Wireless AP buying advice

[Pidg76]

Hi,

My house is a bungalow that is around 54' X 35'. I already have an Asus RT-N56U router in the basement but the Wireless coverage has places where the Wireless speed is not very good.

I saw that I could replace the Wireless part of the router by one or more Wireless AP in the house that would improve the Wireless coverage and performance. I like the idea of separating the router from the Wireless management in an house.

I am looking at Wireless APs that are POE since I am able to run network CAT 6e cables easely in the house. Also I am not interested into AC Wireless AP since it seems to me that the AC standard does not seem ready for prime time.

I saw the ubiquiti unifi products and this kind of product seems interesting.

I also saw on the internet that Netgear and Dlink (dap-2660) had similar products.

My questions are:

I have exactly one 2.4Ghz network coming from the neighborhood houses. Do I really need a 5Ghz frequency for the APs? I have a microwave and I am using Wireless phones in the house.

Saw that unifi products may have noise problems any of you guys know about the problem.

Are there any other models from other companies that exists and that would cost me less than 500$ for each access point and would use POE?


How many APs do I need to cover the house (basement and first floor). My guess would be 2.


On the Wireless network I have:

• A printer
• 2 smartphones
• 1 ipad
• 1 game console
• 2 portable computers

Of course, we may have more devices in the future so that AP must have some space to grow.



Thank you for your help.

 

[stevech]

I use a solid but not hot-rod ASUS RT-N12, $35. Used with smartphone, iPad, etc., which don't need a hot rod for web surfing and viewing low rate videos like Netflix and YouTube.