Hello everyone

I would like to ask for some help in making my ideal wireless network at my place
I'm a long-time mikrotik user and I have a strong Love Hate relationship with RouterOS
Love: The stability and the wide configurability. reach device by macaddress (winbox bless you)
Hate: When something is not working and it forces me to think and search for days
(But to be honest I actually appreciate this. Because each problem widens my knowledge on networking)

So my situation is the following:
I currently have a 240/20 Mbit internet connection with a RB951G-2HnD as my main router in the basement and a TP-Link WDR4300 (with three aftermarket 9 dBi antennas and OpenWRT) on the top floor in the house to serve as my wireless access point for all clients on that floor. This arrangement is lets say ""adequate”" for my purposes since it can provide 120 Mbit down and around 90 Mbit upload bandwidth (Max) on my internal network using 5Ghz with 40Mhz wide channel in an ideal situation (7-9m with no obstructions) but the link is not always stable and there are some rooms where it degrades quite fast. Also OpenWRT is a pain in the ass to mange when I’m using it in purely AP mode (when the IP range changes I have to manually set my IP to match the previous one set in the AP so I can access the configuration pages) So it is time for me to change that.

The new arrangement that I thought up is:

Option one: Getting a WAP AC seems to be the simplest solution if the stability, throughput, and range is really improved at least 20% over my current network
Option two: get my RB951G-2HnD up to the top floor as a 2.4Ghz AP and buying an Omnitik 5 AC to provide on 5Ghz
Option three: get my RB951G-2HnD up to the top floor as a 2.4Ghz AP and buying a Netmetal 5 AC to provide on 5Ghz
Option four: I swallow my distaste for the UniFi controller and getting a UAP-AC- LR or Pro

The reason why I have both the Omnitik and the Netmetal as options, is because the walls are in a 45 degree angle and I'm afraid even if I machine a part to attach the device on to the angled wall, it will put too much stress on the plastic rail on the Omnitik case. Hence the Netmetal as an alternative.

Also on that floor the saturation of the 2.4Ghz is quite high (I always see at least 21 network in the 70-80 dBm range) but the 5Ghz range is quite silent (only one more network aside from my own)
But the in reality the 5Ghz band is the all important because my devices that needs high throughput on the network are all on the 5Ghz band.

Please guys advise what would be my ideal option considering the circumstances?

I'm open to alternatives aside from the options I proposed earlier.

In an ideal situation I try to put the AP's near the clients and run them at the lowest acceptable power level to get the job done. Sometimes this means more AP's however typically its a much better client experience as the client devices never seem to have the tx power or rx sensitivity to make high power AP's worthwhile. That is unless its a wide open space with no walls etc.

The hAP AC brochure states it has 2 dBi gain @ 5 GHz and 2.5 dBi @ 2.4 GHz
The wAP AC has 2 dBi for both.

Both of these models are very good. I use them heavily and their performance is great.

In my opinion the RB951G-2HnD the wAP AC & the hAP AC are the best SOHO models ever produced by Mikrotik.

I do have around 100 Ubiquiti AP's deployed at various locations and they do have their place. Their latest models UAP-AC-IW & UAP-AC-IW-PRO might be something that would work in your situation.

In the 5Ghz world, in a two level home, you need two AP at least. One for each floor. Looking at current products, go with the hAP AC as your router and first floor AP. Then use another hAP AC up stairs (wAP AC is an option too).

And of course do a proper site survey to ensure you are on the best possible channels.

Thank you guys for the input. I guess I was not specific in my situation so naturally couldn't give a specific answer.
So the thing is: I really only need high bandwidth, on the top floor! That's why I'm mostly concerned about the 5 Ghz Band.
Also I will not be able to use two AP for the moment. Because of cabling constraints that would be very pricey to work around.

The environment:
The top floor has no long concrete walls (only drywall) that would pose a problem for signal propagation from the AP. But the roof of the house is built with a metal frame with wood panelling that covers it. The shape of the floor is like an L with a big concrete pillar in the center that houses the air-vents for the heating systems. Size wise it is about 18m by 12m (59/40 feet) .

The two places where the high bandwidth are needed are at the two end of the L shape. So no matter where I put the AP there are always going to be some paces where the line of sight is obstructed so I figured that the best place to put it is in the middle of the L where the radiowave only has to go trough the side roof on one side and has no obstructions on the other side.
(The metal frame has at least 1 meter spacing between beams ≈ 3,3 feet)

In the past with this arrangement the RB951G-2HnD was more than enough to provide a strong signal everywhere on the floor. But we have to keep in mind, that the transmit power is legendary strong on the RB951! 1000mW If I remember right. Even now I get a signal from it, that is in the 65-70 dBm range with 50/15 Mbps bandwidth, and between the basement and the fop floor there are two
(40cm ≈ 16inch) concrete slabs with double metal mesh. So we can be thoroughly impressed with the wireless capabilities of that small router! I certainly am!
(Sidenote: I did not mod the antenna on the RB so these numbers are with those small built-in antennas)

Compared to that the wAP AC only has 25 dBm TX power both on 2.4Ghz and on 5 Ghz, which is less than third of the power (316mW) compared. I'm also aware that the 5Ghz band is much less able to go trough solid objects so my worry was that it may not be powerful enough with those 2 dBi antennas (but I would be more than happy to be proven wrong). While it is relatively easy to mod those antennas in these routerboards, even without soldering, or any kind of permanent modifications (Thank god for the MS-156C connectors). I would much rather use a device that the manufacturer designed for the application that I intend to use it for. (Especially when you realize that you have to take antenna alignment into consideration with any kind of antenna mod at 5Ghz thanks to MIMO).

Currently I use a TP-Link WDR4300 with three aftermarket 9dBi antennas (That actually helped a lot both in range and in throughput, since the spec of the device says it can output only 17-19 dBm) , and with that I can reach a signal strength in the -85 dBm range with a 55/76 Mbps throughput.in the worst position, and -60 dBm 120/90 Mbps in the other position. So my aim is to boost that at least 20%. If the wAP can do that with those small gain antennas than I'm off to buy it at the next day. But if it is not that likely than comes the Omnitik 5 AC and others as options.

Thanks for the suggestion on the UAP-AC-IW but I really only want to use UniFi as a last resort. (The UniFi controller makes my skin crawl, even so that I suggest UniFi to all of my less tech savy friends because it is just working. But for me it is just pain.)

So back to the original question: Disregarding any requirement at 2.4 Ghz, what would be the ideal choice given the circumstances for 5Ghz?

If you could get it near center of desired coverage area I would probably go for OmniTIK 5 AC. It has 1300mW & 7.5 dBi of gain. If you compare that with the Ubiquiti UniFi AC Pro 6 dBi it should do quite well.

Thanks. Second question. (Actually one that I asked in the first post)

Can any one of you tell me where the center of gravity on the Onmitik 5 AC? Because I can only anchor it to the inner wood plates of the roof frame, and that is at a 45 degree angle. I'm afraid that the plastic rail that is used on the device will either crack or snap off over time, if the balance of the device is closer to the topside or is in the middle. (The rails are in the lower third judging from a video)