hardware recommendations for arts organization

[veval]

I work as an IT manager for an arts center that has a location in a remote-ish area of New York state. The building used to be a Western Union laboratory, and so while the building has many ethernet ports on all three stories, the cement and construction of the building pose many challenges to getting strong wireless signals to all of its parts or outside. (Wired solutions are not ideal because during the summer, we have over 100 residents running around the building.)

We've received an infrastructure grant and have an opportunity to upgrade our hardware, and have installed a SonicWall TZ 215 firewall with the help of an outside IT company. (However, in the interest of saving money, I've been asked to get rid of them and manage the network internally.) Here's a list of what we currently have:

3COM OfficeConnect Managed Gigabit PoE Switch
POE 3Com
Linksys WAP 200 Wireless-G A.P
Linksys WAP 4400 Wireless-N A.P.
POE 3Com
Linksys WAP 4400N Wireless-N A.P
D-Link DAP 2553
EnGenius ENH202 802.11 b/g/n
Netgear FS605v3
EnGenius EOC2211P 802.11 b/g

Our ISP is Comcast/Optimum, and at the fastest point in the building we get a download speed of 50.77 (which is near where the D-Link is), though most are in the 20s or teens. I understand that getting access points that are the same brand is a big part of getting a faster, more stable network, but I can't tell if the problems I'm having with Linksys or 3COM are because of the building or the device. Any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

[drebo]

For wireless APs, look at Ubiquiti UniFi.

 

[veval]

For wireless APs, look at Ubiquiti UniFi.

The Amazon reviews terrify me—a lot of people seem to be having problems setting those up/getting support on them. Is that because of their own ineptitude or have other people have problems?

 

[drebo]

I've been using them since they came out and deployed hundreds. They're great APs and getting better all the time.