We're moving house shortly and I'm trying to plan the WiFi but I'm hitting a brick wall re what to get. Everything seems to have a significant downside and I'm wondering what the TZ experts think.
About 18 months ago I installed Orbi at my in-laws and up until last week it has been flawless (once the satellite was backhauled). We're having an issue right now where some devices are connected to WiFi but have no internet which I think could be an internal IP assignment problem as the Chrome error always mentions DNS. Turning WiFi on the device on and off a few times or rebooting the network works -- I think we might have too many devices on the network. Either way I would be happy to get Orbi again as no doubt the issue is user error however Orbi pricing is quite savage for the good stuff.
As background the house is approx 2,300 sq ft over three floors and it's a Victorian build meaning real brick walls everywhere and it's much deeper than it is wide. There aren't ethernet points dotted around and as we won't be rewiring I won't be buying a rack and running ethernet all over the entire house like I'd planned. The wireless network will be quite busy as a result. I'm likely to backhaul by running outdoor/weatherproof ethernet up to the loft and down to the back of the house.
The three main contenders are:
1. Google Nest.
Not WiFi 6 but cheap enough to upgrade down the line and very good reviews. Everything looks good but I've just realised the satellites don't have any ethernet ports so can't be backhauled. My experience with Orbi means I'd feel a lot happier with backhauled satellite(s). I could buy multiple routers ignoring the satellites but I'm not sure that would be the smartest thing to do and it may cause issues down the line due to not being installed as designed?
2. Netgear Orbi RBK852
£700 for 1x router and 1x satellite. Can be backhauled but I'm scared the house will need two satellites which means £950. Not ideal. I could get another RBK50 with 1x satellite for £230 or 2x satellites for £360 but this handles "40+ devices" Vs the RBK852's "100+ devices" (probably my current issue?) plus WPA3 and WiFi 6 might be worth the push?
3. Ubiquiti
Something Ubiquiti but not fully decided. In a perfect world I'd rewire, get a racked switch, ethernet everything and have Ubiquiti APs in the ceiling like smoke alarms and make use of their PoE cameras too.
There is also Amazon eero Pro which seems a logical choice at a decent price but I don't like the privacy issues Amazon has with Ring and as a result don't want to use their other products with eero.
My apologies for such a long, boring thread but if you're into WiFi hopefully it's not too bad. I've used Wirecutter as a decent guide which is partly how I've come to my shortlist - their review/showdown is here - https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/r...tworking-kits/
Thank you in advance to the networking brains of TZ. I've put £20 into the fundraiser in lieu of a beer or two.