Ubiquiti - U7 Long-Range

Not wired. But I have wireless mesh with another U7 PRO and U7 Long Range. Works great

switch to unifi from google mesh. Much happier

Can confirm. Last week I decided to connect a smart TV, an Apple TV, and a satellite VCR to a UniFi Express with a wireless uplink to an U7LR in the same room. Only because all those devices are on a movable piece of furniture so I didn’t want to use a cable. Works like charm.

U7 Long Range is a bit of an anomaly in their lineup. It can handle a bit extra bandwidth (it has three 5 GHz spatial streams vs two in the XG or Pro, but the same number of 2.4 GHz streams). I've tried both the Pro XG and Long Range, and the Long Range actually gave me better signal further out! The Pro XG also has the 6GHz band, whereas the Long Range does not. FWIW, the U7 Pro XG is the updated version of the U7 Pro and only costs $10 more if you buy direct. The U7 Pro XGS is the updated version of the U7 Pro Max and also has a small difference if you buy direct. The XG and XGS have better heat dissipation and are considered more stable, but you probably can't go wrong with any of them. The Pro Max and the Pro XGS are really meant for high bandwidth needs, as they both have 4x4 spatial streams on the 5GHz band. (All devices on the lineup only have 2x2 on the 2.4 GHz.) Unless you're in needing that kind of bandwidth simultaneously on multiple devices, it's not worth the extra expense. My guess is that most devices on your network are likely to only have 1x1 or 2x2 streams on the client side (aside from maybe a high end laptop or phone), so that means they can't take advantage of that from a Pro XGS or Max, independently. Really, the stars have to align for you to really need or to notice a difference with 4x4 from a Pro XGS or Max. The U7 Lite is about half the cost, and if you don't have any devices that use 6GHz or won't need it down the road, that would be the other option. Edit typo and clarity

>I want them to be connected in to a seamless mesh network for seamless roaming. So, "mesh" has become an obtuse word in home networking. It's really just wirelessly uplinking to access points when cable can't or won't be used. Seamless roaming is built into wifi, it's not something that is only available in mesh systems - marketing hype has steered the understanding that way. You could set up three access points independently, with the same parameters (SSID, passphrase, security method) and your clients will roam amongst them as needed, seamlessly (meaning, no intervention required by the client to move). What mesh systems do bring is a unified management of access points which allows for certain enhancements to improve roaming (sometimes known as "fast roaming"). It's not super beneficial to home networks, but it's there. So if you're not buying a mesh system, using Ubiquiti UniFi or Omada - which both have a central "controller" - will provide those same features (and arguably better in some ways). Both of these are "prosumer" - a large step up in quality and features. Avoiding "the cloud" is maybe a good thing or maybe bad. With UniFi, you can set up access points standalone with an app that communicates directly with the hardware. Or, for a better setup, you would need the controller which allows more control and statistics. You also need to set up a userid with them, but you do not have to manage your network via, or have it connected to them - you can run it standalone. There are some benefits to the cloud access such as remote access to your controller. I run a full UniFi stack and it's been super reliable and easy to work with. I have a Dream Machine Pro, 5 switches and 4 APs. Since you mentioned PoE also, that's the way to go. I have my setup on a UPS, and everything is powered by a 16-port PoE switch. If the power goes out, everything keeps working off the UPS. The remote switches are also PoE powered, which is quite nice. Edit: spelling and some minor clarification

Just so you know, mesh doesn't bring roaming to wifi - any APs set up with the same authetication configuration (SSID, passphrase, security method) will allow wifi clients to roam amongst them as needed. Mesh uses what setups like Ubiquiti UniFi and commercial networking hardware use to allow *faster* roaming. UniFi would be my recommendation. It doesn't matter what your brother in law thinks.

UniFi - reliability, self-hosted, no cloud, no subscriptions etc.

UniFi has all the blocking and other features that you'd want. I have not tried it but it now also has ad blocking. At this point, I would never change. It's easy to maintain and upgrade etc. If something does fail, it's pretty simple to replace the component and keep moving. It's got a lot of enterprise type features that I like.

If you're wiring, choose something better than consumer meshy stuff. I would second the UniFi recommendation, and TP-Link Omada is good also. Wire everything that *can* be wired and save the wifi for those things that can *only* use wifi. The UniFi Cloud Gateway Ultras as the router/controller and whatever switches you need, plus the APs of your choice U6+ or U7+ are good would be a great setup with fully unified management of the network and components.

In consumer world - Asus and TP-Link are the better choices. Eero is great hardware has a subscription model for some needed (IMO) features. I would avoid Netgear, D-Link and Linksys - they are not what they once were and have subscription models, sometimes poor support, and varying reliability and quality. You could also consider gl.Inet Flint devices if you're looking for an all-in-one router, they have gained a very good reputation. I agree that a better choice than any of the above would be Ubiquiti UniFi and TP-Link Omada is also decent - it's different than the consumer gear. Reliability is one of the major points of these prosumer setups. I've been running UniFi for 7 years, it's great.

It was so good for me that when I accidentally messed up some wiring it was doing wireless back haul from an older udr to u7ap’s and I only noticed it due to the app showing topology looking wrong. This is 2 story house with udr in basement and aps on the 2 above ground floors.

Ubiquiti's UniFi system is difficult to recommend without running some ethernet cable. Even the Eero, Orbi and TP-Link mesh routers I cannot recommend without wired backhaul. Some of the U7 access points are capable of doing mesh but the ethernet backhaul to a PoE switch is crucial. Being that your current house is a ranch, do you have access to the attic? All you'll really need to do is run maybe about 1 or 2 ethernet cables (2 if you use the UCG Fiber which I recommend getting or 1 in the case of the Dream Router 7) in the attic which you could theoretically take with you when you move. I've shopped around for mesh routers as my dad has a Lorex Wifi Flood Light camera above the garage that our current router can't reach and the best combination I've seen so far is the UCG Fiber and any of the U7 access Points. I've priced everything and the Eero Max 7, Orbi 970 & TP-Link's equivalent came out to over $100 more than any UniFi equipment combination that I need.

I use TP link Deco X95 2 nodes system at home and Unifi 7 at work works without any issues for over a year though we will replace Eufy at work as we rolling out our own cloud platform

If you’re heavy on Apple devices then WiFi 7 won’t be coming for a while and you should be okay with a WiFi 6E router for the next 5 years. However, if you want to go forward with you can look at Ubiquiti CG Fibre and U7 or UX7 AP. The router should be future proof and allow you upgrade your AP nodes based on which band you want. If you want a different mesh brand then you can look between Deco (best on budget), Asus Zenwifi BT10 (tri-band) / BQ16 (quad-band) or Orbi 770 / 870 / 970. This are the top 3 brands with top mesh systems and best coverage. Nevertheless, your bandwidth and devices should decide your choice (added with budget) Honorable mention will be Eero Max 7 but it’s barely customizable and you have to do things the Eero way

Ubiquity hands down. Their WiFi 7 gear is reasonably priced too

Get ubiquity. Fuck that other crap. I tried all that other shit you are looking at, get a couple WiFi 7 access points and a gateway and have some reliable easy to upgrade stuff. If your existing Poe is the 48 volt Poe+ stuff you won’t need to get Poe injectors or Poe switches for the access points. Since I went this route I do t know what to do with my free time, as I am not battling my iot shit disconnecting and going off line.