A dedicated backhaul for whole home coverage variously applies optimization techniques, e.g. using the 5 GHz high band or low band as a dedicated backhaul; using the 2.4 GHz band as backup if the 5 GHz band fails to reach between nodes; using Ethernet when it is better than the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz bands and it is available; and using a spanning tree protocol or a variant to avoid loops. The dedicated backhaul is used if the received signal strength indication (RSSI) of the dedicated channel is above a threshold. In embodiments, a daisy chain uses probe request contents to communicate hop count and link quality between the nodes by attempting to route directly if link quality is better than a defined threshold. For each extra hop, there must be some percentage gain over smaller hops. If the link is below some threshold, it is not used.