TP-Link - Deco BE68 BE14000

If you hard wire the mesh nodes to the mesh router, you are basically getting AP's. You didn't mention your network experience level or needs so Unifi may be a bit much for you. You only need two Ethernet runs from the mesh nodes to the main mesh router, that's it. Each floor can WiFi very well to the mesh node on that floor. As others have mentioned, best bang for the buck right now is the TP Link Dexo BE63 3 pack. Very easy to setup. People should not be recommending Unifi to everyone, it's not for everyone. (Not to mention their latest software update bricking a lot of systems.). Yes they are the one of the nicest producer products (personally like omada better) but for every day joes nothing beats the simplicity of mesh and if you only hardwire the backhaul on the nodes, you get AP's. BE63 definitely the best for the money. I like the BE67 and BE68 (Amazon & Best buy) bit you can save money by getting the BE63 and still have multi gig backhaul.

You dont have to do wired backhaul at all if you dont want to. Been running a three node mesh wirelessly for a couple years. (Linksys MX8500 6E). Main Node (Router) in my Office on far end of the hose. One node halfway down the basement stairs on a ledge in the Middle of the house, and one node in the far corner of the dining room on the other end. Tons of IOT devices, multiple streaming TV's, Console, and I work from Home on VPN all day. My PC gets 950Mbps download, all the IOT works great, all TV's work great streaming. Get a good three node mesh and you will be fine. It works better if the two satellite nodes are about the same distance away from the main node and not in a line (think star connection instead of linear hops). Wireless mesh was designed for wireless backhaul. YES there are advantages to wired backhaul, but you dont need it. Anyone on here that had horrible experiences either didnt know what they were doing, had walls made out of concrete and steel, or had a POS mesh. Go with a Wi-Fi 7 Mesh...BE63 is cheap and works great after F/W updates. If you can swing it, get the better tier BE67/68 or even step up to the BE77.

Based on your post I think the TP-Link Deco BE63 would be good for a WiFi 7 upgrade. It has 2.5gb WAN and 2.5gb LAN ports, This should work well with internet speeds up to 2.5gbps. If you have faster internet then this system will throttle (reduce/limit) your speed to 2.5gbps max and you should consider something with 10gb WAN and LAN ports (which would of course be more expensive). I don’t think most folks need internet speeds over 1gbps, but that’s just my opinion. The BE68 is substantially more expensive but I think it is a partial solution. It only has a single 10gb WAN port on each device, then 2.5gb LAN and gigabit LAN port. So even if you had 5gb fiber internet and hooked that up to the 10gb LAN port, you’d still be throttled to 2.5gb on the LAN. So I suggest the BE63 for your use case. The mesh BE63 3-pack kit is on sale at Amazon as I write this. Instead of $499.99 it’s $419.99 with a coupon (shown on the Amazon product listing page). I know you stated you’re looking for something affordable, but this is about the price you could expect to pay for tri-band WiFi 7 mesh technology. If you wanted to save a bit you could opt for WiFi 6E instead (still gives you 2.4/5/6ghz bands), but you won’t get multi link operation and some other WiFi 7 only featues. You can’t take advantage of MLO for example on WiFi 7 unless your client devices support it, so I think WiFi 6E is a good system to purchase today. Still a bit early to get WiFi 7, as the tech is still improving and prices will continue to fall. If you want to buy WiFi 7 today, you will pay more. Meanwhile prices for WiFi 6E and WiFi 6 routers/mesh systems are very reasonable in comparison. A good TP-Link 6E mesh system to consider would be the Deco XE70 Pro. 2.5gb WAN and two one-gigabit ports on every device. The 3 pack is $239.99 at Amazon now with the coupon, $30 off normal price. The Deco XE75 Pro looks very similar, a little bit faster theoretical speed on the 5ghz band (perhaps it is 3x3 streams instead of 2x2, that would make it ‘faster’). It’s $269.99. If I were picking between these two I would get the Deco XE70 Pro. I doubt you would notice the speed difference between that and the XE75 Pro. If you want to save even more money you can buy most of those products in “Used - Like New” condition, just check the product listing. If you decide to do this make sure it’s sold by Amazon! That way if you have any issues you could easily return it within 30 days. A word of warning on “Used- Like New.” Sometimes it is a customer return (they didn’t like it, couldn’t figure out how to use/configure it, etc.) and then that is a great deal for you, as you get a like new product for sometimes $100-$150+ less money than if it were brand new. Other times the person who bought it and returned it maybe discovered it was broken, or they tried to apply custom firmware to the router and bricked/broke it. Amazon has no way to really test these devices when they are returned.. I am confident all they do is look and say, “Yup, looks like the product I see on the box. Seal it back up and sell it as ‘Used-Like New.’” So it is a bit of a crap shoot. I will mention I bought my current ASUS XT8 mesh system (WiFi 6) four years ago as “Used, Like New” and saved nearly $200 from the brand-new price. But I had to factory reset the router & mesh node as the prior purchaser’s wireless configuration was still on the devices (clearly they tried it, then decided to return it without factory resetting it). Easy for me to fix, just another step, 5 minutes. If you want something that will “just work” and don’t want to mess with potential issues, then just buy a brand new unit. Another point about cost: $419 may seem like a lot, but consider how long you will own it and the cost isn’t too bad. For example your current mesh system is about 5 years old. If the new system costs you $419 and lasts 5 years, then it’s only about $7/month (over a 60 month period) that you are paying for that product. Not too bad, it’s less than a trip to Starbucks, and most people get coffee more than once a month. I don’t recommend “prioritizing network traffic” as this requires the router to inspect every data packet, which can slow down all devices using the network. As long as you have a well-functioning network and sufficient bandwidth/speed for your devices, you shouldn’t need to bother with Quality of Service (QoS), device prioritization, etc. If my thinking on this is inaccurate, someone will helpfully correct me. Good luck and enjoy your new hardware!

