Hi - I have a Vigor 2862ac Firmware 3.9.9.2 BT and an AP800 firmware 1.1.6.2
and have just bought an AP903 as thinking of a Mesh setup though I know the AP800 is non Mesh.

Anyhow I have a few questions.

For years I've been using the 2862 and AP800. They are linked via cable and using only 1 SSID in each case of 2.4GHz and no 5GHz used.

Downstairs SSID is called "Down" and the AP800 upstairs SSID "Up"

My first question. I believe Mesh works by having all node's using same SSID and so seamlessly you pick up the strongest signal.
Is this only possible with Mesh or can I do it on my set up using AP800?

Second question if I may.
Just looking at 5Ghz setup on my 2862 and trying it out. I am still using one SSID on 2.4GHz channel and now have set up one SSID on 5GHz channel with SSID name "Down5G"

I have a NAS and when I connect my laptop to "Down5G" I cannot connect to my NAS and at the moment I cannot see why not?

Third question.
If I go down the mesh route, I would like to connect the 2862 to the AP903 via POE so I expect (no idea really I need to find out) the AP903 needs to be told its wired and not wireless connected to 2862 and the AP903 becomes the Mesh Root?

or does the 2862 need to be set up as mesh root still and AP903 becomes a mesh node? (thinking about it I think this is correct else all SSID's and keys cannot be the same?)

So I have still much to learn and any help or advice appreciated.

Happy New year.

Second question solved...been a while since programming router....forgot I have vpn's programmed. Added 5GHz ssid to required LAN and all works fine.

So I believe I can use same SSID 1 name and password for both 2.4 and 5GHz bands. So in answer to my first question above, can I set the AP800 up in the same way then I guess its "like" mesh in that I expect my laptop to just connect to the same SSID 1 called "house" say, no matter where I am and if I take my laptop upstairs it will connect seamlessly to the AP800 with a stronger signal upstairs?

So now - what is the advantage of mesh? I need to read more!

Must try it!

There is no reason why you can't use the same SSID's and same passwords for all of your wifi on the same LAN.

In a mesh scenario the 2862 can only act as a root so the 903 would have to be a node. You would designate it as such when setting it up as per the manual. However, the AP800 doesn't have mesh capability - so are you connecting this via cable or by WDS? If by WDS, would you be connecting to the router or to the AP903?

In a scenario such as yours I can see little or no benefit to using mesh. In any event, the Draytek concept of "mesh" is pretty weak, as it doesn't use a dedicated backhaul channel. I would just use the 903 as a wired access point and the 800 as either wired or WDS (to either the router or the 903 - I've had more success using WDS between access points in the past) access point depending on your set up.

As to devices connecting "seamlessly" - you can spend many happy hours reading all the thread posts on that topic....

Thanks for the reply.

I've a wifi blind area in the house upstairs as the AP800 does not quite reach it and I've lived with it for years.
Yesterday a friend talked about mesh as he has many issues (I think its his Vodaphone hardware dropping connections) but it got me thinking.

So bought AP903 to try mesh or see if it is better than AP800 or do I need both realising it would not be mesh I guess.

AP800 is in loft and is connected to 2862 via cable. I can replace 800 with 903 and power 903 via poe using TP link poe injector.
Then via cable connect 903 to 800 and just use as AP's without mesh.

Just tried setting 2862 and 800 to same SSID and password and used phone ......ok it jumps to AP automatically when signal from 2862 is lost but when I come back downstairs it hangs onto AP800 even though 2862 is much stronger. Never tried it before with separate SSID's and passwords for 2862 and 800 but I guess same would have happened if I'd set phone to automatic connection for each SSID.

So I'm begining to think mesh offers no advantage for me.....and begining to think neither for my friend....he might as well just replace the VF hardware.

Anyhow, this topic is interesting to read about and at least (not sure if good/bad/indifferent) I only have one house SSID/password now.

In my opinion that's the best solution with your current devices.

Try putting "Wifi roaming" in the search box and see if any of the numerous suggestions help .... my understanding is that it's the client (i.e. phone or whatever) which decides which signal it wants to connect to, and they can be quite tenacious.... I've ended up with no band steering and disabled RSSI requirement in the "assisted roaming" parameters, but that's just me, and I do have a mesh of router plus 3 access points.

good luck