New WIFI sytem for 240 m2 house

[tadinis]

Hello,

Moved to new house. I have 240 m2 (~2600 square feet) of house area plus I would like to have WIFI connection outside in terrace and next to the pool. So now I started searching for network solution.

As I understand I will need AIMesh system with 2 or 3 units. I want to invest for minimum 5 years in future with this system.

I have 3 iPhone 16 Pro, newest and older iPad, older Samsung tablet, PC (which will be wired), 5 home appliances (dishwasher, oven, washing machine and so on), 5-7 lightning units, which are controlled through WIFI and 2 TVs with WIFI 5 as I know.

I have 1 Gbit internet.

I don’t know the difference between AiMesh systems and simple routers as they both can make AiMesh network. I’m planning to spend 500 euro for all this system.

So, my picks:

Asus BE86U x 2 units; 503 euro. (I think it will have biggest coverage).
Asus BT8 x 2 units; 430 euro.
Asus XT8 x 3 units. 449 euro. (maybe I should stay with old but gold WIFI 5? though if something will broke I will not find new unit to replace, because it’s going out from the market).

I don’t know what is better 2 units of BE86U or 2 units of BT8? Whats the difference, why we have option for AiMEsh system like BT, XT, ET if simple router like BE86U or BE92 can do AiMesh also.

House are wired, each room have CAT6 cable from my "central hub" where I am getting internet connection from my ISP and from there I'm spreading internet to rooms throught switch.

Thanks for your help.

 

[bbunge]

If you do not need WIFI 7, don't. With Ethernet backhaul WIFI 6 devices like AX86U Pro will work very well and save money.

 

[SoFluffy]

I’d steer clear of the XT8. (XT8 is Wifi6/AX BTW, but these devices are kinda old at this point.) Even over all the years since their release, they have consistently had unstable firmware. Gnuton made it better, but just search the forums here for all the pain, especially if you want to use the AI Mesh. I gave up on them and got the RT-AX86U and now have the RT-AX86U Pro as my main. I only use the XT8 as Media bridges, and they are rock solid for that scenario.

I’ll +1 bbunge and suggest the RT-AX86U Pro if you can find a pair of them within your budget and see if that covers the footprint. I needed a 3rd node and got a refurb AX86S for cheap, so that might be an option for you, again depending on your budget. You can also read up here on all the random pain of the Wifi7 devices. If you just want solid wifi, don’t be a Wifi7 beta tester.

 

[tadinis]

But AX86U Pro is so old in my opinion (from year 2020). Like I said I want option for the min 5 year into the future. Maybe BE86U is good? Maybe for now I can turn off WIFI 7 and stay only with WIFI 6? Or it can not be done like that? Later when firmware will be fixed and work in more stable way I will turn on WIFI 7.

Also can someone explain: Whats the difference, why we have option for AiMEsh system like BT, XT, ET if simple router like BE86U or BE92 can do AiMesh also. I don’t know what is better 2 units of BE86U or 2 units of BT8?

I was looking to ET12, BT10 units, but they are expensive.
Maybe I missed other good products and someone can recommend them.
Thanks.

 

[degrub]

With wired backhaul to every room, you have the infrastructure for using a SMB system - Consider Ubiquity or TPlink OMADA.
There are many posts here about using either system. Use the Ubiquity planning simulator to generate a wifi heat map for coverage and placement of APs. Works well if you know the wall construction and house plan.

These are set and forget systems. Cost is a little more up front, but much less aggravation over time.

 

[Tech9]

But AX86U Pro is so old in my opinion (from year 2020)

Dec 2022

Maybe I missed other good products

Ubiquiti UniFi

 

[tadinis]

Thank you for correction Tech9. Pro model went on 2022.

So you saying that AX86U Pro will be good option for the next 5 years? And if I don't need right now WIFI 7 it is better to wait for it. Others also thinking like that?

Ubiquiti UniFi is more serious system. I don't have experiance with it. Do I need such powerhouse? Is it true, that at the beggining it will cost me more, but later it will be easier with it. Installed and fogot?