Imma go against the crowd here. I have a similar issue to you in that I have a house where a single access point does not cut it. I deployed the cheapest Wifi 7 mesh system on the market at the time. - (TP-Link Deco BE68) It does the job pretty damn well. Can stream 1440p Youtubes anywhere with no problem. Handling nearly 100 Wifi clients no issues. Yes. The control interface sucks. I hate that the web interface is very bare-bones. In another place I spent many thousands of $ running Cat5e all over. What a waste of money that was. I have points where I have never used them, and there are places where I could use one that have no point. Terminations also go bad over time. And now the Cat5e is outdated and probably won't handle 2.5Gbps let alone 10. In this place where I am now I have put in one hardwired connection to behind the entertainment system where I knew I would have a data use hotspot, but nowhere else. It keeps the airwaves clean I guess but I often wonder if it's really necessary. It would have been cheaper to put in a mesh extension and replace it every 4-5 years as the tech speeds up. Right now I have more bandwidth to the bedrooms with wireless backhaul over 6GHz.

TP Link Deco definitely requires an app and an account and although there is a web interface, it can't do much. Nice gear, but not acceptable under your policy. Netgear Orbi may have required me to install an app and get an account to get it setup (I didn't try to get around it.) But the web interface is full fat and I've never opened the app since installing.

I use a mesh system and it is great. But it depends now on what you want to spend, I use a TP Link WiFi 7 mesh system, but there are many options. If you live in a small place you might not need a mesh network.

I highly recommend the [TP-Link Wi-Fi 7 Tri-Band Mesh System](https://www.reddit.com/user/unwelcome_frown15/comments/1jxaza0/mesh_wifi_system_recommendations/). It offers blazing fast speeds, low latency, and rock-solid coverage, great for large homes or demanding smart setups. Future-proof too with Wi-Fi 7 support.

Are you gaming on wifi? Maybe look for a gaming wifi made by Asus or Tp-Link. Or I use Tp-Link mesh wifi 7. I’ve never had a problem as far as losing connection or a drop in speeds.

Eh whatever works. If you have an unfinished basement you can run it through there easily. Anyhow, back to your question: assuming you’re not super technically inclined and don’t want to drop a ton of cash, the tp link deco WiFi 7 system (BE) should serve you well for a long time. You probably only need two nodes but you’ll want them both to be wired - so wire the further node back to the node that plugs into your ONT. That way they’ll give identical performance without having to worry about whether they can communicate over WiFi (which would dock performance anyhow). If you’re technically minded and want to spend way more, ubiquiti

Easy solution is a out of the box mesh system. Im running the wifi 7 deco system with no issues in my 1900 built house. If we plan on staying long term, I will 100% run Ethernet across the house, but that will require a ton of chopping stuff up.

I been using from Tp Link - Deco. It’s for Wi-Fi 7..

I got the Deco Wi-Fi 7 mesh and usually see 800+ on my devices except for devices that are only using the wireless backhaul. I’ve been very happy with it. Believe it is app only admin though. In my head, the wireless back haul is only done on 2.4 GHz so it would be limited throughput regardless of vendor. I think Unify is probably the leader for this , Orbi is probably a close second. Unless you want to get slightly complicated and use Fortinet.