Ubiquiti - AC Mesh Pro

You can hook up one unifi AP to the router and mesh off it. you just need the wallwart and an ethernet cable from it to the AP. Not the cleanest but it does work well

If that's the case get a ubiquiti Unifi system. Gateway plus access points. Best performance per dollar with a wired backhaul

No Google wifi, yes unifi. Write it down.

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

Ubiquiti unify is your best bet for a great mesh system. I have it on my small holding and have good coverage over 2.5 acres

If your FTTP NTD is stuck in the garage, don't expect one giant router to cover the whole property. Even a high-end unit like the ASUS GT-AX11000 Pro will choke once you add 20+ meters, two walls, a wardrobe, and three doors. Wi-Fi 6 is good, but it can't bend physics. What actually works: Stay ASUS: Another GT-AX11000 Pro in AiMesh mode with 5 GHz-2 dedicated to backhaul. Identical hardware syncs better and avoids a lot of the "AiMesh nightmare" stories. TP-Link Deco X95/X90: Very solid tri-band Wi-Fi 6 kits. Great balance of throughput and reliability. Eero Pro 6E: Simple and stable, though be aware that features like advanced parental controls, ad blocking, and network security sit behind a paid Eero Plus subscription. Stock Eero hardware still covers fine, but the extras aren't free. Ubiquiti UniFi: Fantastic when you can run wired backhaul. Pure wireless uplink works, but it takes more tuning and often won't outperform a well-placed consumer tri-band mesh system. Placement > hardware. Don't leave your main router in the garage. Pull a short Ethernet run inside (adhesive raceways look tidy) and put your main node on the first interior wall. Add a second node halfway to the far corner, and if it's still weak, a third to finish the chain. On a 1 Gbps NBN plan, a good tri-band mesh should still give you ~400-700 Mbps at the far end. With one lonely router in the garage, you'll likely see <100 Mbps and dropouts. (Side note: I run FixIT Computer & Tech, a small IT shop in Port Angeles, WA. I see this exact situation all the time-new house, NBN box in the garage, and Wi-Fi disappointment. The fix is almost never "buy the most expensive router," it's smart mesh placement and making the backhaul work for you.)

Get into the UniFi ecosystem and don't look back.

Oh man, this money can get you solid unify setup: [Gateway Max](https://store.ui.com/us/en/products/uxg-max?variant=uxg-max) 2 or 3 [U6 Access Ponits](https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/all-wifi/products/u6-pro) Or maybe something [in wall](https://store.ui.com/us/en/category/all-wifi/products/u6-iw)? Edit: formatting

Just tossed my netgear stuff for Ubiquity and couldn't be happier. My devices no longer connect to whatever random access point it happens to see even if there's a better one closer. Then they would get stuck on that one even after rebooting. So frustrating.

I'll give a nod to the UniFi AC-Mesh - a little old school with "rabbit ear" antennas, but it's a real performer. I had just one inside a 2400 sf house, and it covered all of it plus an outbuilding about 30 feet away. I now have a full UniFi setup, but I still use that AP and bought another one for use on a wall in the house.

Unifi is the best. But TP link deco is a good option. Most of Dubai villas have Ethernet cables in every room. So you will need to get a unmanaged switch (a cheap tp link or any brand one will be good) to make one of the tp link nodes as the main, and then the others as satellite nodes. This way all of them will have one ssid and the mesh network will work in a way where when you walk from one room to the other your device will automatically and seamlessly switch to the strongest signal node. You can turn off the WiFi on the ISP modem and just connect all the nodes directly to it too (and avoid using the switch). There are several YouTube videos and guides online.

All the unifi access points support mesh just fine. You can set "auto" or pick specific address points to use for priority 1 and 2. I have one of 4 APs with wireless uplink, and have no complaints. It's in my shed and has two wired security cameras attached that are constantly streaming. They also all support 802.11r/k/v for roaming and fast switching, regardless of wired/mesh uplink. These protocols make devices seamlessly switch APs as they move around, and without dropping connections. You can be on a video call and walk around without interruption.

Same here. Moved from Orbi mesh which was unreliable at best. UniFi system easily lets you set up separate SSIDs with whatever channels you want to assign. A lot of the access points can even adjust power and detect the best channel to reduce interference automatically. I haven't had to think about it since upgrading to this system.

>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

Ubiquity is the best way to go. I installed Ubiquity in my home and in 3 family members homes. Has been rock solid for over 7 years now. The range and coverage is very good. I used 2 or APs for a 3,500 sq ft home and 3 for a 5,000 sq ft. Don't mess with range extenders, total crap.

Unifi mesh is one of the best implementations I have ever seen, not that my experience is massive. It does handoff fairly well and doesnt completely kill the speeds amd bandwith of the network. Most of the people I know with UI mesh setups are very happy with them. Hell, I know a couple of them who had a cable problem and didn't even realize they were on a mesh network for quite a while.

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.

I setup my Luddite parents' multi building rural location with a UniFi system several years ago. It's been bulletproof ever since, no matter how they try to mess it up.

I had 5 eeros around the house and my pain was that devices took their time switching from AP to AP , getting poor signal even when I was standing next to another hard wired router. You had almost 0 information that's going on on your network. Even with paid subscription, you got a message threat detected, but that's it. No details at all. So I bought Synology router and leave eeros in bridge mode for WiFi only. 6 months later, I got rid of all eeros and got another Synology router. All issues with WiFi coverage were gone. Then I had some extra money and got unify.

I use a Ubiquiti UniFi mesh system and it works very well for me

I've used Unifi APs for years with my Firewalla. Another option you might want to investigate is the Firewalla AP7.