Which 2024-25 Non-Mesh Wi-Fi Routers Have 1 Watt Transmitters & Most Sensitive Receivers?

[RobTuck]

I have found it impossible to determine which non-mesh wi-fi routers deliver the greatest distance in a typical home environment. The transmitting power and receiving sensitivity inherent to specific chip sets is probably known by those who are experts in the chips but the antenna design will account for at least 50% of the variance in the final result. Does anyone have this information, based either on technical specs or empirical data?

 

[degrub]

Have you looked at Ubiquity outdoor APs ?
What range are you trying to reach ?
Indoor, too much power is usually bad.

 

[RobTuck]

Thank you. I will take a look. I'm looking for coverage that is mostly indoors but needs to present a decent signal to nearby outdoor cameras, most of which are affixed near the roof line and a couple of which have to go through three walls. The worst case cameras are working OK now with my Tp-Link AX-11000. The communication is reliable but quite slow in the worst case. I know there are options for mesh and repeaters but I'm looking to explore the single router solution for the moment.

When situations change a little, I might again explore a mesh system but the last time I purchased a decent quality NetGear system I was appalled at how little control I had over the parameters. I do a lot of port forwarding and have a VPN server connected with a NAS. The mesh systems I looked at seemed designed as non-technical plug-n-play with few user controls. I ended up returning it.

 

[Tech9]

High power AP won't extend the range. Wi-Fi is 2-way communication and clients have much weaker radios. They have to reach back to the AP through the same obstacles. High power AP only creates disbalanced links. This is wrong planning resulting in devices with full bar signal, but in fact bad Wi-Fi connection. Ubiquiti APs are up to 400mW or 26dBm and this is the maximum useful power from a single AP.

 

[degrub]

Sounds like you need a couple POE APs outside to cover the cameras or possibly inside near the outer walls.
Have a look at either Ubiquity or TPLink Omada.

And, unless you are trying to get through concrete interior walls, reducing the AP power of the wifi router would help you more.
A non wireless router plus a couple APs may work better and more reliably.

What is the physical layout of the house ? Plan view sketch with lengths ?

 

[RobTuck]

High power AP won't extend the range. Wi-Fi is 2-way communication and clients have much weaker radios. They have to reach back to the AP through the same obstacles. High power AP only creates disbalanced links. This is wrong planning resulting in devices with full bar signal, but in fact bad Wi-Fi connection. Ubiquiti APs are up to 400mW or 26dBm and this is the maximum useful power from a single AP.

My question went to both transmitting power and receiver sensitivity, both mediated, of course, by antenna design, placement, SWR, and more. While it is complicated, the FAA generally limits Wi-Fi transmitter power to one watt.

 

[Tech9]

My question went to both transmitting power and receiver sensitivity, both mediated, of course, by antenna design, placement, SWR, and more.

There is no single AP capable of doing this. If you need good quality Wi-Fi in a larger coverage area or more challenging environment - multiple low power APs is the only answer. Home routers shout with up to 1W radios just because they are All-In-One devices. For high performance Wi-Fi you need -52/54dBm signal level everywhere. Otherwise link rates drop and become highly disbalanced with higher Rx rates (we hear you loud and clear, AP... thanks!) than Tx rates (can you hear us, AP... hello, anyone there?)... Hope this example makes it more clear.

 

[tgl]

One thought before you invest in more APs ... which wifi band are these cameras working in? It might be worth trying 2.4GHz if they're currently on 5GHz, because that band has better wall penetration ability. Of course there might be too much interference from neighbors (the flip side of superior penetration), but it's worth looking into.

Also, you have put effort into selecting a relatively low-interference channel, right?

 

[Tech9]

Best investment for surveillance cameras is PoE. Wireless cameras are more like toys. Make sense as Plan C when nothing is available around and they are battery or solar powered. Investing in more APs to support initial wrong investment doesn't sound like a good plan.