Two OpenWRT APs with good performance and roaming/mesh

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
#1

Hi all, I run OpenWRT on a router (NanoPI R2S) and have two old Asus RT66Ns in AP mode in the house (all on wired backhaul). And I am looking to upgrade those, specifically because currently I do not have 'roaming' and clients getting 'stuck' on the wrong AP is starting to bug me. Also I would like to move to OpenWRT for the APs as well.

I am currently thinking of 2x TP-Link EAP225v3 simply because:

  1. These seem to score well in tests/reviews on bandwidth/throughput, leading me to conclude that the radio hardware is of good quality;
  2. OpenWRT support is good (question: are we able to achieve closed firmware speeds? A few years ago I had a TP-Link WDR3600 which performed a lot worse on OWRT compared to stock);
  3. OpenWRT allows roaming / mesh;
  4. In the NL market, they are affordable (€70 per AP).

Please validate my assumptions, challenge my thinking etc. :slight_smile: many thanks for your insights!

#2

You sure it's EAC225 and not EAP225 ?

1 Like
#3

So yes EAP225 of course. Any thoughts on my points?

#4

AC1350 is kind of slow for 2021, IMHO.

But I guess it all comes down to your speed requirements.

#5

Good point, thanks, my thinking was: all we have at home are laptops with 2x2 so I thought a 2-stream 5GHz would be more than enough. But I must admit I do not know if a 3 stream AP somehow would be of benefit even if all clients are 2 stream STAs. Also, looking at our use case, we would favor stability and range over theorical single room high speeds, as critical devices are wired.

#6

[In a slightly simplified way] Having more streams supported by the router is beneficial whenever there's more than one client (STA) active at the same time.

#7

Are you using the same SSID name for each AP? I do and my Apple products seamlessly manage to pick up the strongest connection, therefore no need for a "mesh" network.

Also, I seem to remember reading that most current wifi drivers have the same capability today. Not positive on that though and you'd have to research your device support.