Which router for our new building?

Thank you for your messages

sorry for the missing information.

We have 4 floors, basement, ground floor, 1st floor and attic

we will place the router in the basement and that’s where the connections will be

Ground floor: open living and dining area and open kitchen + hallway and guest WC (I think 1 access point should be enough and LAN connection behind the TV)

1st floor: children's room, bedroom and dressing room (possibly 1 access point in the hallway or children's room, and LAN connection in the children's room and possibly bedroom)

Attic: a large studio for many different things (2 LAN connections and 1 access point)

I have definitely planned at least 1 access point per floor (possibly one access point on the back of the garage as well (we will drill a hole for the cable and retrofit ourselves) for the garden.)

Which APs can you recommend to me?

Are mesh systems also APs?? e.g. Netgear Orbi, Amazon Eero or whatever they are called (1 main router like Fritzbox and the others only strengthen and extend the signal.

Each individual device (whether access point or mesh router system) will of course be connected to LAN

Where is the best place to place the access points? on the concrete ceiling will certainly cost more than on the wall.

Is it enough if I put the access points behind the cupboard, low board etc. for my requirements??

Then I don’t need to have extra LAN cables installed for the APs, then every LAN port goes to the switch
from the switch then to the access point or other devices

Hello everyone,

I’m joining this thread because my questions/thoughts go in a similar direction. We are currently also planning the network for our new building (basement, ground floor, upper floor). The router is also supposed to be placed in the utility room/HAR in the basement, with access points then on the ground floor and upper floor. Usage behavior is "normal". Devices (TV, PC...) will mainly be connected via LAN. 2 adults, 2 children.

The access points should be implemented as PoE. Our electrician charges 30€ for a concrete breakthrough and 6.50€ per meter for the cable channel in concrete, each net. I consider that acceptable and will have the access points mounted on the ceiling (there are only 2 anyway). The electrician’s statement: ideally, the access points are centrally mounted on the ceiling in the room/floor and not immediately disturbed by walls. Their signal spreads circularly. Would you also install an access point in the basement or should the router cover that?

As an access point, I have chosen the UniFi Access Point Lite, which I consider to have a nice and simple design.

Regarding the router (that was the initial question): for example, we currently have an Easy Box 805. Is this suitable for our project or does it have to be a Fritzbox?

Thanks to you all.

Mesh has no place in a new build. It's more for retrofitting. Small network cabinet in the basement / technical room. Put in router, patch panel, and switch. If you use APs with POE, either a switch with POE or via injectors. Fritz APs cannot do POE. Because we still need a power outlet. A Fritzbox is enough for most people. It can do many things but nothing really well. All-in-one though. But not bad. There are already some detailed threads on this topic here. All stationary devices (TVs, game consoles, printers…) should be wired and as little as possible on WiFi. Also pay attention to coverage for 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz. APs should not be central but where the most usage takes place and speed is needed. Therefore, one per floor may not be enough. Take the NanoHDs. They are significantly faster and more modern.

Thank you very much for your feedback We plan to install everything in a 19” (?) network cabinet. From this - and from your response - I conclude that an access point is necessary even in the basement. The cabinet will probably already affect the signal strength. What I cannot assess: is the easybox sufficient for this or is it even suitable for it? We are not “power users” and all our hardware should connect to the LAN socket.

A network cabinet provides good shielding. Concrete walls do as well. Therefore, a separate access point is useful. In the technical room, you can simply attach it to the outside of the network cabinet. So no additional outlet from the electrician… For technology like heating, controlled residential ventilation, etc., slower Wi-Fi is also sufficient. It doesn’t have to be the newest/best access point. If you don’t have special requirements, an Easybox is also enough. You just have to configure the APs.

So you would definitely say that we should take POE APs and accept the additional cost from the electrician?

Which APs would you recommend to me? I mainly found Ubiquiti, TP Link, and Netgear.

Do you think it is enough to have 1 access point per floor?

Basement: centrally in the hallway
Ground floor: central on the floor in the dining area (everything open)
Upper floor: centrally in the hallway
Attic: in the studio in the middle of the room

What about the garden? About 10x20m – is the access point in the living room enough, or should we place another access point on the back of the garage?

How do you configure the access points and how complex is it?

As I said, we don't have the highest demands for WLAN.

It just has to run stable and if, for example, the phone reaches 100mb, that is completely enough for me.
I don't need 1 or 2.5 Gbit in every tiny corner.

If there are only 50mb in the guest bathroom, that's fine too :D