One word: Unifi.
I run 4 TP-Link Deco’s and I have very good WiFi in every corner of the house and garden. The Router-function on the Deco is crap so I don’t use that.
I got an EdgeRouter X (50€) and a Unifi UAP-AC-PRO (130€). It’s the most stable network I had ever have (after many router or all-in-one from tp-link, thomson, xiaomi, a Linksys WRT with dd-wrt…).
I get the same coverage with the unifi access point as I did with an all-in-one + repeater (one from d-link and then one from Xiaomi).
The single Ethernet cable to connect and power the access point make the install super easy (thin Ethernet cable allow for even more discreet install in rental)
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+1 stable
Number one reason I like ubiquiti is stability.
Every other router I have had eventually required reboot to restore WAN.
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Plus their support of HA is deserving of custom!
I can speak to this: avoid the Orbi. It was a good upgrade over my previous Netgear Nighthawk router with a TP-Link Repeater… until around the time I started using Home Assistant. The network started getting real flaky.
After some research I discovered that a decent number of people have been having issues in the past 6 months with the Orbi. One guy even believes he has more problems when he runs Docker on his network (hint: Hass.io uses Docker). The problem is widespread enough that a few months ago Netgear started releasing beta firmware updates that attempted to correct the problem. As of about 3 weeks ago the problem was not resolved.
I decided I wanted to get off of the WiFi upgrade/disappointment cycle. After hearing lots of users here raving about Unifi, I went that route. It is a business grade solution that allows you to setup multiple wifi hotspots, but instead of being connected via a wireless link, you connect them together with wired ethernet cables.
I started with one Unifi AC Pro and have been very happy with it. Now that I have been using it for a few weeks I am learning where the weak coverage is and will try adding another Unifi AC Pro on the other side of the house. I will probably run ethernet on the outside of the house to minimize drywall holes, but I strongly believe it will be worth it! 
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I’ve just updated the access point a few days ago, uptime was 92days
Thanks, Pretty much all the comments here have me leaning towards Ubiquiti having originally posted because I really wanted some kind of confirmation that Mesh (probably Orbi) was a good direction!
Your comment here and the post you link to has me very nearly sold on Ubiquiti.
I have read some things about setup that make it sound like a minefield. I can’t believe it is that bad though? Does the controller software need to be always on? If so can I run it on a rpi - even if I am a total Linux novice - I’m running hassio so I assume it can’t be on that rpi?
And thanks to everyone who has responded.
I am in the UK and have had a very painful first-hand experience of the Linksys Velop system.
TL;DR - avoid Velop, be careful with any mesh
I bought 5 nodes just under a year ago. I have a quite large house, with some thick old walls, so a challenging wifi environment. I missed the Amazon return window, and then suffered with regular wifi signal drop-outs and very unhappy family for about 9 months. This was firmware related. My Velops were operating the wifi behind an Asus router (Velops don’t have basic functionality like VPN access, even now.) My home automation devices regularly lost connection.
A few months ago Linksys/Belkin finally issued some firmware which improved stability, so I purchased 3 more nodes; the hope was that my remaining issues with stability might be solved by blanket coverage. No joy.
After a general moan on the Linksys forum, they sent a techincian to my house for a day (!). His initial feeling was that I was suffering from intra-Velop signal interference, and reduced the number of working nodes. He then found that nodes were dropping off at random. The only working solution we came up with by the end of the day was to use a wired back-haul between nodes using powerline technology.
The bottom line - kudos to Linksys, they have now agreed to fully refund me. I am in the market for another solution. But my experience with the Velops has left me scarred. I suggest that if you decide to try a mesh system then buy from a retailer that allows for returns (eg Amazon) and be ruthless about returning them if they do not work reliably for you within 24-48 hours.
No, no don’t worry, you can totally install it on any machine (like your computer) and stop it once the setup is finished.
The unifi controller software is not needed except for setup and for special service (the captive portal for guest network, but that’s totally optional).
No, it’s not that bad. If you ever set up some router an raspberry pi, it should not be a problem.
But you need to install the UniFi controller software on your computer to set up the AP, that’s certainly why it appear more complex (in opposition to simply connecting to the AP directly)
There are several docker containers out there for the Unifi controller. This one even had all the various builds of them: https://github.com/goofball222/unifi
Super simple to install a container and just let it eat. Surprised we haven’t seen one of these containers linked as an add-on yet.
