Wireless Access Points or Mesh?

[YorkieSelfBuild]

Hi, currently thinking of my home network in new self build. Spark can lay cables (likely cat6) but not experienced in terminating them. So I've asked a local data cable installer for a proposal for cabling to a data cabinet with patch panel, switch panel and router plus lots of ethernet connections for TV, PC, bedrooms, cameras, PV inverter, etc.

 

For mobile devices using Wi-Fi, I was thinking wireless access points connected to PoE in each bedroom ceiling (router on GF so maybe no need). But he said that's the same as a Mesh system if all units are wired and they're expensive.

 

A quick Google and it seems AP isn't the same as mesh, else why there's so many "AP Vs mesh" results? 

 

Something like this TP-Link EAP653 WiFi 6 Access Point, Three Pack £210 (can I reclaim VAT?) whereas Wi-Fi 7 mesh systems are £400+

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/46108-tp-link-eap653-3

 

Am I barking up the wrong tree or is there another solution?

 

 

 

 

 

[Alan Ambrose]

I think tplink has a real security problem, feel free to check. For my 10 cents, cat5/6 to proper computers for gb access, wifi for everything else, unify access points on poe, no mesh. But cat5/6 + poe for cameras etc and anywhere you don’t want batteries (to my mind, that’s everywhere). Check the range of access points - you probably only need 2 for house, maybe +1 for garden …. unless you have say, foil faced plasterboard internally.

[MrSniff]

+1 for Unifi access points wired back to a POE switch. This is what we have in a three story concrete built house. I believe mesh uses WiFi bandwidth to communicate between nodes, typically not a big problem, but they do need to be in range of each other.

[Temp]

You probably won't need an AP in every bedroom. Typically one per floor or perhaps two per floor if its a big/long house. One of them might be your ISP supplied modem.

 

Wired AP for me. We have three second hand Draytek AP on different frequencies. 

 

Forgot to mention I also have a AP in an outbuilding providing coverage in the garden when it's summer time. That uses Ethernet over the mains to connect to the modem. Works well. 

Edited March 17 by Temp

[Nickfromwales]

WiFi 7 is the bomb. I just moved people into a new build and the WiFi is crazy good. >300m2 L shaped house and only 2 WAP's (Ubiquiti) and great results tbh.

 

Will be changing my 6's to 7's asap, night and day different imho.

[G and J]

Would one see a benefit if one doesn’t have the latest devices?

[Nickfromwales]

  On 17/03/2025 at 22:36, G and J said:

Would one see a benefit if one doesn’t have the latest devices?

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35 years ago I walked for 40 mins in the rain, after dark, to knock my mates door to see if he wanted to come out, only to be told by his mother that he's done the same thing with a different mate, so I'd guess which one and keep walking.

 

I'd have killed to be able to send a text lol, and asking to use the house phone got the death stare.

 

You're having tech anyways, so.....why buy 'OK' for £200 when 'shit-hot' is another £100? (in the grand scheme of course!). Time flies and tech gets old quick, but I bet your car has got ABS  

 

You could live without a mobile and without WiFi.

[YorkieSelfBuild]

Looking at UniFi U6+ or U6Pro, for budget reasons and I don't have Wi-Fi 7 devices yet. Also thanks for warning about TP-Link.

 

Now thinking 2F bedroom and 1F landing, instead of inside both bedrooms on 1F as house only 9m x 5m. 1F AP should reach GF or use router as it'll be in GF plant cupboard.

 

[YorkieSelfBuild]

What do people think if I get installer to terminate just a few cables for immediate use then I can buy tools and parts to DIY later as needed? I think current prices are £100-120 per connection point, which adds up quickly!

 

Go for it or is it hard and tricky to get right?

[bmj1]

I would suggest, as a minimum-

 

1) CAT6 to ceiling of hallway landing on each floor, master bedroom ceiling and living room ceiling (and any other key areas) 

 

2) unifi u6+ APs (can always upgrade them later) 

 

3) all wired back to a patch panel

 

4) unifi dream machine and switch

 

Forget mesh, you have the chance to wire proper backhaul then do it

[bmj1]

Terminate/patch/test all cables in one go, but no need to use all of them on day 1.

 

I started with fewer APs and added incrementally. 

 

I also wired to every bedroom ceiling

[joth]

  On 17/03/2025 at 23:14, YorkieSelfBuild said:

What do people think if I get installer to terminate just a few cables for immediate use then I can buy tools and parts to DIY later as needed? I think current prices are £100-120 per connection point, which adds up quickly!

 

Go for it or is it hard and tricky to get right?

