Quite simply: is the '802 any good? I like the plug-in simplicity but could go for the 903 if it's a better product.

Code:

See: https://www.draytek.co.uk/products/comparison/wireless-ap-comparison

Can you come up with a list of requirements? Number of SSID's required, size of property, maximum throughput, & maximum simultaneous clients are all parameters that immediately spring to mind.

So, yes, the AP802 is a capable little unit - but the AP903 is more capable. The downside is, the AP903 is more expensive and is really quite obtrusive in a domestic setting.
(and that's from the man who wants one of these in the entrance hall, to greet visitors :wink:

Thanks for the reply! Funnily enough, I'm on the waiting list for one of the next batch of these ; go on, do it

So it's a domestic setting with a multi-user office attached with a VDSL 80Mbps service. Design currently is 2865ac at the master socket (rear of house) also acting as mesh root. Wired connection (about 25m) to an AP903 in office acting as switch for PCs and WiFi in that zone. For the house, to create a mesh network to avoid pulling cables, with the 2865ac already in the house, it will likely need 1 or 2 additional APs.

The 802 is therefore very attractive, but on the other hand it seemed likely that its range would be much less than the 903 due to it's internal aerials, especially in the 5GHz band which presumably it will be using for mesh backhaul.

Having one 903 with cabled uplink in the hall actually would probably provide adequate coverage. But the home owner is keen to avoid cabling to that point if we can and use mesh instead.

Property is Victorian, nice and square but there's a lot of brick inside, footprint is about 150m2.

Requirement is to provide stable WiFi throughout to support Zoom/Facetime etc, two SSIDs (one to provide guest access as no 4G signal in the area).

Many thanks!

If you don't need any more than 1 ethernet port on the device have you considered the 960C ?

I use a 903 in the garage with a wifi connection to the mesh in the house. Previously, that was provided by another 903 in the kitchen, about 5m away in a straight line but with a brick wall and the garage door in the signal path. I was lucky to get a connection strength of 25% between the nodes, frequently it would reduce to much less.

I changed the kitchen device to a 960C and now get a 70% signal, despite its lack of "external" aerials.

J1mbo wrote:
Funnily enough, I'm on the waiting list for one of the next batch of these ; go on, do it

:lol:

The 802 is therefore very attractive, but on the other hand it seemed likely that its range would be much less than the 903 due to it's internal aerials, especially in the 5GHz band which presumably it will be using for mesh backhaul.

The claimed power o/p of the AP802 is less than the AP903 (at least, on the lower numbered, more commonly used 5GHz channels). 22dBM vs 29dBM. This information is in tiny print, in the Quick Start Guide.

One suggestion I read, was to use 2.4GHz for clients and 5GHz for the backhaul, when there is no dedicated backhaul radio. It seems worthy of investigation. Note - in Mesh Mode, the AP802 will not use 80Mhz mode on the 5GHz band - it drops to 20/40. This isn't documented (or explained) anywhere, but you can see it happen and it is annotated in Syslog.


I did some tests, to measure the Mesh Overhead (as seen by an AP802): https://forum.draytek.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=97784#p97784

and some throughput tests of the AP802 in this thread: https://forum.draytek.co.uk/viewtopic.php?p=98820#p98820

Thanks both. I think the more expensive AP is going to be a push too far; this set up is already costing quite a pretty penny.

Thanks for posting the speed testing links. It looks like there is new firmware due imminently so maybe that will address some of the concerns; it seems clear that the APs need uplink status monitoring for example. And it's good that the '802 is 29dB capable in band B; compared to the UAP's I usually use, this is stela. So it looks like I could set the 2865ac to ch.100, to benefit from this power on mesh backhaul. I didn't see anything in the release notes about any change to the 40MHz behaviour mind.

I've taken the plunge and ordered the 2865ac and AP903 to serve house and office, and two AP802s to extend coverage in the house. 40+Mbps usable at the end-point will be more than adequate in this case.