What is the best backhaul for a mesh network: wired or wireless?

[Abigail42]

I’m trying to set up a new mesh network to finally get rid of the dead zones in my house, but I’m stuck on whether I should use a wired backhaul. My router is in the basement and running Ethernet to the nodes would be a real project, but I’m worried the wireless backhaul will just create the same congestion issues I have now.

[VioletGP]

I set up a mesh system last year and found the wireless backhaul still left me with occasional slowdowns on busy evenings. I ended up running a single Ethernet run to one node and the upstairs WiFi stayed solid all night. It was messier than I wanted, but the payoff was real.

[Aubrey_W]

I tried to keep things simple and kept everything wireless. After a few weeks the kids still complained during gaming and video calls. The congestion felt like the same problem even with extra nodes.

[Ethan.M]

I moved the router to the center of the house and played with node placement, moving a node to the middle of the stairs. It helped a bit, but I still saw dead spots in the far rooms.

[EvelynAG]

One thought I have is maybe the real problem is the number of devices more than the backhaul; I tested speeds on speedtest and noticed the bottleneck at the router when the kids were streaming.

[Addison89]

Would you be open to running a single wired link to one node and see if the improvement justifies the effort?