Access Point U6 Mesh

i'm in the "Mesh works great if you use it right" camp. i use a u6 pro which is wired to my u6 pro in meshed in my home office to devices that don't have WIFI (desk phone, PC, etc...), and a u6 lr+ which is wired to my U6 mesh in my garage which is meshed and have no issues. there's also a U6+ meshed to give better service to another part of the house (i didn't give it AP priority). both my wired AP's are in the basement (front and rear of the house), and both meshed AP's that are in the house are on the second floor. my cameras on the garage, what i do in my home office, and everything else on my network doesn't care what which AP it's on, works for what i need.

I have the same problem. There is form insulation everywhere, I can’t punch new holes in the walls or ceilings. I deployed the In-Wall 6 and Mesh 6s. The in wall in the office and primary bed room. Two Mesh 6s in the living room front of the house. Blanket coverage.

I'm a bit of a network geek, so what I did may be more than you want. I have AT&T 1GB fiber, great service, reliable, fast. I have the BGW320, which is common in these installs. I have a [Unifi Cloud Gateway Max](https://techspecs.ui.com/unifi/cloud-gateways/ucg-max?subcategory=all-cloud-gateways) router sitting behind the 320, which is in IP Passthrough mode. This assigns the public IP address to my router, where I control all security and other configurations. (Including using the DNS servers I prefer over the AT&T servers which are locked in on the 320). I have two [Unifi U6 mesh devices](https://techspecs.ui.com/unifi/wifi/u6-mesh) that provide my wifi. Due to the IP passthrough, I don't use the wifi on the AT&T gateway. I have one U6 connected to the network with Ethernet, and it shares the mesh with a second U6 across the house. My 320 is also located in a corner of my house, so it was worth the effort to run the Ethernet between two Unifi switches and connect the U6 to one. The problem with extenders or repeaters is that they don't share the network bandwidth and provide a constant signal among device, as a mesh setup will. The extenders rebroadcast the incoming signal, and in doing so, they have to use some of the incoming signal power to rebroadcast - similar to creating a second network - which weakens the signal available to devices from the extender. There are a number of affordable mesh systems you could add to your network to improve things. I've heard good things about Google's Nest Mesh system, so that's one thing to look at. The setup I have (gateway, two switches, two mesh devices) is pricier, but not outrageous. The flexibility and the management tools make it worthwhile.

I have Unifi network devices in my home. I have a Cloud Gateway Max used for routing and all my security, which sits behind the ATT gateway via IP passthrough. The firewall, security and other options (like customizing your DNS servers) make it worth the effort to install. I have two Unifi U6 Access points in a mesh. One is attached to the network via Ethernet and controls all the WiFi (I do not use the WiFi on the AT&T device at all). The main need for my mesh is to reach some IoT devices that are located on the other side of the house - sprinkler box, Ring system, garage door opener - along with a Smart TV in the master bedroom. There's just my wife and I here 90% of the time, so what I have works great. All network configuration and management is done from my Unifi gateway using a web interface.

I have a UniFi cloud gateway in IP passthrough, and my WiFi is completely handled with two UniFi U6 access points. One is Ethernet-wired to the gateway and the other serves the other side of the house. Works great. I'm curious about your NAT issues. Using IP passthrough should eliminate NAT completely on your local network.

I like ubiquiti, their U6-MESH APs are pretty rock solid for the price. Side note: do you have coaxial ports in your apartment? I lived in an apartment for a few years that had coax ports in the walls that ran back to the utility closet with the water heater and they were all connected together so I was able use moca adapters and get that sweet sweet wire hard wired speeds anywhere in the apartment. Food for thought

Sorry, but why not Ubiquiti with Cloud management? You're already familiar with the platform and the logging available to you. Get him a Cloud Gateway Ultra and a U6 Lite or U6+ with a PoE Injector, enable cloud management, and that's all you need. You don't even need a switch, just use one of the CGU's Ethernet ports. You can use "Wireless Uplink" (what Ubiquiti calls it's meshing function) if you need to mesh Ubiquiti APs together too. I doubt your dad will complain much about halving speeds in doing so because it'll still be more than enough for a single user. Mesh units for the home are mostly designed for ease of use and management. They don't really target someone who wants extensive logging. Eero can get you there with "eero+" service, but that's a monthly fee for that service. For $250-$350, you can get that Ubiquiti setup and just fold it into your own home setup for multi site management.

Unifi has nothing that compares to actual wireless mesh by the home router competitors. Their accessible products like the DR7 and UE7 don’t use 4x4 antennas, 6ghz or MLO for backhaul which significantly decreases bandwidth. They also don’t have any products with a band for dedicated backhaul, they have absolutely nothing that can compare to a full WiFi mesh from competitors like ASUS, Tplink, Eero or netgear.

Unifi is not the way for WiFI mesh and even if you don’t need mesh it’s not for the average joe either. They are expensive but the easiest setup and most feature rich for the average consumer is ASUS.

I'm not sure how I could move the router higher in the cabinet without having to rewire the whole cabinet or have 5 Ethernet cables running up to the router at the top which would be messy. Is it likely that moving the router up higher would have a big impact (still in enclosed cupboard)? The router downstairs is also in an enclosed cupboard under the TV, but I could potentially put a U6 Mesh on top of the TV unit as it doesn't look too offensive. I bought a U6 Mesh but didn't install it as I assumed I would return it given the UDR7 didn't have better range than the Asus.