Question Recommendation for U6 Pro, U7 Pro, or XG – Moderate Network Installation

[BorrisD1010]

Hello everyone,

After reading many articles and discussions comparing the U6 Pro, U7 Pro, and U7 Pro XG models, I’m still undecided due to several factors.

In Belgium, in rural areas or small towns, network quality is generally poor regardless of the ISP. I’ve just been connected via DSL (telephone line) and I’m limited to 30–40 Mbps actual speeds (measured via Speedtest). My neighbor, who uses a different provider with a coaxial (cable TV) network, reaches up to 400 Mbps. Unfortunately, these speeds will only improve once fiber optic service is installed, which is not expected for another 4–5 years in my area.

I don’t plan to subscribe to speeds above 1 Gbps, as prices are extremely high. I currently pay €35 (~$38) for 100 Mbps theoretical (reduced to about 40 Mbps real). Fiber offers here range between €80 and €100 (~$87–$109) for speeds between 1 and 2 Gbps, which is the maximum offered to residential customers.

Assuming my ISP delivers 400 Mbps actual, I plan to connect:

• 5–6 cameras (PoE and Wi-Fi)
• Multiple smart TVs
• Smart speakers and voice assistants
• Smartphones
• An alarm system
• Connected home appliances (oven, washing machine, robotic vacuum, etc.)

My house has two floors, with reinforced concrete between levels, and measures about 25 × 20 m (~82 × 66 ft) including the terrace.

Here are the prices I can get in Belgium:

• U6 Pro: €125 (~$136)
• U7 Pro: €142 (~$155)
• U7 Pro XG: €179 (~$195)

Which model would you recommend in this context?,

 

[cruisetung]

Each 4K video stream consumes 30Mbps bandwidth, count how many devices will be streaming at the same time.

I believe you will use motion detection for your security cameras so they will be active when a moving object is detected and start recording. But security uses even less bandwidth then 30Mbps I believe.

Smart appliances use very little bandwidth,

2 x U6 Pro (one for each level) should be good enough.

It supports

802.11n (WiFi 4) 6.5 Mbps to 600 Mbps (MCS0 - MCS31, HT 20/40)​

802.11ac (WiFi 5) 6.5 Mbps to 3.4 Gbps (MCS0 - MCS9 NSS1/2/3/4, VHT 20/40/80/160)​

802.11ax (WiFi 6) 7.3 Mbps to 4.8 Gbps (MCS0 - MCS11 NSS1/2/3/4, HE 20/40/80/160)​

​

and 1Gbps uplink, don't think you will ever saturate the bandwidth

 

[bill001g]

The main thing to remember when you are talking about wifi is your end devices are half the connection. If they do not support all the fancy option a more expensive router supports is just money wasted. So if your devices do not actually support wifi7 the feature will not be used.
The vast majority of devices only have 2 antenna so fancy 4x4 mimo also buys you nothing.

The application you are talking about are fairly low bandwidth so the speed also doesn't matter. The only time you would need really fast wifi is if you were downloading massive files from the internet or maybe a local NAS. In these cases you really should be using ethernet to begin with.

So you likely do not need the more expensive units you list.

Do not get conned by the marketing guys. Wifi coverage in a house is impossible to predict. Wifi7 doesn't cover more than wifi5 or wifi6....in fact if covers less if you run on the 6ghz bands.

This will be trial and error as to placement and how many AP you need. Mostly it will depends on where you have ethernet cables to plug them into. Some people that are lucky can still use 1 central located wifi source. Most the issue are not how far the signals go it is how much interfering signals you have from neighbors.

Note your internet speed does not directly relate to your wifi needs. For example I hope all your security camera stuff is saved locally and not sent into the "cloud".