Originally Posted by OVERKILL
What kind of WAN speed are you looking at getting?
For a firewall that just "works", something like this:
Watchguard T-15 firewall appliance
Coupled with one or more of these AP's would work well:
HP OfficeConnect OC20
Now, the limitations of those AP's are that they are only capable of a single SSID (no VLAN's) for your main network and then a separate Guest SSID, if so desired. You can cluster up to 8 of them. They are essentially a dumbed-down Aruba IAP-207.
If you need more coverage, they are literally plug and play with an ethernet run to a PoE switch, like this little guy:
Netgear Gigabit PoE switch
Thanks. I think my WAN speed should be 175 mbp.
Originally Posted by alarmguy
Originally Posted by The Critic
We are moving into a 2-story, 2500 sq ft home.
Need to invest in a Wi-Fi setup that provides good coverage in all areas of the home. I do not have a set budget, but it has to make reasonable sense. Reliability is important.
Should I be looking at a "mesh" setup such as eero?
Thanks.
Honestly, it depends on the home and proper set up of the router, as well as where that router will be, I do understand builders and internet providers make the ideal impossible.
Im one of the lucky ones.
My feeling is, everyone on the planet is eager to recommend a mesh system but a mesh system in a 2500 sq ft home is almost borderline making up for a poorly set up system. I feel a properly set up system is more important and reliable then making something complex, again, if you dont have too.
Here is my deal;
3000 sq ft house, router and modem centrally located on the main level in the middle of the house. Actually all communication access in in the center closet, main level.
Never have an issue with wi-fi signal. 4 or 5 Roku players ( I lose track), 2 laptops, couple tablets, 2 desktops plus the cell phones when in the house and a couple other devices. Add to that, another router plugged into the back of the home router for my wife work set up as a VPN.
Our desktops (1-mac mini and 1-HP) are in an office are pretty much the furthest from the router on the second floor (which isn't that far being the router is centrally located on the first floor) and reliably we get 80 to 100 Mbps on the 5ghz band of our 100 Gbps service.
I use a TP Link Cable modem and separate TP Link AC 1750 Archer C7.
With the above said our house is easy, centrally located on the main level and also on that main level our ceilings go up 16 feet, so its open air to the second floor.
This is why I say, there is no one stop solution, but true, yes, mesh is good for those that need it but keep in mind sometimes simple is trouble free in the future.
OUR router is now getting a bit older, still good but if you dont care about price, I am sure if you step it up a bit over our model or in a Netgear model and depending on the location its placed (central or not) you should be good, if you end up with a weak spot, adding one extender would solve the problem.
Anyway, its early, still on my coffee, there is still one thing in your post, "reliability" so depending on where your router gets placed will determine how simple you can keep by simple purchasing a robust router.
For the heck of it, I just pulled this up in a matter of seconds and this is my thinking. I would, if I could, not over complicate things, I actually like this list, pick your price and I would not get hung up on "specs" such as speed, they will all exceed anything a standard homeowner wants. Some 1gb hardcore gamer might feel different but maybe not.
)
Here you go - click
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So, the floor plan is fairly open with tall ceilings. The router is currently placed behind the TV in these pictures and I think I will probably place mine (and the cable modem) in the same general area.
My main concern is that my office will be at the opposite end of the home towards the corner. I guess we will have to start with one unit and do some testing.