Home Networking

Any old router that you have lying around the house, or can be picked up locally secondhand for no or minimal cost can probably be put in access point mode.

I don't see the question as "what do I need', but "how do I make it work with what I've got".

The access point I have in my garden office, for example, is an old TPLink AX50, which has done it's time as a router and is now an access point. Nothing wrong with it.

No, don't go mesh, especially when you have a choice or a chance to change it. Mesh can work in many circumstances but it's like the #3 option are far as performance and reliability goes. An there aren't many more options than3 or 4.

You are right, you want Access Points.

Ubiquity seems popular, but I will let others chime in.

Paying for a mesh system with a extra backhaul band that can only be used for backhaul like the pre wifi 6e orbis is a waste of money. As for what hardware to recommend it depends on your plan speeds, devices you are connecting and if you need a faster lan connection.

I am useing deco x20's in wired backhaul and (dual band access points) performance is peitty good (maxes out my 300mbps plan) and they are easy to setup. They are missing features like vap and vlan tagging compared to a more prosumer setup.

I use Asus gear in AiMesh mode with wired backhaul. Works flawlessly.

People recommend against mesh mostly because most people use it wirelessly. Since you have a hardwired backhaul, I'd recommend something simple like eero or Asus Zen line. You can go APs with a router/controller but I think mesh is the simplest way to go and you can plug the wires right in and they'll go.

I don't agree with the "paying a premium for wireless backhaul" argument.

Here's why:

Many of the integrated mesh systems have a relatively inexpensive price-per-unit when purchased in 2 and 3-packs - often lower than individual access points.

Many of the integrated mesh systems often come with various bells-and-whistles that access points don't offer out-of-the-box. Content filtering, activity monitoring, control features, etc. Granted, some functionality may be subscription based, but they are nonetheless available.

Yes, you can accomplish some of it with additional hardware or software, but again, that is either adding to costs or complexity.

If you have multiple access points, you may discover that in order to have seamless roaming, you need to either purchase a separate hardware access point controller, or perhaps have a computer running 24/7 for the software version. This is true for the TP-Link EAP series access points, and possibly others. Integrated mesh systems have that functionality built right in.

Unless you're using table-top access points, then chances are you'll need a POE injector to power the access points (which aren't always included), or a separate POE switch -- yet another added expense.

And, on top of all of that, you'll need a separate router to use ordinary access points.

So, now that the price issue has been debunked. . .

There are some reasons you might choose access points over an integrated mesh-based system. . .

Pro-sumer access points (such as Ubiquiti/Unifi) can be very stable. They can run for months on end without requiring a restart to fix connectivity issues. You won't find that in consumer-grade equipment.

If your access points are powered by a POE switch, then on the rare occasion that there is a connectivity issue, you just power-cycle the POE switch, and the access points will re-start. With a mesh system, you'd end up running from room-to-room to power-cycle each device manually.

Pro-sumer access points tend to be better at handling large numbers of wireless clients, so if you have alot of wireless IoT or smart-home devices, you'll probably see more stability with them than you would with a consumer-grade integrated mesh system.

Integrated mesh systems use one of the units as a router. Some makes/models only offer 1Gb ports, so if you buy one of those units, you may be be locked in to 1GB speeds across your system.

In order to use all of the mesh system's integrated features, it will need to act as the primary router for your network. For most folks, this isn't a big deal, but there are scenarios where this isn't practical. Dual WAN (ISP) usage being one of them. If you bypass the routing functions of your integrated mesh system, it will essentially disable all of the bells-and-whistles that the system offers.

Phew. With all of that said. . .

Ubiquiti makes good stuff. Once you configure it, it is usually "set it, and forget it". I log into my Unifi access points via the free software console app every 4 to 6 months to check for firmware updates, but that's about it.

I hear good things about TP-Link access points. If you have more than one access point, and need seamless roaming, you'll either need a hardware-based controller, or a PC running 24/7 with their controller app. However, they do offer the ER7212PC router, which has a built-in POE switch and access point controller, so it's a good pairing, at least up to 1Gb ISP speeds. TP-Link is generally more affordable than Ubiquiti, but I think the Ubiquiti platform is more stable.