Whole home wifi system

Question

I want to have reliable, fast, wifi coverage throughout my house. It is a quite large house, with some thick walls, so a single wireless router doesn't reach to the far corners. I have tried adding extra wireless access points and boosters, but it doesn't really work very well. Devices often lose the connection as they switch from one point to the other.

I think about 3 access points would cover the house. Though it would be good to have the option of adding extra points as necessary. I already have a VDSL modem/router, so the access points can connect to that. I do have ethernet cables throughout the house.

It should all work as a single wifi network, ie all using the same SSID, so devices switch seamlessly between points as you move around the house. Maybe some sort of 'mesh' system?

I am willing to spend up to about £200, for a complete system that works reliably, and is going to last a few years.

Some systems I am looking at. Any experiences of these, or other options?

• BT Whole Home Wi-Fi
• TP-Link Deco M5
• Netgear Orbi
• Linksys Velop
• Google Wifi
• Ubiquiti Unifi

Answer 1

We just upgraded ours from our Netgear R7800 to an Eero wifi system. I love the new Eero system because it is easy to use, and does everything I need it to do. Ours came with a pack of 3, but you can easily expand the router count within the Eero app. Just note that the Eeros need the Android or iOS app to set up, and has no website to use like what a Netgear would have (i.e. routerlogin.net). I hope this helps, even after a couple of years after the original post.

The nice thing about the Eero is that you can connect them wirelessly and have 2 ethernet ports on two Eeros and 1 ethernet port on one Eero or wired together, and still have a spare port on the slave Eeros.

You could also tether Netgear routers together via ethernet cables if you really wanted to run ethernet cables around your home. Trust me, it’s not fun.

Answer 2

The only good system I know of that you haven't already listed is Nokia Beacon. They have done some good work in the mesh department.

Ubiquiti has a great overall system. They have good customer service and they offer many other networking products that integrate nicely you could drop in to your network later on.