I'm in the market for a wireless access point, looking for some recommendations.
First, I only need an access point, not a full-on router. Routing duties are handled by a separate pfSense system.
This is for residential home use. I try to do wired whenever possible, certainly for anything with high bandwidth requirements and/or in a static location. So the WiFi is really for "transient" devices: smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc.
Currently I'm using an Asus RT-N66U. I realize this is a full-on router, but I'm using it in Access Point mode (Merlin firmware). This actually works pretty well; at times I wish it was a bit faster. I don't really need a new WAP, but I'm in the process of setting up the infrastructure on a new house. Original plan was to not have wireless at the new house until we actually move. But now I'd kind of like to have WiFi in the new house sooner than that, and it also gives me an excuse to upgrade. (I'm sure many here suffer from upgradeitis. ) Plus I can donate the Asus to my parents when we move.
This is a large-ish house, basement and two stories, about 1800 square feet per level. The old house is a bit smaller, maybe 1200 square feet per level; the Asus doesn't seem to have any coverage issues. The new house does have a huge 200-foot deep yard, so coverage out to there would be nice, but isn't worth any added cost.
Being powered by POE, 802.3af in particular, is ideal, but not a hard requirement. I have a closet in the middle of the house with a Cat6 drop, so aesthetics aren't important---it will be hidden no matter what. That makes POE convenient, but an AC adapter not a big deal either.
Given that long rambling intro, my main question is: should I get a typical consumer-level device, or step up to the low-end enterprise grade products? Looks like I can get POE-powered 802.11ac WAPs from the likes of Netgear, Linksys, TP-Link for $100 or less. On the other end of things, I see lots of love here and other places for Ruckus, specifically the R310 looks ideal for my situation, but at $350 or so.
In general, I've never been able to really understand the difference between the higher-end consumer stuff and the entry-level enterprise stuff. I know the latter often comes with "enterprise features", which I really don't need; I'm good with MAC address filtering and WPA2 PSK. So is the hardware that much better? I suppose mesh capabilities would be nice if a single WAP won't cut it; but I'm hoping I don't have to go there. I know with the consumer-grade wireless routers, the firmware is notoriously flaky. Many, many years ago I ran DD-WRT on a Buffalo router to avoid junky stock firmware. But the Merlin firmware on my Asus RT-N66U has been surprisingly stable (I don't think I've ever had to reboot it). Either way, I would think being a basic access point "should" be easier to get right than full-on routing functionality.
First, I only need an access point, not a full-on router. Routing duties are handled by a separate pfSense system.
This is for residential home use. I try to do wired whenever possible, certainly for anything with high bandwidth requirements and/or in a static location. So the WiFi is really for "transient" devices: smart phones, tablets, laptops, etc.
Currently I'm using an Asus RT-N66U. I realize this is a full-on router, but I'm using it in Access Point mode (Merlin firmware). This actually works pretty well; at times I wish it was a bit faster. I don't really need a new WAP, but I'm in the process of setting up the infrastructure on a new house. Original plan was to not have wireless at the new house until we actually move. But now I'd kind of like to have WiFi in the new house sooner than that, and it also gives me an excuse to upgrade. (I'm sure many here suffer from upgradeitis. ) Plus I can donate the Asus to my parents when we move.
This is a large-ish house, basement and two stories, about 1800 square feet per level. The old house is a bit smaller, maybe 1200 square feet per level; the Asus doesn't seem to have any coverage issues. The new house does have a huge 200-foot deep yard, so coverage out to there would be nice, but isn't worth any added cost.
Being powered by POE, 802.3af in particular, is ideal, but not a hard requirement. I have a closet in the middle of the house with a Cat6 drop, so aesthetics aren't important---it will be hidden no matter what. That makes POE convenient, but an AC adapter not a big deal either.
Given that long rambling intro, my main question is: should I get a typical consumer-level device, or step up to the low-end enterprise grade products? Looks like I can get POE-powered 802.11ac WAPs from the likes of Netgear, Linksys, TP-Link for $100 or less. On the other end of things, I see lots of love here and other places for Ruckus, specifically the R310 looks ideal for my situation, but at $350 or so.
In general, I've never been able to really understand the difference between the higher-end consumer stuff and the entry-level enterprise stuff. I know the latter often comes with "enterprise features", which I really don't need; I'm good with MAC address filtering and WPA2 PSK. So is the hardware that much better? I suppose mesh capabilities would be nice if a single WAP won't cut it; but I'm hoping I don't have to go there. I know with the consumer-grade wireless routers, the firmware is notoriously flaky. Many, many years ago I ran DD-WRT on a Buffalo router to avoid junky stock firmware. But the Merlin firmware on my Asus RT-N66U has been surprisingly stable (I don't think I've ever had to reboot it). Either way, I would think being a basic access point "should" be easier to get right than full-on routing functionality.