p>
<h2 id="goodbye-amazon">Goodbye Amazon</h2>
<p>I was a big supporter of the original &#8220;kickstarter&#8221; project when Eero first launched. I pre-ordered and they even sent me a device free-of-charge since there were logistic problems shipping to Canada. I received my V1 routers, hooked them up and enjoyed a seamless, wifi mesh system. Everything was going great.</p>
<p>Then, in 2019 <a href="https://mashable.com/article/amazon-acquires-eero">they were acquired by Amazon</a>. Sigh&#8230;</p>
<p>I should have jumped ship then, but I waited to see what would happen. After all, my internet was still working perfectly fine. Then the half-baked and sometimes completely broken updates started rolling out. On more than one occasion they needed to perform complete version roll-backs. This sometimes knocked out my internet for hours at a time.</p>
<p>They also started pushing (although not outright requiring) users to login using their Amazon account. While not a massive deal breaker, the constant pestering to do so rubbed me the wrong way. </p>
<p>During this time, my first son was born and we moved out of the city into our first house. So fiddling with my internet setup took the backseat for a while. Once everything settled down, I started seeing more broken updates and certain features being put behind their premium &#8220;Eero Secure&#8221; platform. Features that were available as <em>default</em> for most other router hardware providers.</p>
<p>So, I started to look at other options.</p>
<h2 id="why-the-mango">Why the Mango?</h2>
<p>It is important to mention, that because I live out in rural Canada, my internet options are extremely limited. All providers are satellite-based since fiber cables are unheard of out in these areas. Because of this, my main internet speeds are limited to 25Mbps <em>baseline</em>. This is important to note, since my experience and router choice took this into consideration. If you&#8217;re a current Eero user with 300Mbps+ speeds and are looking to switch wifi systems - the Mango is probably not the best for you.</p>
<p>Luckily for me, the Mini Mangos were perfect for my basic requirements:</p>
<ul>
<li>Max. 300Mbps Wi-Fi Speed (more than enough for my use-case)</li>
<li>Running open-source software via <a href="https://openwrt.org/">openwrt</a></li>
<li>Hardware VPN toggle</li>
<li>Tiny physical footprint</li>
<li>Extremely portable</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="setting-up-the-yellow-squares">Setting Up the Yellow Squares</h2>
<p>Setup was a breeze compared to the Eero experience (which could only be performed through their mobile app via bluetooth and a great deal of repositioning the devices). The full process is essentially:</p>
<ol>
<li>Power up the first Mango</li>
<li>Connect laptop to the Mango via ethernet (you can also connect through wifi)</li>
<li>Follow the login instructions</li>
<li>Change SSID name, set device in router mode</li>
<li>Enjoy your internet!</li>
</ol>
<p>Since my office is fairly far away from the placement of the &#8220;main&#8221; Mango router, I placed the second device near my desk. I followed the same setup as above, except I set the mode as &#8220;repeater&#8221;.</p>
<p>For my use case I actually set this device up with a separate SSID. This was just my personal preference. You don&#8217;t have to do this. If you give both devices the same SSID name most modern devices will treat your network as if it <em>was</em> a mesh network. Pretty neat stuff.</p>
<p>I plan to eventually add my Pi Zero running AdGuard Home back into the mix, but for now I just installed a small adblock package directly onto the router:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://github.com/openwrt/packages/tree/master/net/adblock">adblock package</a></li>
</ul>
<h2 id="performance-comparisons">Performance Comparisons</h2>
<p>Everything below is just some basic testing I performed. Obviously it should be noted that your experience might be entirely different based on interference, building size, amount of devices connected, etc.</p>
<p>Stats for my original Eero mesh setup:</p>
<ul>
<li>1 eero 6 pro, 1 eero 6+, 1 eero beacon</li>
<li>Average internet testing speed: 25Mbps</li>
<li>Consistent signal throughout the house</li>
</ul>
<p>Stats for the new Mini Mango setup:</p>
<ul>
<li>2 mini mangos (one in router mode, the other set as repeater)</li>
<li>Average internet testing speed: 25Mbps</li>
<li>Consistent signal throughout the house</li>
</ul>
<h2 id="extras">Extras</h2>
<p>Some additional data comparisons for those interested. Prices shown are in Canadian dollars.</p>
<table>
<thead>
<tr>
<th></th>
<th>Eero</th>
<th>Mango</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>Power</strong></td>
<td>5W</td>
<td>2.75W</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Size</strong> (mm)</td>
<td>139x139x55</td>
<td>58x58x22</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Bands</strong> (GHz)</td>
<td>2.4&#47;5</td>
<td>2.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><strong>Cost</strong> (per unit)</td>
<td>$99+</td>
<td>$39</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>That mostly covers it. I&#8217;m extremely happy with my switch away from the locked-down, &#8220;upsell&#8221; heavy Eeros. My only regret is that I didn&#8217;t make this change sooner.</p>
<footer role="contentinfo">
    <h2>Menu Navigation</h2>
    <ul id="menu">
        <li><a href="/">Home</a></li>
        <li><a href="/projects">Projects</a></li>
        <li><a href="/uses">Uses</a></li>
        <li><a href="/wiki">Wiki</a></li>
        <li><a href="/resume">Resume</a></li>
        <li><a href="/colophon">Colophon</a></li>
        <li><a href="/now">Now</a></li>
        <li><a href="/donate">Donate</a></li>
        <li><a href="/atom.xml">RSS</a></li>
        <li><a href="#top">&uarr; Top of the page</a></li>
    </ul>
    <small>
        Built with <a href="https://git.sr.ht/~bt/barf">barf</a>. <br>
        Maintained with ♥ for the web. <br>
        Proud supporter of <a href="https://usefathom.com/ref/DKHJVX">Fathom</a> &amp; <a href="https://nextdns.io/?from=74d3p3h8">NextDNS</a>. <br>
        The content for this site is <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC-BY-SA</a>.<br> The <a href="https://git.sr.ht/~bt/bt.ht">code for this site</a> is <a href="https://git.sr.ht/~bt/bt.ht/tree/master/item/LICENSE">MIT</a>.
    </small>
</footer>