Outdoor wifi / AP solutions

I'm pretty sure I've asked this in chat sometime in the last 12 months but I've forgotten the details already (there's been a bit going on at Evans Central the last 6 months!) plus I figure someone else may want to reference this thread in the future for thier own research.

I'm looking for suggestions on equipment required to have better wifi outside, especially now we will likely have more visitors over for a swim so more people wanting free wifi, but also the pool equipment plus any extra lighting I (most likely) plan to add I'd like to have wifi control over for WLED.

For context, we have FTTP NBN and inside the middle of the house in position A is the main router/switch (TP Link AX3000 4-Stream Wi-Fi 6 Router.) I have cat6 cables spider off from this into various rooms including the garage for Christmas lights, but one of these cables goes out to the mancave to a secondary router with local wifi in position B (Netgear DG834G v3.) When I'm in the backyard my phone (and old media phone to play music through) often drops out as it tries to switch from main house to mancave wifi hotspots, and with all the brickwalls etc I figure an outdoor AP located under the eaves where the yellow X is might help solve these problems and beef up the connectivity for more devices out there.



If this sounds like a plausable plan, then I'm after recommendations of what AP equipment would be best suited and if I would need to update any other infrustructre in my network to accomodate?

I've got a TP-Link Omada EAP225-Outdoor access point mounted to a pole at the front of my drive, I can pick that up at the end of my street, although it's useless at that range because my phone can't transmit that far, it still has great reach. I use that mainly during Christmas when I'm out the front keeping an eye on things, and it's done me well for 4 years.

replace your shed ap with this https://www.tp-link.com/au/home-networking/range-extender/re715x/

it will integrate with your existing tplink router and make a unified network.

i use all TP Link OMADA Equipment, i have the EAP-620 Throughout the house ceilings, and it reaches to the road, i have 3 AP
but i woult use a Outdoor 225 or 610 if i needed to ensure an outside area had wifi
but i have a full omada setup with router, controller and omada switches

omada equipment can also mesh to each other via wifi - use 5/6GHZ to mainly link each AP , and then use 2.4GHZ to link the clients

all you have to do is provide power via a power pack or a POE - the poe does not need to provide data/internet - as long as it provides power - they can be setup to mesh wirelessly

Katekate said:

replace your shed ap with this https://www.tp-link.com/au/home-networking/range-extender/re715x/

it will integrate with your existing tplink router and make a unified network.

Click to expand...

I have a RE500X extender in the front room which seems to work well for the house but as its not as strong out the front as I'd hoped. Would this work similar or better?

should be a bit better, but I wouldn't expect it to be night and day

Unifi gear. Raspberry pi running home assistant and the unifi controller integration. One Long Range access point connected to the main router and then you can add further access points which mesh wirelessly.
I've got one access point up at the pool that I couldn't get a data cable to, 30m away from the house and perfect signal. Put another one out the front verandah and have good signal from across the street

Like everything else - run a cable if you can - Stay away from Mesh - that should be the last option if cabling isn't

NonUnifi Ubiquiti is great - specifically the Airmax gear. It's designed for Wireless ISPs to use.
No controller needed, no flaky software updates.

A single Loco M2 or M5 (depending on whether you want 5GHz or 2.4Ghz) on the corner of the mancave in yellow would be perfect.

So I've been consulting my mate ChatGPT trying to make sense of some of the suggestions so far, and I was keen to get other's thoughts on this breakdown.

Option 1 – TP-Link EAP650-Outdoor (Wired Only)​

Simple, cost-effective, reliable — perfect if you just want one outdoor AP now.

[FTTP NBN]
↓
[TP-Link AX3000 Router - Main House Wi-Fi]
↓ Cat6
[Mancave - TL-SG105 Switch]
├── NAS (wired)
├── 3D Printer (wired)
└── [EAP650-Outdoor under eaves] ← PoE Injector → TL-SG105
↳ Wi-Fi covers backyard + pool
↳ Signal penetrates into mancave for inside devices

Pros:

• Cheapest & easiest
• Uses your existing TP-Link ecosystem
• Strong wired connection for max speed
• No controller needed (can run standalone)

Cons:

• No wireless mesh expansion — any future APs will need Ethernet
• Roaming between house router & AP not as seamless as UniFi (but still fine for most users)

---

Option 2 – UniFi U6-LR (Wired + Future Wireless Mesh)​

More scalable, excellent roaming, can add more APs without more cabling.

