Budget Wifi6 APs

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lowfat

Active Member
Nov 25, 2016
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Looking at replacing my two older APs with a WiFi 6 capable AP. Currently have a Ruckus R500 + an UBNT AP-AC-PRO. Would have ditched the AP-AC-PRO but I have issues w/ ESPHome ESP32s + the Ruckus. And now the Ruckus is dropping every client randomly until I reboot it. I live in a small single story house. But I have 40+ wifi clients. Mostly 2.4GHz but a handful of 5GHz clients.

Some I'm looking at
1. EnGenius EWS377AP. ~$200USD. About 2 years old but reviews seem decent.
2. Netgear WAX218. $170USD. Much newer. Can't find any real reviews. Haven't really heard anyone using Netgear APs.
3. Omada EAP660 HD. ~$200USD. I've seen a few complaints about Omada gear on r/homelabs. So I'm a little weary.

Any others in a similar price bracket? I'd like to stay away from Ubiquiti.

EDIT: Ended up ordering the Netgear. Was on sale and didn't want to miss it.
 
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elvisimprsntr

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May 9, 2021
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@lowfat

@zer0sum

The Netgear WAX218 is actually a rebranded EnGenius EWS377AP, but with crippled capability (less SSIDs, no MESH, less concurrent devices, etc.)

Read the reviews before you buy the Netgear version.


I have two EWS377APv3 and one EWS357APv3 which work without issues.
 
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sko

Active Member
Jun 11, 2021
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I'll throw in the AP-N505 from FS.COM at around the same price point of 199$: AP-N505, Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax 3000 Mbps Indoor Access Point, Seamless Roaming & 2x2 MU-MIMO Dual Radios, Manageable via FS Controller or Standalone (Without PoE Injector) - FS

I've been using one of their access points (FS-AP1167C) at home for ~2 years and it simply was one of those "fire and forget" devices that just worked. Reception was good, I never noticed any problems in throughput with the few WiFi devices I use at home and especially no occasional reboots/freezes (linksys...), connection drops (UBNT) or any other annoyances you often encounter in that low(er) budget range.
Their switches are also reliable workhorses, especially at their given price points, so I wouldn't expect anything else from their newer Wi-Fi 6 AP range.

I would probably still run that AP if I hadn't gotten some AT-TQ4600 at an absolute bargain...
 

nerdalertdk

Fleet Admiral
Mar 9, 2017
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::1
I switch from Ruckus r720 too to-links EAP660 and could not be happier

maxes my internet speed at 500/500 everywhere in my house 130sqm
 

Markess

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2018
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I wrote a rather scathing review of the WAX218 in July 2021. You can read it here.
I just finished my own selection process for a new AP(s) (went with EWS377AP). Between your review and @elvisimprsntr , I had pretty much erased the Netgear (all Netgear) off my options list. I know there's options in their product line that do what I want/would like, but the practice of intentionally crippling hardware features to create segmentation aggravates me. And while I'm not sure its the case here, Its even more aggravating to me when the crippling process is "extra" to the normal production, so that the "low spec" item winds up costing more to develop/produce. I know it happens all the time in this industry, but some companies are a bit more over the top than others.
 
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lowfat

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Nov 25, 2016
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I agree that setup was terrible. The instructions clearly stated the password yet it would just not work. Ended up having to do a factory reset during install. And also the fact that I cannot connect to the AP via dns host name is stupid.

Have a few issues w/ a couple clients that will just not stay connected to it. Both my Harmony Hubs and roommates Pixel 3 would drop constantly. Even when setting the same channels as previous AP. So I ended up having to keep the other AP as a backup for a few devices.

But otherwise it has been a great AP. Get a 1.1Gbps connection on my phone, have never had to reboot it once since purchase besides config changes. Not sure I'd buy it again tho since having to run the old AP-AC-PRO is a bummer. I'm not a fan of Ubiquiti at all, but I'll probably go w/ them again next time for an AP.