Thanks for the clarification.

Before I make any decisions, I will try to work out the best places to install APs and then check how easy it would be to run an Ethernet cable to each of them.

I plan to use POE injectors in each case, as it would not be economic for me to replace my existing 24-port gigabit switch with a POE version (The cheapest I have found is an unmanaged TP-Link TL-SL2428P at £178, which I can't justify when I might only need 2 POE ports). I also have an 8-Port 2.5GbE switch, but it has no spare ports. Replacing that with a POE version with more than 8 ports would be an even more expensive proposition.

Is it possible to locate the POE injectors close to the Ethernet switch or must they be close to the APs?

In reply to a post by haggis999:

Is it possible to locate the POE injectors close to the Ethernet switch ... ?

That is what I would do in the first instance. Remember that a PoE switch is nothing more than a switch with internal PoE injectors. And when I had the wireless internet, the head end was fed by an injector at 10 or 15m distance.

Could I run a cable of up to 100m from a POE injector beside the switch?

You could, but wire guage, copeer/cca popwer consumption will come into play.

The PoE injector would be at the switch as you want the power to go from there to the AP. If you have power sockets near where the AP will go then you could just plug them in to those rather than do PoE - my mesh devices are all wireless and just plug in to the mains. PoE is nice to reduce cables and if you don't have convenient power sockets but it is not essential.

Edited by ian72 (Wed 10-Sep-25 12:11:56)

You don't necessarily need to replace the existing switch, you could just add a POE switch to support the APs or Mesh nodes. £45 for a TP-link 8 port POE+ switch and £30 for a 5 port POE+ switch, but as noted elsewhere it depends what works best from a cabling/power point perspective.

In reply to a post by Pipexer:

If you can get cables to most access points, you can then look at one which can leverage ethernet backhaul to help but you better make sure that the APs where you didn't get cables to can act reliably in the traditional mesh sense.

If you can get cables to ALL access points, then there isn't any compelling reason for buying "Mesh" gear at this point. Just buy ubiquti and run cables to them all and provision it in normal mode.

I'm not yet certain if all my potential AP locations are easily wirable, so perhaps I'll end up looking for a mesh solution that can exploit Ethernet backhaul for one or two nodes and wifi for another node. How can I make sure that this wifi node "can act reliably in the traditional mesh sense"? Is there some feature I need to look for?

If you buy a mesh solution from a single manufacturer (and preferably the same devices) then they should work fine.

I'd echo Ian's advice and strongly recommend getting exactly the same model kit - make sure that the APs which you can't get a cable to are also not breaking the 2 wall rule with distance from other APs. Plan accordingly and sensible. It is your garage AP which might be the biggest issue (if you can't get ethernet to that) so try and position an AP in your house as close to the garage as sensibly and reasonably possible. You don't need to neccessarily put it up against the wall, but depending on your house layout you may want to put it closer to the garage than you would normally - and of course the AP in the garage closer to the house too. That way everything stands the best chance. Enjoy!

I see that some mesh solutions, such as the Eero and Orbi, are described as wifi routers. Do they take the place of your existing router, which is then just used as a modem?