For Now:
[FTTP NBN]
↓
[TP-Link AX3000 Router - Main House Wi-Fi]
↓ Cat6
[Mancave - TL-SG105 Switch]
├── NAS (wired)
├── 3D Printer (wired)
└── [UniFi U6-LR under eaves] ← PoE Injector → TL-SG105
↳ Strong Wi-Fi to backyard + pool
↳ Covers mancave interior easily

Later Expansion (Mesh):
[UniFi U6-LR under eaves] <── wireless mesh ──> [UniFi FlexHD or U6-Mesh at pool shed]

Pros:

• Seamless roaming between APs & house if all UniFi
• Can add more APs without running cables
• Very strong long-range coverage
• UniFi Controller gives deep control & monitoring

Cons:

• More expensive upfront
• Best results if you eventually replace house Wi-Fi with UniFi too (for truly seamless roaming)
• Controller setup required for advanced features (can run on PC, NAS, or Raspberry Pi)

Quick Comparison​

If you want quick, simple, and done → TP-Link EAP650-Outdoor
If you want scalable, mesh-capable, and future-proof → UniFi U6-LR

With that all said, it sounds like the UniFi route may be better, however it sounds like I would also want/need to update the internal main router as the wifi will not always sync well with the UniFi one if I understand above correctly? I've only had the main router less than 2 years and its working perfectly fine in the house as is so would prefer to keep it if possible.

djgra79 said:

however it sounds like I would also want/need to update the internal main router

Click to expand...

No need, just disable it's wifi and DHCP stuff and let it handle the internet traffic only. Unifi will handle the rest.

djgra79 said:

I would also want/need to update the internal main router as the wifi will not always sync well with the UniFi one if I understand above correctly?

Click to expand...

You dont need anything fancy for roaming to work - as long as you run the same SSID and same encryption type (WPA2/3-PSK) then the devices will select the best access point.
The biggest issue are Apple iDevices - they HATE roaming, very sticky to the AP they associate to....Most aggregated wireless systems, like Cisco, Ruckus, Unifi, etc - get around this by explicitly forcing/disconnecting the device off the "weaker" AP, which causes it to look for another one.

If you can, find an option on each AP for a minimum RSSI - set this to about -75dB; this will force a disconnect of the client (and not acccept the association) if the signal is too weak.

I'm using UniFi U6-Mesh AP's all connected via ethernet and powered by PoE. I have 3 - one upstairs, one downstairs and one in the garage. Probably way overkill but I was previously getting some dead spots in the far corners of the house with the old AP/extenders. Handover between them seems quite seamless, I don't ever recall an issue. It does come with a "significant" management overhead though... you need the management server running somewhere (eg your PC) in order to make changes, etc, and I don't think it's "non-IT user" friendly. Once set up though it has been stable.

I agree with Skymaster also... if you can run something off ethernet, do so. Wireless is the last resort, especially when it's going to be permanent.

Well I have a wired connection inside the mancave so I can connect the outdoor AP point to this if that's what you're referring to yes.
It sounds like the backyard has low coverage due to A) the old wifi Netgear router in the mancave is old and not great to begin with and B) the newer TP Link one inside is too far away to get decent coverage out the back. The house and even the front of the house thanks to a TP Link extender appears to work for my needs, I dont intend at this stage to boost the signals in either of these places, only the backyard. So at this stage i'm kind of leaning towards the non-UniFi route unless I'm missing some obvious benefits to overhauling existing system? The management side of things seems overkill to my needs?

im a firm believer that all Access points should be cabled then they provide wifi

i also believe more AP's on a site rather then relying on the basic modem wifi, ensure the whole house and yard are covered