TP-Link EAP225-Outdoor Access Point, AC1200 Gigabit Outdoor Wifi Extender, Omada Mesh Wireless Access Points, Support Passive PoE, Waterproof, Controller Software, Centralized Cloud Management

I use two of these to provide WiFi hotspots and outdoor coverage. One is just coming up to 2 years old and the other is 9 months. Both have lived outside and worked pretty flawlessly so far. For someone familiar with home networking, they're fairly easy to set up. You can either login via a browser and set them up via the web interface or use TP-Link's Omada software to provision them. Omada gives them a few extra features and lets you see and log more information than they would do by themselves.For speed and range, I've seen them top out at around 600mbps when within 10m with no real obstacles on 5GHz. Line-of-sight outdoors, the furthest I could test was 100m away where I could still get a decent signal and around 100mbps on my phone. Signal strength and speed drops off very quickly at this distance as soon as there's obstacles which is to be expected really. This is with 5GHz DFS channels which tend to be fairly free from interference. I haven't been able to make fair tests on 2.4GHz as this seems to be very busy in my area. I actually leave it disabled as it's pretty much unusable at any distance due to the amount of interference. I've had this with other routers/APs too here.Good points for me:- Omada is pretty cool (but not necessary for most cases)- Performance is as good as you'd expect from 2x2 WiFi 5- They seem to survive outdoors- Range is good but as usual in WiFi manufacturer doodar land, their claims seem fairly optimistic ("300m+", line of sight at 1mbps while in an RF chamber during a full moon wearing no clothes)- With Omada, they apparently can be used in a mesh sort of configuration but I have yet to try this- Support for DFS channels on 5GHz (usually clearer channels if there's no weather radars)- PoE- Includes mounting bracketBad points:- They're WiFi 5 and a little dated now (there are WiFi 6 models but they're kinda expensive)- If weather radar is detected on a DFS channel, they'll change to another non-DFS channel and remain there. It'd be nice if they returned once the channel was free again. You either have to reboot or change the frequency again.I think they're pretty neat but it would be nice to see the EAP610-Outdoor, the WiFi 6 equivalant drop down in price and replace these (assuming they're just as good but with WiFi 6). They're currently almost twice the price vs these EAP225-Outdoor (£150 vs £80). Booo!

Having bought and installed a few of these, and seeing a couple of reviews here, I thought it would be good to add ours:Firstly, this EAP225-outdoor AP is fantastic... and it's proven itself flawlessly in all our installations for several years since the first model version. I have infact just bought more.Comments saying these can't be connected wirelessly are partially true, but remember that these are "business" level products, so aren't designed to plug, play and fail. Firstly, this particular suite of TP-Link network devices are designed around their "Omada" mesh framework. In order to fully utilise these for mesh networks, you will have to invest in setting up the hardware, such as an omada controller OR free omada software running on a server/spare pc.If it's a simple access point you want, then this will operate out of the box as an AP. In both "mesh" and AP modes, an ethernet connection is required for the initial link to your router (which thus does not need to be an Omada, or even TP-link product) - the EAP225 is not a domestic "range extender" operating wirelessly, but when configured in Omada mesh mode with other Omada EAP WiFi devices can be used to wirelessly connect multiple units to create a broader network with one or more SSIDs - again, the initial connection to the first unit is hardwired, and this is a good thing. After that, add as many as needed (specs for maximum can be read from TP's datasheets and manuals online)Pros:Extremely stable network, as this is a fully managed device via Omada controller, so client connection and switching is optimally handled. After nearly 4 years outdoors in windy/wet/sunny/snowy Welsh hill weather, ours, and others I've installed, have not tripped or reset other than in power outages outside of our control.Highly modular, so your network can be designed and implemented in any way you require, indoor or outdoors.Initial set up of Omada mesh is not straight forward, but equally is not hard: these require a little time and a tiny bit of thought to install, but once up they just work.Neg:Very slightly more cost if compared to far less robust domestic mesh devices, but compared with reasonable performance "domestic" mesh products, I would argue that the price is comparable, if not cheaper.Ultimately, this becomes an apples for oranges comparison, and is not useful: these devices are excellent value, high grade utility items which work extremely reliably.Hal and Becky x