 

[Tech9]

So you saying...

I'll go straight with what I want to say - in your new house someone did the plumbing for you because you're perhaps not a plumber; someone did the electrical panels and wires for you because perhaps you're not an electrician; someone did the entire HVAC system for you because perhaps you're not an HVAC technician... You must be good in networking since you have decided to do it yourself. Don't ask for free home network project starting from hardware selection.

No one here knows what works well for in an unknown configuration 240m2 house built from unknown materials. People in the US trying to help you perhaps don't know in the EU the entire Wi-Fi planning is different. You don't have the channels available in the US and your power on most will be limited to 10-20% of what's allowed in the US. If you want to shoot in the dark with over the counter products following general advice from people in different regions - go ahead. Your money, your mistakes, your loss. If you want to do it right once and forget about it - hire a professional and let them do it for you with the proper equipment.

Installed and fogot?

Yes, but I'm not doing the planning for you. Some ideas in this recent thread, more if you use Search.

 

[tadinis]

Tech9, thank you for straight forward.

The last question is Ubiquiti UniFi WIFI 7 is good right now? In forum I read that Asus WIFI 7 is still in "beta", most of the people are saying to avoid it right now and stay with WIFI 6. Besides right now I don't have WIFI 7 devices. So how it is with Ubiquiti UniFi? Is it worth money to get WIFI 7 right now from Ubiquiti? Is it stable and reliable?

I'm planing to do networking by myself and I don't have enought knowledge so I'm thinking to go more with product, which are less or more ready out of the box. Later, at least after 5 years, I will start looking to WIFI 7.

Walls are made from timber frame, OSB boards and gypsum. No bricks or concrete.

Thanks

 

[Tech9]

The last question is Ubiquiti UniFi WIFI 7 is good right now?

A few SNB Forum members switched to Wi-Fi 7 class UniFi systems recently, reported positive experience after. I have purchased the hardware for one, the owners are very happy. I personally have three Wi-Fi 6 class UniFi systems, extremely reliable.

 

[2301]

I'll go straight with what I want to say - in your new house someone did the plumbing for you because you're perhaps not a plumber; someone did the electrical panels and wires for you because perhaps you're not an electrician; someone did the entire HVAC system for you because perhaps you're not an HVAC technician... You must be good in networking since you have decided to do it yourself. Don't ask for free home network project starting from hardware selection.

No one here knows what works well for in an unknown configuration 240m2 house built from unknown materials. People in the US trying to help you perhaps don't know in the EU the entire Wi-Fi planning is different. You don't have the channels available in the US and your power on most will be limited to 10-20% of what's allowed in the US. If you want to shoot in the dark with over the counter products following general advice from people in different regions - go ahead. Your money, your mistakes, your loss. If you want to do it right once and forget about it - hire a professional and let them do it for you with the proper equipment.



Yes, but I'm not doing the planning for you. Some ideas in this recent thread, more if you use Search.

Excellent point about the very different WiFi regulations in the US and EU. Most youtube reviews don't specify which country they are in, so the outcome of a purchase based on a US review may be very different in the EU than expected.

 

[tgl]

UniFi's first-generation U7 APs had some issues, mostly around poor compatibility with cheap IoT devices. I think that's pretty well cleaned up now; I've not seen such complaints recently. UI's community forums are lively and worth consulting, but do keep in mind that you get a biased view of the extent of problems: nobody posts to say that things are working great. (Of course, the same applies here for ASUS.)

 

[conflictednetworks]

Hello,

Moved to new house. I have 240 m2 (~2600 square feet) of house area plus I would like to have WIFI connection outside in terrace and next to the pool. So now I started searching for network solution.

As I understand I will need AIMesh system with 2 or 3 units. I want to invest for minimum 5 years in future with this system.

I have 3 iPhone 16 Pro, newest and older iPad, older Samsung tablet, PC (which will be wired), 5 home appliances (dishwasher, oven, washing machine and so on), 5-7 lightning units, which are controlled through WIFI and 2 TVs with WIFI 5 as I know.

I have 1 Gbit internet.

