Internal antenna router

[siriuz]

Hey,

I'm looking for a single unit router for a 2 floor house each floor of 150 sq.m (1600 sq ft)
The router will be line of sight, so external antennas does not fit in.

I've been looking at the Asus XD6 or D-Link M30 AQUILA PRO but I find it hard to compare to other routers as most reviews and forum posts recommend routers with external antennas.

Do you have any recommendations for an internal antenna router for a 1 gbps connection.

Thank you for any help

 

[bbunge]

The XD6 should be OK. If you plan on a mesh system the XT8 would be better with WIFI backhaul.
And, there is nothing wrong with internal antenna. Many routers have at least one internal antenna as well as external.

 

[siriuz]

Alright, thank you for the response.

I just realized that I created this in the wrong sub forum. Any admin, feel free to move it to buying advice

 

[Tech9]

Asus ZenWiFi XT8 works well in single router configuration. It's perhaps the most popular ZenWiFi series model around. Available in black and white.

 

[coxhaus]

How about a small business set up with a ceiling mounted AP? It looks much better.

 

[tgl]

Yeah, I find it hard to recommend the XT8, as I had a pretty unsatisfactory experience with a pair of them. The hardware seems fine, and it has very high WAF (wife acceptance factor) if you need to mount it in a visible place, but the firmware has issues.

I like @coxhaus's idea of ceiling-mounted APs. However, most of those are somewhat directional (ie they are not meant to radiate up into the ceiling). That means you either mount one at the top of the upper floor and hope you get enough signal on the lower floor, or you buy two. I'd buy two, and run them at lower Tx power. That's what SMB APs are designed to do, and so the price per-unit is lower than you might think.

Personally I've had good luck with Zyxel and UniFi SMB-grade APs, and there are others around here who recommend Cisco or Omada.

BTW, just because the manufacturer says "ceiling mounted" doesn't mean you have to mount it on the ceiling. In my current digs the APs are all wall-mounted and fire sideways. A similar layout could work for you --- I'd think about one at the end of the upper floor and the other one at the opposite end of the lower floor, if that's feasible. (You do need to be able to run ethernet to both APs for that to be sane.)

 

[siriuz]

I'm not completely sure which routers would go under the term of "small business setup". - Which routers/APs would be a good choice for this?
To clarify a bit, i've attached a quickly drawn floorplan of the ground floor. The red arrow is where the internet comes into the house.
Since the internet comes in already somewhat in the middle, I would rather not run new wires

 

[tgl]

What are the interior walls made of?

 

[siriuz]

The interior walls are made of bricks, does that change the choice of router?

 

[TheLostSwede]

The interior walls are made of bricks, does that change the choice of router?

Yes, but it's not as bad as concrete with rebar in it or walls with chicken wire in them. The denser the material, the harder it is for the WiFi signal to penetrate it, but a lot of metal makes it even worse.

I used to live in a similar sized, three storey concrete and steel house and I had to have one device on each floor, connected with wires, to get an acceptable WiFi signal in the entire place. Each floor didn't have more than three rooms.

Keep in mind that ceiling mounted APs are designed to spread the signal downwards. Usually the more professional devices have antenna radiation maps that show how the signal is emitted, which could help you choose the right device if you go down that route. The suggestion of wall mounting them might not be ideal in your case.

Netgear have several devices with internal antennas.

 

[Tech9]

Single router is unlikely to work well for this place.

 

[siriuz]

Thank you for all the inputs. I ended up buying a single Deco xe75 pro. If it's not working perfectly, I have the opportunity to extend the network

 

[jerry6]

One router maybe 2 AP should cover you well, you will have to play with AP placement to get the best coverage . Brick is easier to eork with than 8" concrete and rebar walls .
Good luck