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We DIYed all CAT6a termination. 

Wall socket (and patch panel) is easy, just use a good quality punch down tool not the cheap flimsy plastic freebie 

If you need captive rj45 plugs on exposed fly lead e.g. WAPs and CCTV points they're a bit more fiddly, especially if using thicker (future proof) CAT6a rather than CAT6.

 

Personally if my installer is suggesting mesh for backhaul rather than wired connection I'd be looking for a new installer, or certainly not rely on them for any design advice 

 

[MikeGrahamT21]

If you can get CAT6a cable in lots of places, this will future proof your home, and for very little cost. Termination is fairly easy, most patch panels these days are colour coded, its just fiddly work thats all, especially the RJ45 connectors, but absolutely doable, and you'll get quicker each time.

 

The greater question is how much bandwidth do you need for everything communicating at maximum, plus some additional bandwidth for breathing space?
How quick is your internet connection going to be?

These are real important questions, for myself i'm still running WiFi-5 AC1200 on a fully wireless Mesh (Tenda), but my internet connection is a maximum of 65/20, and it achieves full speed with a wireless connection of 866Mbps, so for me it would be totally overkill to bother with anything more than this, i wouldn't see the benefit.

 

Also, and I know its contentious, but consider locating access points pumping out serious amounts of EMF somewhere other than bedrooms, just in case the people who say it can cause health issues are indeed correct, i can't think of a requirement which means you need it in there. Range of the APs is often much greater than expected too, this becomes an issue with interference if you overpopulate, and can have the opposite effect, making WiFi slower.

 

Hi from a fellow South Yorkshire resident btw!

[mads]

  On 17/03/2025 at 23:37, bmj1 said:

I would suggest, as a minimum-

 

1) CAT6 to ceiling of hallway landing on each floor, master bedroom ceiling and living room ceiling (and any other key areas) 

 

2) unifi u6+ APs (can always upgrade them later) 

 

3) all wired back to a patch panel

 

4) unifi dream machine and switch

 

Forget mesh, you have the chance to wire proper backhaul then do it

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I would agree with bmj1 on this. Its what I did in my last house and plan to do the same again (though am also routing conduits for fibre in future, as well as LIFI points but thats for another thread)

 

  On 17/03/2025 at 23:14, YorkieSelfBuild said:

What do people think if I get installer to terminate just a few cables for immediate use then I can buy tools and parts to DIY later as needed? I think current prices are £100-120 per connection point, which adds up quickly!

 

Go for it or is it hard and tricky to get right?

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It is not hard at all. I would suggest you save your money and do it yourself. I ran 1.5km of data cable in my last house and had 30+ connections. I got my wife trained in terminating the connectors (piano fingers) and she was a pro by the end. Buy some decent tools and tester - will cost you no more than £50-60 total and they are useful for any future uses you might have.

[Adsibob]

  On 17/03/2025 at 20:28, MrSniff said:

+1 for Unifi access points wired back to a POE switch

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I also second this. I find the Ubiquiti. UniFi U6IW AP particularly useful as it doubles up as a further switch, but if you plan appropriately in tens of your cabling you won’t necessarily need that and you could just install the regular Ubiquiti APs.

 

 The Ubiquiti Dream Router is also a very good router with built in AP.

 

In my three story house, I have the UDR which covers my entire ground floor (which surprised me as the ground floor is large), then I have a U6IW on each of my first and second floors. This is plenty, but to help cover an outdoor weak spot I also installed a Swiss Army Ultra which is cheaper and smaller than most outdoor APs on the market, although only supports WiFi 5, whereas the rest of my set up goes up to WiFi 6.

WiFI 7 is now available so might be worth future proofing although not really necessary given WiFi 6 works so bloody well and only the absolute newest devices such as iPhone 16 support WiFi7.

[Adsibob]

  On 17/03/2025 at 22:12, Temp said:

One of them might be your ISP supplied modem.

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Not sure this is recommended. I prefer to run the crappy ISP kit in modem only mode, and get a better router from the likes of Ubiquiti. In modem only mode, the a a iSP’s router will now work as an AP, but I see that as a good thing. With Ubiquiti kit it can automatically calibrate the different WiFi channels to stop the APs causing any interference for each other. Don’t think you can do that for a third party AP.

[bmj1]

  On 18/03/2025 at 09:00, mads said:

I got my wife trained in terminating the connectors (piano fingers)

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This is awesome.

 

  On 18/03/2025 at 11:25, Adsibob said:

 The Ubiquiti Dream Router is also a very good router with built in AP.

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The Unifi kit is fantastic all round. Right now OP is asking about the wiring, equipment can all be sorted down the line, as long as they wire it right.

