Upgrading mixed network -- need advice on most optimal path moving forward

[DingDingDao]

Hi all,
I'm working on upgrading the mixed network in my home and was looking for advice from you fine folks.

Current Setup

- 2500sqft 2-story house pre-wired with cat5e (8 lines)
- Legrand OnQ distribution panel in Master closet on 2nd floor
- OnQ patch panel to manage cat5e
- Arris 6183 cable modem fed by TWC 300Mb/s line
- Netgear R8000 (AC3200) WiFi router
- 2X Netgear EX6150 Range Extenders (AC1200)
- Hardwired devices: - 4 hardline ports on router run to patch panel and direct feed 2 computers, 1 security camera system (Netgear Arlo), 1 open port
- Wireless devices: 1 laptop (2.4/5GHz), 1 tablet (2.4/5GHz), 3 phones (all 2.4/5GHz), 3 Nest Cams (2.4/5GHz), 1 Nest Protect (2.4GHz), 1 Nest Thermostat (2.4GHz), 2 Chromecasts (2.4/5GHz), 1 Tesla Model S (2.4GHz) (which means I need coverage in my garage as well)

The Problem

The range extenders do an okay job of covering where my wireless router can't get to, but they're halving my throughput and instead of having two SSIDs network-wide (one 2.4GHz, one 5GHz), I have six SSIDs and I'm leaving my moving devices (phones, laptop, tablet) with the responsibility of figuring out which SSID to choose.

What I want to do

Replace the range extenders that are chopping my throughput in half with wireless access points off the cat5e that I already have in place in the house, whilst unifying the coverage to two SSIDs (one 2.4, one 5). My thinking is that two well-placed Ubiquiti Unifi APs should do the job. This leads me to my two options:

Option 1

Retain the Netgear WiFi router and connect AP AC Pros. The problem is, the router only has 4 hardline ports and 3 are currently occupied.

1) Can I connect the APs to a switch with PoE and then connect that to the 1 available port?
2) Or do I need a 2nd router with PoE?
3) If I go this route, should I disable the Netgear's WiFi and let the Unifi APs do all the wireless work?
4) How difficult would it be to get the Ubiquiti APs and my Netgear router to play nice with each other?

Option 2

Ditch the Netgear router and go all Ubiquiti - Edgerouter PoE to manage wired layer and 2X Unifi AP AC LR for wireless coverage.

1) How hard is it to set this up? I'm not terribly well-versed in networking and I'm concerned that the Ubiquiti enterprise-level equipment will have too many options and not enough "for-dummies" automation for me.

So what do you guys think? Or is there another option I should consider?
Thanks everyone.

 

[Genx87]

What is your house made out of that you need extenders? My dads house is over 3x your sq feet and is served just fine with some Netgear 300N wireless router.

 

[DingDingDao]

Haha just a normal house. I get terrible signal in rooms at the front of the house on both floors.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Why are you not running them all on the same SSID? My place is 3 stories and a little more square footage and one AC68U covers my entire house, and outside tool.

 

[DingDingDao]

Why are you not running them all on the same SSID? My place is 3 stories and a little more square footage and one AC68U covers my entire house, and outside tool.

The Netgear router splits to two SSIDs (one for 2.4GHz and one for 5GHz). The range extenders have their own SSIDs, so now it's 6 SSIDs (3 at each frequency).

I think the poor signal quality has to do with the placement of my router, which is by necessity next to the distribution panel. Unfortunately, that's in the master bedroom closet upstairs in the back of the house. I might be able to get away with the addition of a single Unifi WAP in the middle of the first floor. The range extenders are problematic beyond the SSID issue in that they halve the throughput as well.

 

[ViviTheMage]

What channels are your SSID's on? You should only have two.

I do SSIDNAME-24ghz and SSIDNAME-5ghz, that's it, and I know which one I am on. Then use the same SSID, but different channels on the extenders.

 

[DingDingDao]

What channels are your SSID's on? You should only have two.

