Can any one suggest a good but inexpensive access point?

[j1404]

Hello

 

I have recently put cat 5e around my house, the problem is that I am using the current wireless on my bt homehub 5 and there are some rooms that the wireless doesn't cover at all and I am not able to connect wireless devices to the network. So I was going to put access points in a couple of rooms to allow wireless access. I've looked at many access points on amazon but half the reviews praise the product and the other half say that the product is rubbish. 

 

Also I am confused about the fact that some of the access points only have 10/100 ports on them and yet can give 300mbps speeds?? I'm no IT whiz but surely you are limited by the connection speed out of the access point's port? Obviously my internet speed is not 300mbps but i mean if you are transferring a file between a tablet say connected to the access point and a pc connected by gigabit ethernet then your only going to get 100mbps speeds because of the port.

 

Features I would like

• Non passive PoE would be nice but i'm not bothered
• Some sort of wall mounting
• Gigabit port on the back
• The 300mbps is fine
• Below £100 would be nice especially as i will have to buy two

 

I am in the UK by the way.

[Brennan Price]

Are you in UK or America? Anywhere else etc...

[j1404]

Oh sorry that would have been a good thing to put in the topic description. UK

[Totalschaden1997]

I suggest u check out the LongRange (LR) Series by Ubiquiti.

[thedigitaldoctor]

Under £100 with a gigabit port?  This was as close as I could get: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B007OWY6P2

 

I love Engenius APs...

Edited March 29, 2016 by thedigitaldoctor
clarification

[j1404]

would not having a gigabit port matter? would i notice?

[thedigitaldoctor]

1 minute ago, j1404 said:

would not having a gigabit port matter? would i notice?

As you stated in your original post:

2 hours ago, j1404 said:

Also I am confused about the fact that some of the access points only have 10/100 ports on them and yet can give 300mbps speeds?? I'm no IT whiz but surely you are limited by the connection speed out of the access point's port? Obviously my internet speed is not 300mbps but i mean if you are transferring a file between a tablet say connected to the access point and a pc connected by gigabit ethernet then your only going to get 100mbps speeds because of the port.

This is true.  Your effective network speed over the wireless connection would be limited to 100mbps.  You wouldn't notice when browsing the internet, but if you're doing any sort of large file transfers (ie. backups, video files, large amounts of pictures, etc) you'll notice.

 

To summarize:  If you're not doing large local network transfers, you won't notice, and you can buy a WAP with a 100mbps ethernet port.  If you are doing large local network transfers, it may be worth it to spend the extra money on a WAP with a gigabit ethernet port.  Personally I try to spend the extra on a higher performance solution whenever I can, rather than possibly regretting it later.

[mcraftax]

Ubiquiti UniFi APs

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ac/

chose the model which is best for you

[j1404]

1 hour ago, thedigitaldoctor said:

As you stated in your original post:

This is true.  Your effective network speed over the wireless connection would be limited to 100mbps.  You wouldn't notice when browsing the internet, but if you're doing any sort of large file transfers (ie. backups, video files, large amounts of pictures, etc) you'll notice.

 

To summarize:  If you're not doing large local network transfers, you won't notice, and you can buy a WAP with a 100mbps ethernet port.  If you are doing large local network transfers, it may be worth it to spend the extra money on a WAP with a gigabit ethernet port.  Personally I try to spend the extra on a higher performance solution whenever I can, rather than possibly regretting it later.

Ok thanks. Yeah it would be nice to try and have a fully gigabit network. I have been looking at engenius and yeah I mean you say they are good but i believe there website has some sort of virus on it.

3 minutes ago, JaredM54 said:

The best access points for the money are from Ubiquiti. Any from the AC line will work well, and I'm assuming they're available in the UK.

Yeah I have been looking at ubiquiti and I need to make sure that I pick the right one to get gigabit. I have also been finding out that most reasonably priced consumer access points don't have gigabit ports on them and that they are so expensive. So it might have to be an enterprise solution which are still expensive.

 

Has anyone used tplink, netgear access points ?

[j1404]

5 minutes ago, mcraftax said:

Ubiquiti UniFi APs

https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ac/

chose the model which is best for you

Yeah ubiquiti does sound like the way to go. Sorry for the moaning in the last comment. The ac lite is £80!!! but oh well ill have to bite the bullet. Thanks guys.

[thedigitaldoctor]

No viruses on the Engenius UK website.  Also, you can filter by ethernet port type and indoor/outdoor: http://www.engenius-uk.co.uk/products-wireless-accesspoints.html?category=indoor

 

Many to choose from:

Spoiler

Amazon UK Engenius AP Selection

[skywake]

+1 to the suggestions for Ubiquiti. Cheaper stuff in my experience doesn't do the trick and will often die in wierd and unexpected ways. You'll end up spending more going through them than just going for something decent from the start.

 

15 hours ago, j1404 said:

Also I am confused about the fact that some of the access points only have 10/100 ports on them and yet can give 300mbps speeds?? I'm no IT whiz but surely you are limited by the connection speed out of the access point's port? Obviously my internet speed is not 300mbps but i mean if you are transferring a file between a tablet say connected to the access point and a pc connected by gigabit ethernet then your only going to get 100mbps speeds because of the port.

The numbers on the box are theoretical. As a general rule of thumb these are the single user speeds of each spec:

<20Mbps: WiFi 802.11b, WiFi 802.11a/g, old powerline gear

<100Mbps: N150, N300, N600, AC750, Powerline AV200, AV500

<1Gbps: WiFi N900, AC1200, AC1750, AC1900, Powerline AV2-1000, AV2-2000

>1Gbps: *crickets*