[SOLVED] Set up

[nick_rogers24]

So many options to choose from. I admit I am a beginner, can you please tell me if this is a good set up. We are renovating our house.



TP-Link EAP225-Wall Omada AC1200 Wireless MU-MIMO Wall-Plate Access Point

TP-Link TL-SG1008P 8-Port Gigabit PoE Ethernet Switch (4 PoE Ports, 55 Watt Budget, No Configuration Required)

We have a 5 bedroom house which is quite long rather than square. Will this set up work or are there any options I can reduce or need to improve? How many access points will I need for the whole house and outside. There seem so many options of fir access points and when you have limited knowledge I don't want to get the wrong kit. I need 6 ethernet ports in rooms and how ever many access points needed.
Any recommendations will help so much! Please let me know if you need any other info.

 

[bill001g]

There really is no way to answer this. Depends too much on what the house is made of and its layout. Someone with solid concrete walls is going to have a very different need than someone with a open house floor plan.

Start with the router and 1 AP. See how strong the signal is with just the router and then move the AP from room to room measuring the performance in nearby rooms. That should give you a idea what your need.

Doing this is what is generally called a site survey and is the only real way to know what you actually need.

Be aware too many AP Is just as bad as not enough because they can interfere. The good things about actual AP is most have the ability to reduce the radio power so you could set them to provide signal to only devices in certain room and AP in different rooms would provide signal to those devices.

 

[nick_rogers24]

Thank you very much for the reply Bill.
The house we are renovating is an old one 1940's with solid brick walls. I will give that a go of testing the signal strength before I get too many AP's. From the link I posted do you then that they are good components? I like the AP I posted due to the bact that it had ethernet outputs as well so it would save having to have a separate ethernet socket as well. I have used TP link before and always found them to be reliable but for AP's there seems to be so many options and for someone who doesn't really understand all of the spec I am finding it a little confusing which to pick.
Thanks again

 

[bill001g]

They will likely work as well as any other AP. TPlink is known for inexpensive but quality products. AP are actually much simpler than a router. They are pretty much a wifi radio chips connected via ethernet.

A AP is generally designed for business use so they have feature that are more used in a business than in home use. Pretty much you can ignore most of them.

The key reason you use a AP over a router is for the PoE. They also tend to be ceiling or wall mounted which is another reason for PoE.

 

[kanewolf]

Thank you very much for the reply Bill.
The house we are renovating is an old one 1940's with solid brick walls. I will give that a go of testing the signal strength before I get too many AP's. From the link I posted do you then that they are good components? I like the AP I posted due to the bact that it had ethernet outputs as well so it would save having to have a separate ethernet socket as well. I have used TP link before and always found them to be reliable but for AP's there seems to be so many options and for someone who doesn't really understand all of the spec I am finding it a little confusing which to pick.
Thanks again

I don't know what TP-Link has for management. Ubiquiti has a similar in-wall AP -- https://inwall.ui.com/ The big benefit of Ubiquiti is the single dashboard management. I switched my home network to Ubiquiti.
The other option would be a conventional ethernet jack in a room and smoke detector ceiling mount WIFI APs. That requires a separate ethernet run, but does allow full bandwidth for both the AP and the wired connection. Running cable is cheap. I would recommend you run lots. Include the exterior of the building for an outdoor AP to cover the backyard and cabling to eves to support cameras. All of those devices are POE, so you may want a much bigger POE switch.
Also think about a UPS for your "network closet".