 

A friend of mine (who is an A/V installer) - gave me a super piece of advice - "the most expensive cable is the one that you don't run".

 

Last idea - we put ceiling speakers all around the house - where we could - we hit APs above the plasterboard - using the ceiling speakers as access panels - for totally invisible APs.

 

The other thing we did is, where they were visible, paint the plastic covers they come with to match the ceiling colour. I suspect you might think that's overkill

[mads]

  On 18/03/2025 at 14:22, bmj1 said:

Last idea - we put ceiling speakers all around the house - where we could - we hit APs above the plasterboard - using the ceiling speakers as access panels - for totally invisible APs.

 

The other thing we did is, where they were visible, paint the plastic covers they come with to match the ceiling colour. I suspect you might think that's overkill

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I like the idea of hiding the APs above the plasterboard. I have explored recessed brackets for Ubiquiti APs which are now readily available compared to when I did it 7+ years in previous house.

[SteamyTea]

I try very hard to reduce bandwidth and the associated energy usage.

 

We are heading to a 5G world now, 6, 7 and 8G will be along soon.

Why bother with old hardwired hardware.

[Dreadnaught]

Rule of thumb: "no more than two rooms and two walls between access points". From here.

 

I agree with everyone: PoE APs (ideally on ceiling) with ethernet wiring back to switch is the one to choose.

 

For ethernet, I am choosing Cat-6 cable and 2.5 Gbps switches for a bit of future-proof-ing. I am also ducting the backbone cabling and the cables to the APs for the same reason.

[YorkieSelfBuild]

Ok, sticking WAP, not mesh. I'll need to make sure cable layout works with that.

 

Cat6a can go further than cat6's 37-55m limit for peak speeds but I think 37m will easily cover a 9 x 5m 3 floor house. Or am I wrong?

 

DIYing the terminations seems to be the way, lots of resources online, but I have questions about that. 

 

1. If I don't terminate immediately after cables are laid, I can't test if they work or have been damaged. Is that a big risk?

2. Do you terminate cables after they're laid, up a ladder for ceiling APs and outdoor cameras?

 

Thanks for all comments so far

[YorkieSelfBuild]

  On 18/03/2025 at 18:57, Dreadnaught said:

I am also ducting the backbone cabling and the cables to the APs for the same reason.

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I did initially think of internal conduits, some with just a builders line to pull cables through when I actually start to install cable or upgrade later, but that idea was shot down as told pulling cables is hard.

 

How have you've been able to do that? Are they straight ducts, no bends?

[SiBee]

Great input from the posters and very useful to myself as I am busy doing a similar job. DIY is very doable and tools are very cheap. The IT guy at work showed me pass through rj45 plugs. Rather than feeding each strand into the tiny terminals, with pass through you just strip the outer sheath approx 20mm, arrange the wires in correct order and push into the plug and crimp. Add boots for strain relief too. Quicker, easier and less chance of failure. Your fingers will thank you if you have to many to do.

[mads]

  On 18/03/2025 at 21:17, YorkieSelfBuild said:

Ok, sticking WAP, not mesh. I'll need to make sure cable layout works with that.

 

Cat6a can go further than cat6's 37-55m limit for peak speeds but I think 37m will easily cover a 9 x 5m 3 floor house. Or am I wrong?

 

DIYing the terminations seems to be the way, lots of resources online, but I have questions about that. 

 

1. If I don't terminate immediately after cables are laid, I can't test if they work or have been damaged. Is that a big risk?

2. Do you terminate cables after they're laid, up a ladder for ceiling APs and outdoor cameras?

 

Thanks for all comments so far

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If you can afford it, go with the Cat6a now

 

Definitely terminate and test after cables are laid. Leave an extra half coil length so when you cut off the plug to properly fit you have enough length left.

 

Yes, terminate after you have run the cables. Its a PITA to run with the plugs attached. Fit them afterwards.

[mads]

  On 18/03/2025 at 21:24, YorkieSelfBuild said:

I did initially think of internal conduits, some with just a builders line to pull cables through when I actually start to install cable or upgrade later, but that idea was shot down as told pulling cables is hard.

 

How have you've been able to do that? Are they straight ducts, no bends?

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If the conduit is wide enough then it shouldn't be hard. You can have bends but not sharp 90 degree ones. Ideally sweeping ones. I am planning for 50mm conduit for pre-made fibre cables to allow for the jacks to not get stuck. I doubt you need so wide for Cat6a cable.

Sounds like you are being fobbed off as they don't want to put/have the ducting as they then need to be more careful.