Cheap wireless access point?

the_syco

Yo,

Usually I use a Cisco Aironet 1200, but finding them expensive over here in Toronto. And the ones that are cheap come without antennas, plugs, etc, which themselves are pricey.

So, I'm looking for an access point for under €50/CAD$75, that I can pick up in Toronto (so no adverts.ie links). Any ideas? There'll be an ethernet going to it from the main router.

Main use; streaming to Plex on my phone from the kitchen, as the signal is weak in the kitchen. As I'm living in an apartment, I need to be able to secure it with a WPA password.

Just nothing TP-Link. The last one lasted only 9 months before it kept losing connection!

The high horse brigade

Slightly over budget but these are amazing for the price
https://www.amazon.ca/Ubiquiti-Unifi-Ap-AC-Lite-UAPACLITEUS/dp/B015PR20GY

the_syco

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Slightly over budget but these are amazing for the price
https://www.amazon.ca/Ubiquiti-Unifi-Ap-AC-Lite-UAPACLITEUS/dp/B015PR20GY

Cool. The POE adaptor at source is nice. How do you find it for rooms near the device? I set it up in the hallway for my two housemates to access (neither use a wired connection).

The high horse brigade

the_syco wrote: »

Cool. The POE adaptor at source is nice. How do you find it for rooms near the device? I set it up in the hallway for my two housemates to access (neither use a wired connection).

I don't have one myself (l have Mikrotik wAP which is similar hardware), but I installed one at my mother's and another in my sister's and find them great. I installed them in the ceiling of the room they use most which is the sitting room in both houses giving them great coverage. Neither house has any other wireless routers or access points, in both cases this Unifi AP is covering the full house. My sister's is a massive 6 bed dormer, she has no coverage issues, being dual band devices will hop back to 2.4ghz as you lose coverage on 5ghz. They look lovely ceiling mounted, you can even disable the light if you wish in software.

the_syco

The high horse brigade wrote: »

Slightly over budget but these are amazing for the price
https://www.amazon.ca/Ubiquiti-Unifi-Ap-AC-Lite-UAPACLITEUS/dp/B015PR20GY

Bought this on Saturday, and it was delivered today with Prime. HUGE difference. The setup was a bit of a pain, as I had to download java, and switch the port to something other than 8080, but after that, it was grand. With the router, I could connect in the kitchen, but not really stream that well, without continuous buffering. With this access point, I could stream out on the balcony (but only briefly, as it's 2 degrees out ). Have since placed the access point on the level below me, so expecting decent coverage.

The one thing puzzling me is that it only asked for one SSID name, although it has both the 2.4GHz & 5GHz showing, and I can see that my housemate is connected his phone and laptop to 2.4GHz, and I have my iPhone connected to the 5GHz automatically. Odd, but handy.

/edit
I have WiFi 5 or 6 houses down the road, on the other side of the street!

The high horse brigade

The reason for one SSID is that it will do band steering, it will force to the device to 5ghz when the signal is good enough although I've had issues with this and renamed them as different in my Mams and Sisters houses. It could now be improved with newer firmwares, make sure you're on the latest.