Ubiquiti - Alien

Go straight to a Unifi system with Cat6 back haul. I started with an AmpliFi and now have a UDM SE 5 APs. But a proper system will run close to $1,000, but you should expect that for the area you're looking to cover. How many users & devices are you looking at?

I had the UniFi Amplify Alien mesh system and it was ok, but like the other posters said, it’s 1000x better to go wired even if just to one other spot. I upgraded to a dream machine and a few APs and it’s night and day now, especially if you have friends or kids who do a lot of WiFi gaming.

I have two aliens and they are the best and most reliable routers I’ve ever had.

I'm replacing my Amplifi system because Amplifi doesn't seem up to matching our new fiber capabilities. I tried Eero yesterday and it's not configurable to my network's IP scheme. I'm too lazy to reconfigure every device with a static IP. Got Deco this morning and it won't let me change the DNS to my Pi-hole. I also can't find how to create device groups for turning off network connections at specific times. I have an 11 y/o who thinks it's ok to get up in the middle of the night and watch TV all night.

Okay. So here’s the deal, as someone who went from an Anplifi setup to a Unifi one. They’re not the same. Unifi CAN mesh. AMPLIFI was built for it. At a technical level the AMPLIFI gear has dedicated radios to build the mesh. Not so on the Unifi side. You’re going to want to run cable. And at that point, it’s dealers choice as to what APs you get.

I love the range of my Amplifi Alien Mesh system. I don't like the limited configuration options though. I needed the range.

I had a WiFi 6 Orbi set up. It worked for about a week and then the mesh point died. The problem was that it died silently. It said it was working but nothing would connect to it. Netgear support was marginal, but once they determined it was faulty, they wanted me to send it back on my dime and they'd send me a new one. Again, the unit was a week old. I returned it and went back to using (already old) Airport Extremes for another year. I had 3 around the house and they started needing to be rebooted regularly. Given their age I couldn't complain at all but I replaced them with Amplifi Aliens. Those have been rock solid. I'll never buy Netgear products again.

I've had success with Asus Zen Wifi and Amplifi; but I think Asus is a better product personally. I have Ubiquiti in my home right now and don't particularly like it.

The newest latest is WiFi 7. You could get two UniFi Express 7s, a Dream Router 7 and a POE AP 7, or 2 Eero 7s/Pro 7s/Max 7 Budget you could go with UniFi AmpliFi Alien or Eero 6+ that gets you WiFi6 AX (2 generations behind WiFi7, but adequate for most users). Do not bother with anything AC WiFi 5 or older.

There are lots of good choices, For your environment, you indicate you'd prefer not to run ethernet cables, and with a 1G connection, my opinion is you should go for a tri-band consumer mesh system with two or three nodes. Tri-band will give you far better speeds at your satellite nodes than any dual-band wireless mesh. If you could wire for ethernet, it's much more cost effective to get dual-band units and they'll perform about as well when wired in. The nice thing about mesh systems is that most are scalable, so you could start with 2 or 3 and buy/add additional nodes very quickly and easily, if your needs dictate. Examples of this are: Eero 6 Pro, Asus XT8, TP-Link Deco X90, or Amplif Alien. Also there are several iterations of Netgear Orbi and Linksys Velop. Orbi systems and the Asus XT8 use a dedicated backhaul arrangement. Just my opinion but I think Eero's mesh is superior in that it uses multiple bands simultaneously to maintain the mesh and clients can connect to all bands, which is not the case with any tri-band Orbi, or Asus XT8 while the XT8 is in wireless mesh mode. You can free up the XT8's dedicated backhaul band for clients IF nodes are connected via ethernet. Wifi 5 systems are now being sold at significant discounts, wifi 6 systems are kind of the "mainstay" now, and 6E systems are on the market (6 GHz) which are quite expensive and really don't offer a lot of benefit since there are few 6GHz clients on the market right now. Amplifi Alien has quite good reviews and reputation, but it's quite expensive for even a two-node system. I prefer not to buy systems with one router + one satellite, because if the router craps out on you, you can't swap nodes around - so if getting Alien, I'd strongly recommend getting two routers vs. the router + satellite kit. Orbi kits are all router + satellites, so would avoid those for that reason. Eero 6 Pro, Deco X90, Asus XT8, Velop, etc. all come with identical units in their multi-packs. I used two Eero 6 Pros and muy house is 1200 sq ft (main level) and 600 more sq ft (basement), and my lot is 85' x 135', or 11,475 sq ft for the lot, and two 6 Pros covered it all with >100 mbps everywhere ooutside and >300 in the house.