I don’t know the difference between AiMesh systems and simple routers as they both can make AiMesh network. I’m planning to spend 500 euro for all this system.

So, my picks:

Asus BE86U x 2 units; 503 euro. (I think it will have biggest coverage).
Asus BT8 x 2 units; 430 euro.
Asus XT8 x 3 units. 449 euro. (maybe I should stay with old but gold WIFI 5? though if something will broke I will not find new unit to replace, because it’s going out from the market).

I don’t know what is better 2 units of BE86U or 2 units of BT8? Whats the difference, why we have option for AiMEsh system like BT, XT, ET if simple router like BE86U or BE92 can do AiMesh also.

House are wired, each room have CAT6 cable from my "central hub" where I am getting internet connection from my ISP and from there I'm spreading internet to rooms throught switch.

Thanks for your help.

While I cannot remotely comment on the said equipment you're wanting to buy that I did do an very extensive homeowner a/b testing using real world extremely examples of how I'd use our home wifi/network. I tested a UI UDR7+ U7 Pro + U7 XG AP, the same setup using a UCG fibre gateway and a long asus BE96U running the latest firmware build.

While I LOVE LOVE LOVE UI to death for all it can offer that it was undeniable that the Asus 96U outperformed it in wifi performance and EASILY sustained up to 2.5 GBE with nary a hiccup. I can't say for speeds above 2.5 GBE as my home network was upgraded to that max speed but the wi-fi performance out of this top end asus router was insane, like far far far better than I could EVER imagine and as much as I tried HARD to make a solid use case to buy the ui system that the asus just smashed it out of the park every single time at a much lower price point. $600 CAD on sale during the BF/Christmas shopping window and let me tell, you, aside from the annoying 1GBE ports on the 96U (solvable using a faster switch on the one available 10GBE port) that the router checks off almost all boxes for my use case. Take a hard and serious look a the BE96U as the main router and then add more ai-mesh ones to it later. You might be able to get away with NOT needing any at all. Our home 3000 sq ft and the one asus router gives SOLID signal to all corners of the home in both finished and unfinished spaces including a relatively decent sized yard and even across the street from our home. The client devices (namely our phone) can easily talk back to the router too so even the return power from client devices is heard by the router in our home. It's wild how good it performed. I wanted UI to beat it but it just couldn't come close despite multiple attempts to make it work right.

 

[Tech9]

You might be able to get away with NOT needing any at all.

When you see area in m2 and currency in Euro the OP is definitely in different region than yours. Your router in Canada is very different with up to 10x more power per band compared to exactly the same model in Europe. Careful with recommendations, details matter.

 

[conflictednetworks]

When you see area in m2 and currency in Euro the OP is definitely in different region than yours. Your router in Canada is very different with up to 10x more power per band compared to exactly the same model in Europe. Careful with recommendations, details matter.

Oh yes, my bad. Didn't even cross my mind when I replied to this.

 

[degrub]

Oh yes, my bad. Didn't even cross my mind when I replied to this.

Are those results you mention with Ubiquity from before or after you swapped out the APs for different Ubiquity APs that work to expectation as mentioned in the "Is Ubiquity worth it" thread ?

 

[conflictednetworks]

the results were BEFORE I swapped out my ceiling mount APs to wall mounted ones. That being said, my opinion about the asus is still VERY much that it's a solid wifi product that performs extremely well (in Canada at least) as a long range AIO router. The unifi I love more but it definitely comes with a STEEPER price tag to go that route. In my case it was $600 CAD + taxes for the Asus RT-BE96U vs. $980+ Taxes for the Unifi route - a 40% increase in overall equipment costs to get similar coverage. Unifi is more scalable and has in my opinion a lot of additional benefits over the AIO route but that may not be a requirement for everyone (including myself).

 

[degrub]

I'm still running my cisco 371 AC APs that i bought over 10 years ago. No issues and more than enough bandwidth for 2 work at home and 3 kids, including a wired gamer, through high school and college years. Now down to 2 work at home and one retired . When these finally start having issues, switching to Ubiquity .