Certainly, if you know better you obviously shouldn't be here.
The networks setups outlined below have been derived over years of trial and effort, having been used in my own and others homes extensively. Given various price points the goal is to maximize performance and control (over the equipment) while keeping in mind some tradeoffs will need to be realized. Upon further investigation however, i think theese are more than reasonalble tradeoffs and some might not even consider them to be giving up anything.
Essentially, what I've learned to be the most critical, non-negotiatable requirement in any home with at least 3 or more heavy users is WiFi, specifically signal strength, distance, and the need to handle many devices per-person. This requirement can almost ONLY be satisfied with a professional or semi-professional dedicated wireless Access Point. Which brand/model is at this point up to the reader to descern, however again, through my experiences I've found several to be more than adequate, specifically any model from Ubiquity. Also, Araknis, a less-known, brand which I believe only sells in bulk to contractors I've witnessed to be just as performant. Their models appear to be built off of OpenWRT which is always a good thing.
Beyond this, the only thing which differentiates things among Access Points is again, price. The performance isn't THAT different. Again, I understand that the entirety of differences really include the granular, aggregate management interfaces administrators use to bulk manage the devices as well, but for the purpose of home-networks, performance is really all that matters here. They're not going to be logging in to muck with things... Initially when many professional/commercial APs first hit the market many years ago the idea was to milk the businesses that would go for them, as thier pockets would be more than adequate to compensate for the incredibly inflated prices, over $600 a pop. This would help cover the support aparatus, yada yada. Over the years though as the market widened, reality settled-in. Brands like Ubiquity really helped pave the way for sane prices and I laud them. So in closing, a $99 UbiquityAP is more than adequate for a home, a very large +3500 sqft one at that.
Lastly to note, its important that one realize that by using a dedicated Access Point they gain full control over where to locate it to best suit signal coverage for the entire dwelling, something thats not possible with an all-in-one ISP supplied device which must be put near service lines.
Once we have this element of the network setteled upon we can move onto more obvious next-steps, the router. In all my designs the need to manage or be able to manage your own LAN segment is non-negotiatable. So, the use of a third pary firmware is necessary, most notably I use OpenWRT or DDWRT, based on the compatability with the hardware selected at the time, and a few other quirky preferences. The most important thing is to NOT use any supplied firmware, for several reasons. As with SmartTVs, the manufacturer has zero incentive to make the final software set something which is solely beneficial to the user as they are already in the home by means of being the default installation. This is similar to the problem Microsoft had with IE bundling with Windows in the 90s. To remedy this one NEEDS to use a third party firmware image, one which has utility in its ability to stand on its own merits. We cannot say this about anything supplied from the device manufacturer since, due to human nature, it will invariably contain all sorts of malware. Or in the very least something (a setting) will arise which needs to be adjusted and you'll be unable to do so since the router's firmware does not allow it, (tcp_keepalive_time adjustment, yes i've seen this in the wild)
So then, the question becomes which device to choose, based on firmware compatability. In all my designs the starting point begins with a travel router. I havent done much testing on TP-Link models and similar well-known brands, however, what I have setteled on has been GL.iNet and its myriad travel line of routers. They are powerful, inexpensive, and come already %100 compatable with OpenWRT (the default firmware is derived from it). I still go the route of flashing though in all cases, all the time. Theres no reason not to. Since they came out around 2014 I have used several models although the simplest, go-to, model is the GL-AR150, without external antenna. This is less than $30...
These are travel routers, again, so don't expect the wifi to wow you. Wirelessly, they work rather well for a single hotel-sized room, as they should, but start adding many devices and their single, non-MIMO, antenna(even if external) will begin to slow down. Still for people on an extreme budget (or ones not expecting extreme speeds), this is all you need (once flashed) for a very snappy, customizeable, and secure network. The GL-AR150 will top-out at around 35mbps throughput wirelessly, though the range is limited. Other models will have better 2.4GHz N performance, around 60 mbps but again range can be limiting. Lastly it is important to remember that these are embedded MIPS with minimal, if any, other chips in the box. They are very low power and mostly even are one-armed routers with switch chips. (Suprisingly, the first gen had discrete separate interfaces.) Lastly they are all fast ethernet, at least at this price point. This is again, from my experience, more than enough for %95 of people who would gain anything from this network guide to begin with. The main point in using these models at all is to solely perform as the non-wireless (NAT Router) part of the network.