I do SSIDNAME-24ghz and SSIDNAME-5ghz, that's it, and I know which one I am on. Then use the same SSID, but different channels on the extenders.

It's the same for me. I can switch the extenders to behave as access points, but they're still relays, so regardless of the SSID issue, they're still cutting my throughput by half, which is why I'd like to go to a WAP over the cat5e I have available.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I still don't get how using them as AP's cuts the throughput in half? IF they're AP's, you are getting full speed to/from AP, and over ethernet.

 

[DingDingDao]

I still don't get how using them as AP's cuts the throughput in half? IF they're AP's, you are getting full speed to/from AP, and over ethernet.

They're getting half the speed as they're set up right now, which is as an extender (repeater). I think I can connect them to ethernet as access points, so I'll give that a shot. In AP mode, they should have the exact same SSIDs as my router, correct?

 

[ViviTheMage]

ohhhh, yeah. Make sure to connect them up as AP's, I figured if you had ethernet run, that is what you were using. In AP mode use the same SSID's, just different channels so they don't overlap.

 

[DingDingDao]

ohhhh, yeah. Make sure to connect them up as AP's, I figured if you had ethernet run, that is what you were using. In AP mode use the same SSID's, just different channels so they don't overlap.

Yeah I had the Cat5e run, but I hadn't gotten it wired to a patch panel until recently (kids, life). Any reason to have unique SSIDs? If I've got, say, 3 access points (two WAPs and the router itself), is switching between APs accomplished by the router or by the client if they all share the same SSID?

 

[ViviTheMage]

The only reason you would want unique SSID's would be if you wanted to knowingly connect to specific AP's. Devices are smart enough they'll pick the one with the best signal. Generally the device says when to switch access points. Enterprise level AP's can tell devices when to roam I think.

 

[DingDingDao]

The only reason you would want unique SSID's would be if you wanted to knowingly connect to specific AP's. Devices are smart enough they'll pick the one with the best signal. Generally the device says when to switch access points. Enterprise level AP's can tell devices when to roam I think.

Oh ok. Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

 

[ViviTheMage]

np, hard wire those AP's!

 

[Red Squirrel]

I would go with option 2, though keep in mind the Unifi's come with POE injectors so you don't NEED to buy the switch, but if you do it does make cable management a bit easier as you can skip the injectors.

You do want a switch that can do vlans and a firewall/router that can do vlans too though so you can set up multiple wireless network SSIDs such as for guests and what not. Two or three unifi's should cover that whole house if they're put in a decent location. I have one in my basement facing down (not optimal) and it covers my whole house (1100sqft rectangular, AP is near not centred).

As far as ease of install, the Ubnt stuff is pretty easy, hardest part might be setting up the controller VM, but that's not too hard, and technically you don't need it running all the time so if you don't want something that's always on you can just run the windows version on your desktop to set it up then close it. Plenty of tutorials online too as its a popular product among even prosumer range.

 

[DingDingDao]

I would go with option 2, though keep in mind the Unifi's come with POE injectors so you don't NEED to buy the switch, but if you do it does make cable management a bit easier as you can skip the injectors.

You do want a switch that can do vlans and a firewall/router that can do vlans too though so you can set up multiple wireless network SSIDs such as for guests and what not. Two or three unifi's should cover that whole house if they're put in a decent location. I have one in my basement facing down (not optimal) and it covers my whole house (1100sqft rectangular, AP is near not centred).

As far as ease of install, the Ubnt stuff is pretty easy, hardest part might be setting up the controller VM, but that's not too hard, and technically you don't need it running all the time so if you don't want something that's always on you can just run the windows version on your desktop to set it up then close it. Plenty of tutorials online too as its a popular product among even prosumer range.

Thanks. I think long term my plan is to go UBNT for the router/APs, but for the time being I'm gonna try using the wifi extenders I already have in AP mode via cat5e and see how that works out. I might just wait until MU-MIMO gets really well-embedded into both APs and clients to upgrade my equipment.