Question Which wireless access point do I need? To extend Wifi in a large house, to be able to run up to 10 skype calls well.

[Satyakirti]

Hello all,

I'm currently in the process of uprating the networking hardware in the retreat centre which I live and work at.
We've got an event coming up where we may end up with about 10 people at any one time trying to make skype video calls and we would very much like to be able to have a setup that is capable of managing this.
I've had a look at the bandwidth requirements for skype calls an it all seems suspiciously low considering my own experience with it.

We've got an Asus BRT AC828 router in our office and get about 33Mbps down and 9Mbps up with it. I'm in the process of installing a 4G antenna which through a dongle should give us a bit of a boost on that when we really need it, as well as acting as a backup when the ADSL goes down.

In our main house, a bit further from the router we have a Netgear WNR2200, connected via ethernet to the Asus, which supplies wifi to one of the floors, then we have a Netgear WN3000RP V1H2 (802.11n) repeater a bit further on which sends the signal onto the front three rooms of the house.

These front three rooms are where we most need the best connection; so what I'm wondering is whether to replace the wireless repeater with one of these 802.11AC AC2600 beasties: https://www.amazon.co.uk/RE650-Universal-Extender-Broadband-UK/dp/B0725Y1VZ7

And it would be wired into the Main router vie Ethernet, probably not Gigabit Ethernet though as I don't think our cabling is good enough.

Is the TPlink RE650 overkill for this? Would a lower model be enough to cover 10 Skype calls?

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,

Satyakirti

 

[Satyakirti]

Hello,
Thanks for your reply
I know what a range extender does, we already have on set up to cover the area I need covered but I'm not confident in its ability to handle up to 10 simultaneous skype calls; so I want to upgrade it to an access point connected via Ethernet; what I'm wondering is what sort of performance is needed for this? I.e. Which AC specification? AC750, AC1200, AC2600?

 

[kanewolf]

If you have a wired ethernet infrastructure (which it sounds like you do), I would recommend replacing the Netgear hardware with a couple Ubiquiti access points. The AC-PRO units are available for $130 each ($85 used on E-Bay). I just replaced all my infrastructure with Ubiquiti and have been very happy with the results.