New home AP

Gurky · August 2, 2021

Hi all!

So a quick run down of my plan and looking for product recommendations!

I mouse house in 2 weeks and this time we've bought it not rented so I have a little more freedom with wires! Now the house isn't huge but I want good WiFi/ethernet. The plan is I have 400mbps coming in maybe upgrade to 900 but no rush. That runs to a a netgear nighthawk at the moment and does a sweet job at the current house but in the new one the fibre comes in at one side and my office and living are on the other so I'm thinking run a cable to the loft and have a switch up there I have one that should do the job, them drop cable to living room and office. Maybe a second switch for living due to multiple hardwire devices. Then have an ap at the top of the stairs to sort that!

But that AP do I need/want? Google is confusing with extender/booster/repeater!

I have a little TP link thing now that creates a separate network I use for my Roku stick and the odd item that stays in that room but I want to be able tk move around the house and have good WiFi all over!

What do I need? I've seen ubiquiti ones? For around £70 will this work? Or should I get a TP link Mesh with 3 nodes for £99? I'd drop from 5 to 2 ethernet ports on the main box box though.

Any advice or help to get me straight would be amazing.

Lurick · August 2, 2021

If you get a mesh system you can get a switch (gigabit of course) to add Ethernet more ports to the main node. You can usually get a 5 or 8 port unmanaged switch for around $20.

As for what you should get it really depends on the house construction. If everything is made of solid concrete or something then a mesh system or AP won't do much once you're on the other side of a wall blocking the signal. If it's wood and drywall then either will be fine and comes down more to where the optimal coverage spot would be. In a tall and narrow home then a mesh system might be better otherwise a single AP should do nicely.