Looking for: Mesh System w/AP-Mode & Guest Network simultaneously

[Dehanahey]

Hey All,
Looks like one of my R7000's finally kicked the bucket. I've been using two of them for about 6 years now. I would like to use the opportunity to upgrade to one of the newer mesh systems. I have a couple of particular needs, however, and am looking for some info on which of the newer systems would fit. I'm looking for a system with:

1. Maintain Mesh abilities in AP Mode. I have a Sophos UTM serving as the primary router...and not looking to replace it.
2. Guest Network. I'll need the system to maintain guest-network segregation even though it is in AP mode.

My research so far seems to indicate that Eero would work. I'm not sure about Orbi...I've seen some conflicting info regarding recent firmware releases. I have not idea about Luma, Velop, Lyra, etc.

Anyone successfully using a system in the manner I'm looking for? My house is ~2500 sq/ft, two level.

 

[pege63]

First take a look and read here and here to get some meat on the bones.

 

[pete y testing]

1. Maintain Mesh abilities in AP Mode. I have a Sophos UTM serving as the primary router...and not looking to replace it.

so do you have ethernet installed to different parts of the house or do you want the mesh system to run on wifi and just have its router in ap mode

2. Guest Network. I'll need the system to maintain guest-network segregation even though it is in AP mode.

and thats the difficult bit , when in AP mode the router in its system is not controlling the guest network and so cant differentiate between the two so they are not fully isolated , certainly in the case of the orbi you lose isolation when in AP mode

 

[Dehanahey]

so do you have ethernet installed to different parts of the house or do you want the mesh system to run on wifi and just have its router in ap mode




and thats the difficult bit , when in AP mode the router in its system is not controlling the guest network and so cant differentiate between the two so they are not fully isolated , certainly in the case of the orbi you lose isolation when in AP mode

I have ethernet access on both levels of the house, so ethernet backhaul is an option.

Yes, I realize that's the tricky part. When I looked into the the Eero v1 last year, an eero tech informed me that even when in AP mode, the guest network remained isolated. This is achieved by having each AP simply drop any traffic addressed to the internal IP space.

 

[pete y testing]

I have ethernet access on both levels of the house, so ethernet backhaul is an option.

then tbh you would be crazy not to use it and just have proper access points

something like a couple of ubiquiti unifi AC lite AP's

https://help.ubnt.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000166827-UniFi-Wireless-Guest-Network-Setup