WiFi access point on a ceiling

For three years, I’ve used a set of three TP-Link Deco wifi mesh nodes to cover my house. And they’ve been absolutely fine. Put one next to your ISP router, one behind your TV and one at the desk where you work, then you can use the ethernet sockets on them to have “wired” connections for the TV and desk.

The only real downside is the increased clutter and demand for plug sockets.

However, times change, and in anticipation of (eventually) getting an actual fibre-to-the-premises internet connection, I now have wired ethernet to my desk and TV, run all the way back to the router.

With that sorted, could I use a single wireless access point to cover the whole house and cut down on the clutter? While running in the wired ethernet, I got a cable up as far as the loft. My house is fairly typical of the UK, being mid 20th century red brick and block, with plasterboard ceilings and wooden floors. It’s over two floors and it’s rectangular.

A bit of ad-hoc testing confirmed that with my Unifi U6-Plus (“opened but unused” from eBay for a saving) mounted in the approximate middle of the first floor ceiling (on the landing), the WiFi was as fast as the underlying internet connection in all rooms upstairs, and serviceable downstairs. The coverage of the back garden was surprisingly good, and the front driveway was borderline.

I couldn’t get the cable to emerge neatly enough from the ceiling to use the supplied mounting plate, so I just used some sticky pads designed for hanging pictures instead.