Now with the router + AP determined this is it for most people. Most don't need any form of wired connection, if they do a small switch can be had trivially @ Fast Ethernet Speeds. However, even here I would opt for something from a non-consumer brand. Usually I'll go for an Allied Telesis(These can be had for less than $20 on ebay), as they're used extensively in academic networks and places where it cant fail from the usual trivialities that consumer brands depend on to keep up revenue.
This is my most basic setup. A Ubiquity AP ($100-$130), travel router ($30), and usually without a switch, but lets optionally add it in for the sake of completeness (+$20). This is STILL less than many exotic, spaceship-esque, consumer ASUS routers (~$200), and will give you much better performance. Since %99 of average users depend solely on the wireless performance, offloading it into a dedicated access point is the most reliable way to satisfy that requirement. Once you're there having less than gigabit is far less important than getting a good, decent 100mbps wirelessly, which the ubiquity delivers on easily. Again, upgrading the router element to more than Fast Ethernet speeds is again trivial, but at a cost, and most users will never appreciate that difference, WiFi matters more. So, as it stands, this is my most basic setup. It, and other variants are listed below both with pros/cons related to differences in cost and performance.
This is actually a step down from my most basic setup. It is listed first, again due to completeness.
For people who are happy with 2.4Ghz Wifi 802.11n speeds maxing out in the 30-40Mbps range or higher ~60mbps if using a 300N model.
This consists of a GL.iNet travel router wiped and reflashed with OpenWRT. See OpenWRT site for latest builds. Various models exist, however at a price point of $30~40 expect Fast Ethernet only, and a minimal antenna assortment, no MIMO or 5Ghz.
Pros:
Cons:
When using a travel router (GL.iNet) for your entire network you're limited to its single ethernet port and will need a switch to expand outwards. Also, its single (non-MIMO) antenna can be limiting. I find that the 150M models (GL-AR150) tend to max-out at around 30-40 mbps and thier range, even when using a longer antenna, isn't that great, but again they're only a $30 travel router.
It is a MUST to reflash them as what is added by thier manufacturer is unnecessary, at best. I have never really explored it in depth and it may just be a re-skinned gui but by design the first and foremost goal of this and all setups are reliability and controlability.
The most basic, cost-effective, yet still customizeable home router setup which I've been asked to reproduce several times already now.
This consists of a GL.iNet travel router wiped and reflashed with OpenWRT. See OpenWRT site for latest builds.
Ubiquity Access Point (or equivalent professional dedicated AP)
Optional Switch to break-out the lan if desired.
Pros:
Cons:
This is the most inexpensive discrete network with the highest wifi performance / dollar. I've found that the reflashed GL.iNet routers to be exceptionally stable and performant if used as a router only (no wifi) via ethernet only. Coupling this with a professional access point means link saturation consistently at 100mbps, as long as your uplink can handle it. I have used this setup on cable and fiber internet PPPoE / DHCP setups due to the firmware's powerful flexibility with zero issues for several years. While certainly not a show-stopper or world-eater setup its also probably the cheapest setup one could come up with while still providing exceptional speed which has turned out to be more than adequate for %99 of users. Again, you could always throw OpenWRT or something equivalent onto an Intel i3 as a router and win performance wise but upfront price + electricity costs support my argument, an argument more about balance and not absolute performance.
A step up from basic sees the GL.iNet replaced with a Mikrotik rb750gr3.
-This consists of the Mikrotik rb750gr3 is now a viable replacement for a step-up, as it fully supports OpenWRT and is a VERY powerful device even without considering its cost. I have a rough, outlined guide elsewhere on the site. This replaces the need for an add-on switch for virtually %99 of most people.
-Ubiquity Access Point (or equivalent professional dedicated AP)
Pros:
Cons:
