Best option for wifi access point?

[Bion1985]

So I already have a main router (located on 1st floor of my home) that covers that area pretty well. I am now considering adding a 2nd access point upstairs to provide stronger coverage to the second story. What are my best options? I've been looking into something like this and just running it in access point mode, still need to do some more wifi testing on second floor to see if necessary. 

 

NETGEAR AC1900 WiFi Range Extender - Essentials Edition (EX6400) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D6JEMXC/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_f2TLxbS6484PW

 

Also figured I should add, my main router is a Netgear Nighthawk ac1900 and we have Comcast extreme 150mbps internet.

 

Thanks. 

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Id get a unify access point. You can get their ac lite for about that much.

[dalekphalm]

53 minutes ago, Bion1985 said:

So I already have a main router (located on 1st floor of my home) that covers that area pretty well. I am now considering adding a 2nd access point upstairs to provide stronger coverage to the second story. What are my best options? I've been looking into something like this and just running it in access point mode, still need to do some more wifi testing on second floor to see if necessary. 

 

NETGEAR AC1900 WiFi Range Extender - Essentials Edition (EX6400) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D6JEMXC/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_f2TLxbS6484PW

 

Also figured I should add, my main router is a Netgear Nighthawk ac1900 and we have Comcast extreme 150mbps internet.

 

Thanks. 

 

Are you aware that the unit you chose is a Powerline Ethernet Access Point? Meaning that it connects to the rest of your LAN by another Powerline Ethernet adapter?

 

If possible, get a traditional access point and direct connect to your router via Ethernet.

 

However, Powerline Ethernet is better than a WIFI bridge extender.

[Bion1985]

1 minute ago, dalekphalm said:

Are you aware that the unit you chose is a Powerline Ethernet Access Point? Meaning that it connects to the rest of your LAN by another Powerline Ethernet adapter?

 

If possible, get a traditional access point and direct connect to your router via Ethernet.

 

However, Powerline Ethernet is better than a WIFI bridge extender.

I thought PowerLine over eathernet access points had two plug in units? I thought the one I linked was just a wifi range extender. I know these Netgear wall extenders have a switch on the side to toggle from extender mode to access point mode. I have heard very good things about PowerLine over eathernet adapters but as I live in a somewhat older home I'd like to try to stay away from powe line adapters as I don't know how well it would work. From my understanding the one I linked of you set it to access point mode and run an eathernet cable from the modem to it, it will broadcast wifi as an access point. I could be wrong as I'm not 100% familiar with networking 

[dalekphalm]

1 minute ago, Bion1985 said:

I thought PowerLine over eathernet access points had two plug in units? I thought the one I linked was just a wifi range extender. I know these Netgear wall extenders have a switch on the side to toggle from extender mode to access point mode. I have heard very good things about PowerLine over eathernet adapters but as I live in a somewhat older home I'd like to try to stay away from powe line adapters as I don't know how well it would work. From my understanding the one I linked of you set it to access point mode and run an eathernet cable from the modem to it, it will broadcast wifi as an access point. I could be wrong as I'm not 100% familiar with networking 

I might be mistaken about this being Powerline Ethernet. It just looks identical to Powerline Ethernet devices.

 

Anyway, it does look like this device can work as a normal AP. There's an Ethernet connection on the bottom, that should be able to feed in from the main router.

[Bion1985]

13 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

I might be mistaken about this being Powerline Ethernet. It just looks identical to Powerline Ethernet devices.

 

Anyway, it does look like this device can work as a normal AP. There's an Ethernet connection on the bottom, that should be able to feed in from the main router.

Alright thanks.

 

49 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Id get a unify access point. You can get their ac lite for about that much.

Also I nend to look into these, I've heard good things. Can they only broadcast one band at a time (2.4ghz or 5ghz)

[Electronics Wizardy]

1 minute ago, Bion1985 said:

Alright thanks.

 

Also I nend to look into these, I've heard good things. Can they only broadcast one band at a time (2.4ghz or 5ghz)

they can do both at once.

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, Bion1985 said:

Alright thanks.

 

Also I nend to look into these, I've heard good things. Can they only broadcast one band at a time (2.4ghz or 5ghz)

Unifi Access Points should have simultaneous Dual Band.

[Bion1985]

Thanks guys, just watched a quick YouTube overview on them and had a couple questions. How bulky is the software needed to configure and setup these points? If I understand correctly Unifi points are software controlled not firmware controlled. Does the software use a lot of system resources? My Internet network is primarily used for gaming. Also it seems nice that they are power over eathernet and wall and ceiling mountable, but assuming for a nice clean cable run you need some wiremold.

