A robust dual band AP with IPv6

[itsmarcos]

Hello everyone, been reading the main site for years - kudos to Tim for the excellent work. It's my first time on the forums though.

I am about to upgrade the home networking infrastructure devices (router and AP). For the router I am decided to purchase EdgeMax Lite and I am now looking for a dedicated AP with the following characteristics:

1. Simultaneous dual-band operation (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz)
2. Gigabit ports (minimum 2, preferably more)
3. IPv6 support

Priorities:

1. Speed with a mixed workload (email, surfing, accessing an external VPN, some streaming from the local NAS and/or internet, etc.)
2. Stability (no disconnects and minimum bandwidth deterioration with load) without the need of power recycling.
3. Future proofness (hence the IPv6 requirement).

Other info:

1. The average WiFi devices vary from a minimum 4 to 8 (family gatherings) and include laptops, phones, and tablets. As family grows and technology progresses this is expected to increase steadily
2. There are 3 fixed devices on the Cat6 LAN (NAS, Wii and TV) on an 8-port HP Gigabit switch.
3. Other goodies running on the AP are not needed (e.g. USB storage, firewall, etc)
4. The AP will be installed in a 1000 sq feet apartment (i.e. WiFi signal coverage is very easy to achieve everywhere)
5. A nice to have feature is WiFi scheduling (powering on/off at a specific time of the day).

The only obvious choice is Ubiquity's UniFi AP Pro and probably Apple's Airport Extreme that both come with a price tag. Airport Extreme also comes with lots of other goodies that we don't need. I also checked several Mikrotik offerings but stability and speed are not achieved.

Any other recommendations? Should I opt for a router with a tomato or DD-WRT firmware? My maximum budget is UniFi AP Pro but I would rather avoid such a steep tech investment.

Thanks in advance to everyone for your assistance

 

[stevech]

wondering why IPv6?

For stability, I chose to not use consumer products such as Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, et al. Instead, I'm using WiFi devices that cost about 20% more but are sold to the machine-to-machine (M2M) market, and routers to unattended operation users such as libraries, industrial settings.

One good supplier, and the one I've used on Pro projects, and at home, is Cradlepoint. Their products also have a cellular modem (your USB plug-in modem) fail-over option. So if you have a USB modem for your laptop, it can be used on the router if the ISP has a long failure. The travel-sized Cradlepoints can use the modem as well.

The feature set of the Cradlepoints (common firmware, all products) is 1000% more than I'll ever use. QoS, scheduling, filters, black-lists, DHCP reservations, and so on.

 

[itsmarcos]

Thanks

wondering why IPv6?

My understanding/prediction is that IPv6 will be a must-have feature in the years to come.

For stability, I chose to not use consumer products such as Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, et al. Instead, I'm using WiFi devices that cost about 20% more but are sold to the machine-to-machine (M2M) market, and routers to unattended operation users such as libraries, industrial settings.

One good supplier, and the one I've used on Pro projects, and at home, is Cradlepoint. Their products also have a cellular modem (your USB plug-in modem) fail-over option. So if you have a USB modem for your laptop, it can be used on the router if the ISP has a long failure. The travel-sized Cradlepoints can use the modem as well.

The feature set of the Cradlepoints (common firmware, all products) is 1000% more than I'll ever use. QoS, scheduling, filters, black-lists, DHCP reservations, and so on.

I checked Cradlepoint's products. I suspect that they must be really robust for pro use in a set-and-forget fashion.

Their specs are a bit on the low end for my needs - multiple devices with mixed networking activity and video streaming increasing (online and from local NAS).

 

[stevech]

As far as I know, DoD is the only one pushing for IPV6, within their own private networks. And the reason is for better security. The original impetus for IPv6 was a fear we're all running out of address space in IPv4. But with all the NATing that goes on, of late there is no paranoia about this.

So I'd not spend $ on IPV6.

Mixed devices? Meaning 11g/n? If so, all WiFi devices have the same challenges in these mixes - it's not a brand-specific issue.
Dual band simultaneous: Waste of money I say. Just add a 5.8GHz AP. Works better, costs less.

Video streaming - is a wire-speed issue; not WiFi. Because 1080i doesn't overwhelm 802.11g unless the RF path loss is high, or the client is a feeble low power device. And IMO, 1080p (not 1080i) will always be a disappointment, even with good signals and good client devices. So wired is the way to go and this can be cat5, MoCA, or HomePlug/power wiring.

So if you concur with this, you needn't spend $$$ on an over-marketed WiFi router, esp. if mated with a lesser client device.

 

[itsmarcos]

Thanks a lot stevech. I never thought of using two separate access points instead of a dual band one.

In terms of wiring, I am pretty well with Cat 6 wiring in the apartment. Streaming over wifi of 1080 video is mostly done over cable. The only high bandwidth usage over WiFi is my laptop's wife backing up her Outlook pst files on NAS (15 GBs or more). I am afraid she will have to settle with Gigabit Ethernet for a few more years

I am now thinking to go for a 2.4GHz AP for starters that can deliver somewhere between 10-15 MB/s and leave the 5.8 GHz AP for later.

PS: IPv6 is provided to pilot consumers for a couple of ISPs in Greece. I agree that NATing will definitely delay it further but not for too long