expand my EA8500 or go Mesh

[al2813]

I have a two floor house with a serious WIFI coverage issue in my bedroom. I have already gone thorugh several setups and none of them solved the issue completely. As I stream a LOT over wifi (I have 2-3 tablets streaming over the weekends between me and my children), a strong coverage is vital. My current setup is:
- ISP cable modem/router in my office on the ground floor. The router acts as DHCP and AP for the ground floor. Most of my clients on the ground floor are wired. I have a main switch hanging off the router and a small switch in the living room connected to my home cinema setup there. My ISP replaced recently the modem router with an AC enabled Technicolor model which provides decent (but not excellent) coverage on the ground floor.
On the first floor i have an ethernet cable running from my office to the guest room where I have a Linksys EA8500 in bridge mode. My second multimedia zone is wired to the linksys (PS4 and Sat Receiver). the linksys than is setup as a second AP to provide coverage to the second floor. The big problem I have is that my bedroom on the other side of the hallway has bad coverage resulting in bad streaming quality. I bought the EA8500 recently in a very nice promo, hoping to improve the reception in my bedroom, but with mixed results.

I am now mentally ready to spend as much as I need to solve this issue once and for all. I thought of two possible solutions:

- Get a linksys RE7000 upstairs. The EA8500 will than go to my office and replace the ISP modem router which will be in bridge mode only. This will improve WIFI downstairs. The RE7000 will go to the hallway as wireless extender. I will benefit than from one single SSID for the whole house (Linksys seamless wifi), and since the distance to my bed will be almost halved (5 meters instead of 8-9), I should get better wifi as well. I will cover the guest room with a small switch

- Scrap my current setup and go for a new MESH wifi solution (Over here in Belgium I can only get netgear Orbi or Linksys Velop). This will cost a lot more but I am willing to do this if it delivers. I am not an expert, but my understanding is that both products have more efficient backhauling for wifi extension.

Any advice is appreciated. Even more general advices about my setup.

 

[netwrks]

I would run Ethernet (CAT5e, CAT6), for Access Point connections back to your router, ditch the home consumer wireless stuff and look at the Enterprise solutions. A couple of Ubiquity Unifi AC -LR's, or AC Pro's, or the new AC HD's, with a Unifi CLoudKey, would be a great alternative. Whatever fits your budget.

Depending on your Internet connection, I would also look into a router like the Ubiquity ERX, or, maybe, the Mikrotik hex.

 

[pege63]

Look for TP-Link EAP330 connect to your EA8500

 

[al2813]

I would run Ethernet (CAT5e, CAT6), for Access Point connections back to your router, ditch the home consumer wireless stuff and look at the Enterprise solutions. A couple of Ubiquity Unifi AC -LR's, or AC Pro's, or the new AC HD's, with a Unifi CLoudKey, would be a great alternative. Whatever fits your budget.

Depending on your Internet connection, I would also look into a router like the Ubiquity ERX, or, maybe, the Mikrotik hex.

The unifi solution is interesting because they provide additional components. As I am a home worker anyway, I was looking to get enterprise grade or at least small office grade networking setup. So if I can get 2 Unify AC Pro + the security gateway and the switch and than ditch my routers altogether?

 

[netwrks]

The unifi solution is interesting because they provide additional components. As I am a home worker anyway, I was looking to get enterprise grade or at least small office grade networking setup. So if I can get 2 Unify AC Pro + the security gateway and the switch and than ditch my routers altogether?

That's what I would do.. (I have been using two AC Pro's for about 4 months now). To fully configure the AC Pro's you will need a controller - cloudkey is an affordable alternative. Uses minimal power and easy to configure. Depending on what you may want to do with the USG, (lots of firewall rules etc), you may want to entertain an ERX. Although if you are looking for the single pane management, the USG is the way to go.. I can't comment much on the USG, as I use a PoE5 and an ERX. The forum would be the best place to pose USG questions.

 

[sfx2000]

Over here in Belgium I can only get netgear Orb

Looking at your post and needs - consider the orbi's - find a vendor (here in US Amazon and Costco are fairly friction free on returns) - but Orbi's might meet your needs.

Worth a try before spending much money on other directions...

 

[al2813]

Looking at your post and needs - consider the orbi's - find a vendor (here in US Amazon and Costco are fairly friction free on returns) - but Orbi's might meet your needs.

Worth a try before spending much money on other directions...

Orbi is very expensive. A set of 2 costs 429 Euros. For the same price I can get 2 unifi AC Pro (and I am even considering getting the cheaper AC LR as it may be sufficient), and the USG. So I get WiFi plus routing and firewalling.

 

[al2813]

Re-opening this thread as I am still struggling. Don't want to throw away my EA8500 but not convinced at all with the its range extender RE7000. happy to hear more recommendations.

 

[pege63]

As i wrote before look at UniFi AC Pro or TP-Link EAP330, APs.