[dalekphalm]

2 minutes ago, Bion1985 said:

Thanks guys, just watched a quick YouTube overview on them and had a couple questions. How bulky is the software needed to configure and setup these points? If I understand correctly Unifi points are software controlled not firmware controlled. Does the software use a lot of system resources? My Internet network is primarily used for gaming. Also it seems nice that they are power over eathernet and wall and ceiling mountable, but assuming for a nice clean cable run you need some wiremold.

I've never used one personally, but you should be able to configure them without the need for any software controller software (lulz). You should be able to log into the web GUI on the AP and do some basic configuration through there.

 

Though, someone who has had hands on experience should confirm this.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, dalekphalm said:

I've never used one personally, but you should be able to configure them without the need for any software controller software (lulz). You should be able to log into the web GUI on the AP and do some basic configuration through there.

 

Though, someone who has had hands on experience should confirm this.

No - they're an enterprise AP and require a controller to function correctly. You can run a single AP without having it connected to the controller however for a multi AP environment, it won't work correctly. 

1 hour ago, Bion1985 said:

Thanks guys, just watched a quick YouTube overview on them and had a couple questions. How bulky is the software needed to configure and setup these points? If I understand correctly Unifi points are software controlled not firmware controlled. Does the software use a lot of system resources? My Internet network is primarily used for gaming. Also it seems nice that they are power over eathernet and wall and ceiling mountable, but assuming for a nice clean cable run you need some wiremold.

If you had any other questions on UniFi/Ubiquiti products, shoot - I work enterprise presales for the biggest Ubiquiti reseller in Australia  

[Bion1985]

4 hours ago, Windspeed36 said:

No - they're an enterprise AP and require a controller to function correctly. You can run a single AP without having it connected to the controller however for a multi AP environment, it won't work correctly. 

If you had any other questions on UniFi/Ubiquiti products, shoot - I work enterprise presales for the biggest Ubiquiti reseller in Australia  

Awesome thanks, how well do they function without a controller? Can they be controled with the mobile app opposed to from the desktop client? What type of major downsides are there to not having the controller? Although they are enterprise grade would they work well for a home and on gaming? My primary system is wired with eathernet but I have a couple gaming laptops in the house that it would be nice to have a good wifi connection on.

 

Thanks again!

[harry4742]

11 hours ago, Windspeed36 said:

No - they're an enterprise AP and require a controller to function correctly. You can run a single AP without having it connected to the controller however for a multi AP environment, it won't work correctly. 

If you had any other questions on UniFi/Ubiquiti products, shoot - I work enterprise presales for the biggest Ubiquiti reseller in Australia  

NO there are not, they are beefed up home stuff

if you want a decent standalone AP take a look on HPs M330 WW (250$) or Arubas 205 instant (400$) they are both entry level standalone business AP's

[Bion1985]

25 minutes ago, harry4742 said:

NO there are not, they are beefed up home stuff

if you want a decent standalone AP take a look on HPs M330 WW (250$) or Arubas 205 instant (400$) they are both entry level standalone business AP's

I'm looking for home wifi access point.

[Guest]

12 hours ago, Bion1985 said:

Awesome thanks, how well do they function without a controller? Can they be controled with the mobile app opposed to from the desktop client? What type of major downsides are there to not having the controller? Although they are enterprise grade would they work well for a home and on gaming? My primary system is wired with eathernet but I have a couple gaming laptops in the house that it would be nice to have a good wifi connection on.

 

Thanks again!

They'll provide network connectivity for a single AP however multiple AP's won't mesh or have zero handoff. Furthermore you won't get any form of DPI or bandwidth tracking & management. 

5 hours ago, harry4742 said:

NO there are not, they are beefed up home stuff

if you want a decent standalone AP take a look on HPs M330 WW (250$) or Arubas 205 instant (400$) they are both entry level standalone business AP's

They are - they're marked as a corporate AP for SMB and SME. I know this because I sell them alongside Cisco, Aruba, Meraki and many others. They're designed for large quantity deployment alongside their switching and routing products running UniFi to give complete bandwidth tracking and management for all clients similar to what Meraki offer though without the licensing model. Beefed Up Home Stuff doesn't need 802.1x/WPA enterprise authentication, multi site management, RF mapping with floor plans or paid guest access just to name a few things.