Question 1

Can the Beacon 3 mesh system run in AP mode rather than router mode?

Accepted Answer

Yes. You can disable NAT and DHCP (routing functions)  at the web interface and relay on another existing router.

Question 2

I want to avoid using wireless for backhaul. Were are the directions for doing backhaul via wired ethernet?

Accepted Answer

Disclaimer: I am a Nokia employee.  I purchased this purely to improve wireless connectivity in my personal home.  I work from home and have a lot of calls early in the morning using WebEx teleconferencing over my laptop connecting over corporate VPN.  If connected wirelessly in my kitchen (other end of the house from the router), the audio quality can be degraded.

Originally my brother had recommended a Google mesh product that he was using.  When I saw my company was offering this product, I purchased it instead.

Out of the box, I attached the first beacon directly to my local gigabit DSL service provided by my phone company in one end of my house.  Then the second in my basement midway, and the third back upstairs in my kitchen.  My house is two levels with 2000 sq ft on each level.  After the system synced up, everything worked fine with decent throughput.  120 mbps average speed test both up and down.  (This is hardly gigabit, but consistent with what the phone company markets.)  I should note that I have four connected Fire TVs, various Echo devices,  several computers, iPads, phones, and a network LaserJet printer.  All running smoothly.

Since I already had Ethernet pulled across the house for a previous fiber TV installation, I figured I would wire the beacons (because wired is always better, right?).  So I used the backbone to connect the beacons.  I plugged the DSL into my old router, then the three beacons into separate ports on it.  It did not work.

Then I went back to connecting the first beacon directly to the DSL service and chaining the second and third via their Ethernet ports.  That worked fine.  Although throughput increased about 30 Mbps on the speed test, the wired configuration was not noticably faster.

Since I already had the cables and bridge in place, I left the beacons connected via Ethernet and then connected a bridge to the middle beacon and the TVs to the bridge.  It works great.

I did compare streaming an Amazon 4k movie on my Samsung 4k flat screen.  It looked amazing both wired and wireless with no real difference in quality.  However, the TV was downstairs just a few feet from the beacon.

Unrelated to the network setup, I could see a slight difference in the stream running across the Samsung native Amazon app compared to the 4k Fire TV stick.  The native app seemed a little more brilliant.

I am planning a move in the next few months.  I doubt that I will wire the network unless there are physical barriers that degrade the connectivity.  Nice to know that is an option.

I was skeptical to start but I was impressed with the wireless throughput on my initial configuration.

I should note that there are so many variables across different installations (data service, cable length if used, connections, distance, geography, etc) that I am unsure what is best quality and best value.  I did not compare any other networking products other than my original setup with a Linksys WRT1900 AC router.   I do get much better reception on the far end of the house with the beacons.

Question 3

Can you set different names for the 2ghz and 5ghz ssids? (to handle retarded iot devices sync)

Accepted Answer

If you go into the Beacon 3 WebGUI (your Beacon 3's default IP address and log in with the sticker credentials) you can change the SSIDs of each band.   But doing so will disable the benefit of this mesh WiFi solution that allows it to steer clients between the 2 bands for optimal performance.

Question 4

Is this using 802.11ax wifi 6 technology?

Accepted Answer

I do not think 802.11ax is available yet. They are hoping for the end of this year. So, no, Nokia beacon 3 does not support this.

Item Weight	1.4 Pounds
Connectivity Technology	Wi-Fi
Control Method	App
Maximum Upstream Data Transfer Rate	54 Megabits Per Second
Frequency	5 GHz
Wireless Compability	802.11bgn
Controller Type	Vera
Antenna Location	Home
Compatible Devices	Personal Computer
Number of Antennas	3
Security Protocol	WPA, WPA2
Is Electric	Yes
Frequency Band Class	Tri-Band
Number of Ports	4
Additional Features	WPS

Nokia WiFi Beacon 3 Mesh Router System - Intelligent, Seamless Whole Home WiFi Coverage Extender - Connect Your Whole House WiFi Network, Ultra Fast Self-Healing Mesh Router System – Trio (3-Pack)

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