The mesh units are meant to be used as wireless repeaters up to two good from wired AP
All units may connect to each other wirelessly. I use thid without issue. Many people connect far away camera this way
That is supposed to work without issue. But it just add more interference in some case which doesn’t help (especially since people usually need mesh network because of wifi issue).
It also have a reduced bandwitch and a much higher response time than a wired network.
It’s only good if you really cannot pass the single Ethernet cable required by the unifi access point (they can also work as meshed with each other)
Yes, Use as necessity not convenience.
Is bandwidth/interference a ubiquiti only issue or wireless mesh network issue?
On some mesh systems the RF backhaul channel is on a different frequency to the WIFi usage so you don’t impact bandwidth through contention. However wired is always better where possible.
I have setup a TON of WiFi routers over the years, for friends, family, and I haven’t been able to go 2 years without feeling the need to upgrade my network for one reason or another.
Before I turned off my Orbi network I plugged my previous Netgear WiFi Router via Ethernet.
- I turned WiFi OFF, and configured it to run as a DHCP server.
- I installed the Unifi Controller software on the old laptop I use as my Home Assistant server. (I run both Home Assistant and the Unifi Controller under Docker, but the software should run just fine on docker on a Raspberry Pi as well).
- I put the old router in place of my Orbi, and plugged my Unifi Wireless Access point into my cable modem.
I forget how I actually set up the Unifi Access Point, but it wasn’t very complicated. I want to say I used the Unifi iPhone app to discover it and initiate setup… but I don’t remember for sure. The point the entire process wasn’t much different that setting up a normal WiFi Router combo unit. You just have to remember that the round Unifi unit is “dumb”, in that it simply provides WiFi connections. In my case I use an old WiFi router in place of a wired only router.
Ubiquiti also offers complimentary devices such as:
- Cloud Key which offers a dedicated server for the controller software. But we don’t need that as we can run the software as needed on any computer.
- EdgeMax X Routers which is a decided router. But, we don’t need that because we can use an old WiFi router (with WiFi turned off) in its place.
In the end I started with one Unifi AC Pro wireless access point, and the whole family has been really happy with the reliability so far, and I plan to add a second AC Pro soon to better cover the house now that I am happy with it. There are some advanced features of the Controller software that I miss out on by not using one of the Ubiquiti routers, but you can decide later if those features are necessary for your needs or not.
On a side note, the head developer of Home Assistant was recently hired by Ubiquiti. So that makes me feel confident that Home Assistant will continue to be well supported by my Unifi hardware.
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I used to have an Orbi system with the main and 3 routers. I would happily sell it to anyone for cheap as I found it not to perform very well for my situation.
I migrated to Unifi and works well; but certainly more involved versus Orbi’s set it and forget it approach.
With Unifi you need to manage channels, power levels, etc, to get the best performance. This isn’t hard to do but certainly not a plug and play install. Even things like the power level where “auto” in the GUI means “high” and things like this add to the confusion.
So it comes down to what your technical level is and willingness to tweak to get the best performance.
Hope this helps.
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As I posted above, I’m in the US and I have a three unit Velop system which I purchased and installed about three months ago. I have one unit connected directly to my cable modem and a 10-port gigabit switch. I use this unit as the router (i.e., I’ve disabled the router function in the cable modem/gateway.) The second unit connects via an Ethernet cable to the switch, and the third unit connects via a pair of TP-Link Powerline Adapters (TL-PA7010 KIT), also to the switch.
The system was pretty easy to install and has been rock solid. I’ve found that I get as much Internet bandwidth over WiFi as I do via hardwired Ethernet. That is to say I have not found any degradation of performance due to the Velop system.
I’m not saying that the Velop is necessarily the best choice for everyone. But it has worked well for me so I disagree with the unconditional “avoid Velop” sentiment.
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I’m happy you’re happy.
But I stand by my advice, and suggest that any potential purchaser spends a little time looking back on the Linksys Velop customer forum before purchasing.
I have just ordered some Ubiquiti Unifi’s to replace my Velops. Can’t wait to be rid of them.
PS One distinct advantage of the Unifis over the Velops for users here - the former are Home Assistant-friendly for presence detection.