I am looking into getting a Wifi mesh network. The aim is to use it for providing access to devices through my home especially for devices on the congested 2.4GHz frequency. Ideally I want 6GHz Wifi6E for the communication between mesh nodes as well as for talking to the few devices that are new enough to support it (I like buying cheap second hand devices). 2.5Gbit ethernet connections on all mesh nodes would be good too.
Wifi 7 is semi-released, you can buy devices even though the specs aren’t entirely finalised. I expect that next year when Wifi 7 devices are more common the second hand prices of Wifi 6E will drop. Currently Wifi 6E devices are somewhat expensive.
One major problem at the moment is “cloud configuration”. Here is a 41 page forum thread of TP-Link customers asking in vain for non-cloud configuration [1]. The problems with cloud configuration are that it doesn’t allow configuration without Internet access (so no fixing things when internet breaks and no use for a private network without Internet), it relies on a proprietary phone app (so a problem with your phone breaks everything), and it adds a dependency on an unpaid service that TP-Link might decide to turn off at some future time. The TP -Link Deco X55 AX3000 looks like a good set of devices, it currently costs $328 for a set of three Wifi 6 (not 6E) devices is a good deal, pity that the poor software options let it down.
TP-Link also seems to be scanning web traffic and sending the analysis to an external site [2], it seems to be operating as malware. The TP-Link software seems to be most accurately described as malware.
There is the OpenWrt project for open firmware on Wifi APs which is a great project [3] but it doesn’t seem to support any Wifi 6 mesh systems yet. If most Wifi hardware requires malware for operation it seems that running a VPN over Wifi is the way to go. A hostile party being able to sniff your home network is much worse than a hostile party sniffing public Internet traffic.
The Google Nest mesh devices have good specs and price, $359 for a three node Wifi 6E mesh that has 2.5Gbit ethernet. But they can only be configured with a Google app for Android or iOS and require a Gmail account. Giving Google the ability to shut down all my stuff by deleting my gmail account is not acceptable. Also Google is well known for cancelling services [4]. A mitigating factor is that there should be enough of those devices sold to make them a good target for an OpenWRT port.
As an aside it looks like the TailScale mesh VPN system could be a solution to the security issues related to malware on Wifi APs problem [5]. There is also HeadScale which is the fully open source variant of that [6]. Even when the vendor isn’t overtly hostile they can make mistakes so encryption is good.
Kogan is selling an own-brand Wifi 6 mesh network package that comes with 1/2/3 devices for $70/$120/$140. It doesn’t do Wifi 6E but supports the better encoding methods of Wifi 6 over Wifi 5 and will be good for bridging a LAN in one part of a house to a Wifi 2.4GHz or Ethernet connected device in another part. They also support up to 7 nodes so you could buy two of the 3 device packages and run one network with 2 and another with 4. The pricing is very competitive and they support web based administration!
I’ve just ordered the $140 Wifi 6 pack from Kogan. If it doesn’t do what I want then I can find someone else who will be happy with whatever functionality it gives and $140 is an amount I can risk without concern. If it works well then I might upgrade to Wifi 6E or Wifi 7 next year and deploy the Wifi 6 one for a relative. It seems that for my needs a cheap and OK Wifi 6 device is better than an expensive Wifi 6E device.
I went through a similar calculus. Eero, Google, and Netgear all require an app. I have no app-capable smart-phone, so these were non-starters.
https://store.amplifi.com/products/amplifi-mesh-wi-fi-system
The ApliFi Mesh router (not shown because it’s been superseded by the linked update is configurable from the main module and a WiFi capable PC.