AP's with wired backhaul: Questions and Suggestions please.

[Akshay]

I am looking to get better wi-fi around my house. I am currently using a Netgear R7000 router running the Asus-Merlin custom firmware. For a an area that is fairly rural, I definitely end up getting some network congestion with my neighbors wireless networks having pretty strong signal in certain parts of the house. The house itself is only about 1500 square feet, 3 BD and 2 BA. Single floor.

-HOUSE SETUP-

The primary connection in my house is from the DSL Modem -> R7000 both sitting in my office.

The R7000 in turn has 3 cables running to a wall outlet in my office which has Cat 6 cables running under the house and coming out as wall outlets to 3 different rooms. Each of those wall outlets then has a Cat 6 running to a switch which in turn connects to different devices in those rooms.

The R7000 also has a 4th cable running to a 16 port switch in turn connects to all the devices in my office.

-QUESTIONS/CONCERNS-

My hope is have 3 wireless AP's over the house (same name) so that the devices can seamlessly switch. I am not sure if mesh is a requirement but I have looked at Eero, Google WiFi as options there. I have also looked at Orbi and Velop as potential options. Finally, I did also look at overhauling my whole network using Ubiquiti components but there is no way my wife lets me hang the Ubiquiti AP's on the ceiling or against the wall. The devices have to be something that can sit on top of a entertainment center, desk, etc.

I am hoping to spend around 500-600 dollars on this project and am pretty open to suggestions. Hopefully you guys can help me out.

Thanks.

 

[tannebil]

You are on the right track. Assuming your Ethernet drops are in reasonable locations to cover the whole house, any of the products you listed should work. I’d avoid the Orbi since it currently doesn’t support wired backhaul. Just be aware that products like eero don’t come with a lot of granular WiFi control compared to most routers. I run mine (Plume) in bridge mode with an ASUS router handling the heavy lifting. If you have specific needs, make sure you pick a product that supports them.

Perhaps somebody for familar with Ubiquiti can jump in and discuss mounting options. My guess would be that you can place them on a horizontal surface without a problem but there could be issues with antenna patterns. The UAC-AP-PRO is almost 8” in diameter so they need a fair amount of space compared to something like an eero.

Seamless switching? Depends on your definition of “seamless”, where your APs are placed, where you usually use your devices, the devices, the applications you use, and the performance required. Changing rooms while using Facebook is way different than wandering all over the house while running a multipoint HD video conference. That’s where Ubiquiti gives an edge because you can tune power levels to fit the AP placements. Still no guarantee but a higher liklihood of more seamless results.

 

[pege63]

There is also the TP-Link Deco M5 that you can set up as a star or a chain network as you say