Wired Access Point recommendation

[JulienG]

Hello - I have a house with 4 floors which is fully ethernet wired.
L1 is covered by a Asus RT-AC88U router connected to 400 Mbit/s fiber internet connection;

I want to buy 3 wired access points to covered each level L2 / L3 / L4 (around 50 square meter each).
Today I am using 3 old router in AP mode but some of them are not very performant. They all have the same SSID. I think it could be good to swap the 3 of them for 3 news AP or router in AP mode.

What do you recommend me as AP? Should I stick to Asus?

Thanks.

 

[JulienG]

Any idea for this ? Thanks a lot.

 

[K-2SO]

Today I am using 3 old router in AP mode

What routers?
To do AP based system right you need more than just APs.

 

[L&LD]

I would buy a single RT-AC86U and use that as your main router with RMerlin firmware installed, of course.

The RT-AC88U I would put in a central location (of the areas you want the best coverage in) and use it in wired (preferred) or wireless AiMesh mode as a node.

After getting the new RT-AC86U working fully as your main router, reset the RT-AC88U fully to factory defaults (on the same RMerlin firmware, if possible, as the RT-AC86U). Now, don't touch this router again.

Then, from the RT-AC86U, 'point' to the RT-AC88U as an AiMesh node. After a reboot, you should be set.

Place it in the optimal location for signal strength back to the main router and best coverage too.

You may want to consider the suggestions in the M&M Config and possibly even the Nuclear Reset Guides too, to have your routers as stable as possible (particularly after flashing RMerlin to the new router). Please see the link in my signature below for those and other guides too.

HTH.

 

[K-2SO]

Let's find out what this house is made of first.
Your plan @L&LD may not work in reinforced concrete floors and brick walls house.

 

[L&LD]

It still may work. It depends on if its an open concept or rooms within rooms design.

Even if the exterior walls are brick/concrete.

 

[K-2SO]

Even if the exterior walls are brick/concrete.

Wait for more info. Some houses have concrete interior walls.

 

[JulienG]

My experience is that signal does go across floors (vertical)
My RT-AC88U is installed in first floor the house and his signal is very bad on second floor.
So I found that the best way is to have access point wired on each floor.

Each floor is not very large and easy to cover horizontally (no concrete wall)

The house is fully wired so it is best to add 3 access points.

 

[JulienG]

What routers?
To do AP based system right you need more than just APs.

I have:
- D-Link Dir 868 (2015)
- Airport Extreme (very old not even AC)
- Netgear R6220 (2018 but not very stable)

All of them are configured in AP mode.

 

[Trip]

Having your house fully wired is about 60% of the battle won right there. Congrats.

Since you're looking to bring in probably two or more new APs, I'd move beyond the disparate collection of standalone consumer stuff, even beyond consumer "mesh" products, and standardize on a controller-based, purpose built AP product, such as Omada or UniFi, re-purposing the 88U into just a wired router by disabling wifi on it. That approach will make for a much smoother wifi client experience, a more efficient use of airspace and way easier management.

Also, UniFi does have desktop/wall-plate models such as the FlexHD and the In-Wall, so you can certainly do a non-ceiling setup with them. Since you're 100% ethernet for backhaul, I'd also run a managed PoE switch at the patch panel; UniFi makes this especially easy, as their switches are also controller-governed. You could start off with something small like the US-8-60W, then move up in port density and/or PoE wattage as needed (USW-16-POE Gen2, etc.).

Overall, a more expensive proposition than certain types of consumer gear and/or cheaper small-business lines, but in the end you'd have a rock-solid access layer that would run more like an appliance and less like a toy.

 

[JulienG]

Thanks @Trip !

In-Wall : it would be perfect in terms of price but I have double or trip plug like this for all my network plug. I don't know if some mount exist so that I can plug it on the existing ethernet wall plug.

FlexHD: the format is perfect and easy to fit on a wall but it is very expensive (3 x 200 $). I would need 3 of them as I would like to keep the wifi for the floor 1 where the 88U sits (this floor is mostly used by kids).

 

[Trip]

Re- the In-Wall, what you're referring to is the "gang" count: how many discrete interfaces are provided by the wall plate or junction box (usually single, dual or quad). Ubiquiti In-Wall junction boxes only offer single-gang, but their exterior ports are dual, with one offering PoE out if you have a VoIP phone, etc. So still pretty nice, and depending on how much data you plan to backhaul per wall plate, a single home-run may be enough.

Another idea would be to do multiple AC-LITE's (similar price point), and just lay them on high shelves or armoires "upside down", with the saucer "cap" facing the floor, and "base" facing the ceiling. This will ensure your elevation (vertical) broadcast is oriented properly.

 

[JulienG]

The challenge is to transform a 2 or 3 Gang junction box into a single...
AC-LITE will not work as I don't have shelves or armoires closed to the ethernet plug :-( Tricky to find a good, not too expensive solution.

What about other brand ?

 

[JulienG]

What about D-Link COVR-1103 in wired AP mode?

 

[Trip]

The challenge is to transform a 2 or 3 Gang junction box into a single...

Simple. If you can get away with 1 cable for backhaul of AP clients and wired endpoints, you just leave all but one of the cable runs un-terminated in the junction box behind the wall plate. If you want to use both cable runs, I'd cut another identical space for a second single-gang wall plate and transfer one of the cable runs there. Just make sure to tone out each to know which runs back to which patch panel port.

What about D-Link COVR-1103 in wired AP mode?

I would avoid.

 

[K-2SO]

If really 4 APs are needed, I would go with Omada from the options above. Proper one controller managed. Asus router as router only. It may cost more than those cubes, but you do it once and you know you have WiFi.

 

[JulienG]

Simple. If you can get away with 1 cable for backhaul of AP clients and wired endpoints, you just leave all but one of the cable runs un-terminated in the junction box behind the wall plate. If you want to use both cable runs, I'd cut another identical space for a second single-gang wall plate and transfer one of the cable runs there. Just make sure to tone out each to know which runs back to which patch panel port.
I would avoid.

I have one wire going from the switch to the current junction box with rj45 female plug. There is no space to add a second network wire in the sheath.
So I would need to remove the female plug, put a male plug instead and add anew hole for a 1 gang junction box. Am I right ?

 

[Trip]

OK, sorry, I wasn't clear on how many cables per junction box you had; since you only have one per box, that will work as-is. You can either keep the keystone jack ("female plug", as you put it) and just put in a short 6-inch or 1-foot piece of Cat6 patch cable between the keystone and the back of the In-Wall, or cut the keystone jack off and re-terminate to an EZ RJ45, going straight into the In-Wall. The latter reduces points of failure, but I'd only do it if you're sure you've got plenty of service loop (excess) available to work with; otherwise a short patch jumper should work well enough.

Here's a video on how to do the patch cable approach (he gets into the actual install at about the 2-minute mark), plus a brief look at configuring the controller.

 

[calvin tran]

I would seriously consider Tp-link Omada solution: with one EAP225 per floor and a controller. It's PoE so you only run one CAT cable to the access point if you want to mount it far away from the power source.

 

[K-2SO]

Depends on the budget. There are many good things.