AC class router and access points advice

[Tygerr]

I live in a two-storey house that has an L-shaped floor plan on the ground floor. All the walls and ceilings are made of concrete. So it’s a challenge to get wi-fi signals spread throughout the house.

Luckily I had gigabit Ethernet cabling running from the ground floor to upstairs, so I was able to cover the house using three N300-class routers: one upstairs as the primary router and two downstairs in the two opposite corners of the L-shape (with the downstairs two running in AP mode). This gave me reasonable levels of 2.4Ghz wifi throughout the house.

However, the house was struck by lightning a little while back and all the routers were fried (as well as a modem and some other electronic equipment).

I’m looking to upgrade the routers/APs to AC class devices now.

I have 4 MU-MIMO capable devices currently so I was looking to use something in the AC2600 class.

Also, I’ve heard that the newer AC class routers have much stronger wifi signals than my older N300 routers would’ve had, so perhaps I might not need 3 devices to cover the whole area: maybe I could get away with 2 AC2600 routers to cover upstairs and downstairs?

Would you recommend 2x AC2600 (perhaps the TP-Link model that seems reasonably priced) routers, or maybe one AC2600 for upstairs (where the MU-MIMO devices mostly reside) and 2x AC1900 devices downstairs? (like 2 of those cheap Tenda AC1900 routers set up as access points)?

 

[pege63]

Search in the different threads you will find the answers there, trust me.

 

[pete y testing]

However, the house was struck by lightning a little while back and all the routers were fried (as well as a modem and some other electronic equipment).

the first question i would ask is if this was the case have you have the ethernet cabling tested or replaced as if the strike was thats bad it would have tracked through the ethernet

I’ve heard that the newer AC class routers have much stronger wifi signals than my older N300 routers would’ve had,

correct

I have 4 MU-MIMO capable devices currently so I was looking to use something in the AC2600 class.

to be honest im not sure having mu-mimo is of any great benefit to you anyway as mu-mimo is big on promise but gives little in reality

I’m looking to upgrade the routers/APs to AC class devices now.

then upgrade to the 1900ac class and have one per floor to start with , i think you will find that more than enough , even go as far as having a separate router and 2 dedicated wireless access points as if your going to spend money spend in on something right instead of add hoc

 

[Tygerr]

Thank you for the responses.

the first question i would ask is if this was the case have you have the ethernet cabling tested or replaced as if the strike was thats bad it would have tracked through the ethernet

You're right. It did track through the Ethernet cables. Basically every device in the house that had an Ethernet cable plugged into it was fried (including TV's, PC's). I've had to replace two cables but I've tested all the rest and they're working ok.

That's one of the main reasons I want to upgrade to higher-end AC class wireless. If I can get more throughput on the wifi network then I can have more devices running on the wifi rather than the wired LAN and make it slightly more resistant to lighting strikes.

then upgrade to the 1900ac class and have one per floor to start with , i think you will find that more than enough , even go as far as having a separate router and 2 dedicated wireless access points as if your going to spend money spend in on something right instead of add hoc

When you say router and 2 wireless AP's, do you mean a wired router?

And what is the benefit of using AP's instead of a router in AP mode? Would you recommend something like those Ubiquiti AP's or just a commercial type AP (like maybe those Linksys RE7000 repeaters running as AP's off a wired line)?

 

[pete y testing]

When you say router and 2 wireless AP's, do you mean a wired router?

yes , wired router and 2 ap's

And what is the benefit of using AP's instead of a router in AP mode?

sheer ability to get the wifi to where its needed or to cover the whole house and not compromise because of location

Would you recommend something like those Ubiquiti AP's

sure the unifi ac lite are perfect for home use and cheap and easy to use

or just a commercial type AP (like maybe those Linksys RE7000 repeaters running as AP's off a wired line)?

nah stick with the unifi as many know and use them and linksys just aint so good these days

 

[Tygerr]

yes , wired router and 2 ap's
sheer ability to get the wifi to where its needed or to cover the whole house and not compromise because of location

But wouldn't an AC1900 router do just as good a job at spreading the wifi signal as an AP? I mean given that I could put the router in the same location as I'd put the AP?

yes , wired router and 2 ap's
sure the unifi ac lite are perfect for home use and cheap and easy to use

Unfortunately I can't find any sellers on Amazon that ship the Unifi to my country right now. I'll have to try a few other places.

 

[pete y testing]

But wouldn't an AC1900 router do just as good a job at spreading the wifi signal as an AP? I mean given that I could put the router in the same location as I'd put the AP?

quite possibly but i dont like mixing brands when setting up a shared wifi system , using the same brands and models means they will work the same , its just my preference however in general is best practice

Unfortunately I can't find any sellers on Amazon that ship the Unifi to my country right now

you could use other brands for the ap's if you can find them , im just giving you the best cheap option ap wise

 

[Tygerr]

you could use other brands for the ap's if you can find them , im just giving you the best cheap option ap wise

I can get the ZyXEL NWA1123-AC AP from Amazon. It seems to have roughly the same specs as the UniFi. What do you think?

And since they don't ship the Ubiquiti EdgeRouters to me either, can you recommend any other wired routers that offer similar functionality?

 

[pete y testing]

ZyXEL NWA1123-AC AP

they seem to have reasonable reviews and you might have a bit of a learning curve setting them up but nothing you would need a degree for , have used then though so cant comment on quality or performance but seem to match the unifi ac lite ap's spec wise

router wise you can pretty much look at maybe microtik or netgear pro stuff , there are plenty of soho type router only things around if you cant get the edge stuff

alternativly you might have a wireless router there you can use and just disable its wifi