Mesh kit or router plus wired access points?

The short version

• On hardware alone, mesh costs less at every size we priced. With Ethernet to every unit, the cheapest qualifying mesh kit costs about $180 to $340 less than the cheapest wired access-point build for the same home and Wi-Fi tier (catalog prices checked October 20, 2026).
• Wired access points need a cable to every spot. The cable carries data and power (PoE), so the access point can go on the ceiling. A mesh kit works without that cable and falls back to wireless links between units when there isn't one.
• Extra access points are cheap once the switch is in. After the gateway and PoE switch, each extra ceiling access point costs $109 to $208 in our tables, until the switch runs out of PoE ports or power. Sizing that power by IEEE class, as our planner does, can move a build up a switch size, which is why the gap didn't shrink at four access points.
• The caveat: the totals leave out cable runs, which may cost more than the price difference, and a mesh kit with every unit wired gets most of the performance benefit. Pick wired access points when the cable is already there or the walls are open, the home needs four or more access points, or you want ceiling placement, VLANs and a local controller.

Deciding what to do about one weak room rather than the whole house? Start with extender, mesh or access point for one weak room. Not sure you need more than one access point at all? See mesh or a single router.

Two ways to put a radio in every area

• A consumer mesh kit (eero, TP-Link Deco, NETGEAR Orbi and similar) is a set of routers or satellites from one maker. Each unit plugs into a wall outlet and sits on a shelf. The units link to each other over Wi-Fi by default and use Ethernet where you connect it. TP-Link says that when you cable two Decos, "Wi-Fi backhaul between those units disconnects automatically", and if the cable is removed, "The units will return to Wi-Fi backhaul automatically." eero says its units can use Ethernet or connect wirelessly, and that where hardwiring isn't possible, "eeros are designed to find the best path".
• A gateway with wired access points splits the jobs. A gateway with no Wi-Fi routes; a PoE switch powers each access point over its Ethernet cable; the access points provide Wi-Fi from the ceiling or a wall. In UniFi the controller software runs on the gateway: Ubiquiti lists the UniFi Network application on the Cloud Gateway Ultra. Omada needs a separate controller (see what the totals leave out).

The cable is the defining requirement. Ceiling access points can mesh wirelessly as a fallback: Ubiquiti lists "Wireless Meshing" on the U7 Pro and U7 Lite, and TP-Link documents Omada mesh with up to three hops and four downlink access points per uplink, managed by an Omada controller. But a meshed access point still needs power at its spot, from a PoE injector or a DC adapter, and every wireless hop pays the relay penalty, "about 50%" per hop in Cisco Meraki's guide. If you can't wire most access-point spots, a mesh kit designed for wireless backhaul is the more natural fit; see why a wireless hop halves your speed.

How many access points: three example homes

We sized three homes with the RouterHaus coverage rule from our methodology: about 1,800 sq ft per access point with drywall, 1,400 with plaster and 1,000 with block, brick, stucco or concrete, and at least one per floor in homes of two or more floors over about 1,200 sq ft in total. It's a planning estimate, not a site survey. The sizes are ones the network planner offers, so you can rerun them.

Makers' own coverage figures vary and don't state the walls they assume. Ubiquiti lists 1,500 ft² for the U7 Pro and 1,250 ft² for the U7 Lite, both below the rule's drywall figure; eero lists up to 2,000 sq ft per PoE 7. If you're pulling cable, a spare drop near each likely spot lets you add or move an access point later, as our guide to pre-wiring for access points suggests. For more on counting units, see how many mesh nodes you need.

What each design costs

All prices are manufacturer prices from the RouterHaus catalog (products version 2026.10.20.5, components 2026.10.20.3, catalog checked October 20, 2026), before tax, shipping, cabling and installation. Ubiquiti prices include the US surcharge its store adds, as our catalog and product tables show them. Every setup assumes a 1 Gbps internet plan and Ethernet to every unit. We compare like with like in two tiers: dual-band Wi-Fi 7, and Wi-Fi 7 with 6 GHz on every unit. Every mesh unit and access point in the tables links at 2.5 Gbps or faster; the gateways' own LAN ports are a separate limit (see below).

How the rows were chosen:

• Mesh: the lowest total from the catalog's pack prices among current indoor mesh kits in the tier whose main unit has a 2.5 Gbps or faster LAN port, leaving out kits whose catalog price is marked unverified. That port rule leaves out ASUS's ZenWiFi BT6, whose LAN ports are gigabit. Where the main unit has too few LAN ports to cable every other unit, we add an 8-port 2.5 Gbps switch (Zyxel XMG-108, $89.99), so the comparison is wired against wired.
• Wired access points: the parts list RouterHaus's network planner software (engine 2026.10.6) generates for each home with Ethernet to every access point: its cheapest gateway in that ecosystem for a 1 Gbps plan, and its cheapest PoE switch with enough ports, 2.5 Gbps PoE ports and enough PoE budget sized by class (see PoE sizing). The access points are each ecosystem's cheapest current Wi-Fi 7 ceiling models in the catalog for the tier.

Arithmetic from the tables: the cheapest wired build costs $179.97 (Home A), $184.96 (Home B) and $339.96 (Home C) more than the cheapest mesh in the 6 GHz tier, and $214.97, $299.99 and $216.03 more in the dual-band tier, where UniFi's U7 Lite build becomes cheaper than Omada's at four access points. The mesh kits need no extra switch in the 6 GHz tier because the Deco BE63 and Orbi 770 main units each have three 2.5 Gbps LAN ports. With no cables at all, the mesh totals drop by the $89.99 switch where one was added: $299.97 for Home B and $569.98 for Home C in the dual-band tier.

Two notes on the mesh rows. The Deco BE23, Deco BE63 and Orbi 770 records are ones our catalog marks as medium confidence. The BE23 and BE63 prices are TP-Link's regular prices (lower sale prices showed when the catalog was checked), and on October 29, 2026 NETGEAR's store showed the Orbi 770's $699.99 as its original price, with a lower sale price. The catalog's notes also record a BE63 3-pack at $599.99 regular price, which isn't in its structured pack list; at that price it would be the cheapest 6 GHz option for Home B.

Access points and switches have no product pages yet, so here are their catalog figures:

The gateways matter more on faster plans. The Cloud Gateway Ultra's LAN ports are gigabit. TP-Link lists every ER707-M2 port except one 2.5 Gbps WAN as WAN/LAN, including a second 2.5 Gbps port; the catalog models its LAN side as one gigabit port, which is why its product table shows 1 Gbps. That's no limit on a 1 Gbps plan, but on a faster one the Cloud Gateway Ultra caps the link to the switch at 1 Gbps, and the ER707-M2 needs its 2.5 Gbps WAN/LAN port set as the LAN link; see which UniFi gateway fits a home and the $1,000 tier in our budget guide.

PoE sizing: why the switch changes the price

A PoE switch has one shared power budget for all its ports. Each IEEE standard has a maximum at the switch and a smaller one at the device, after cable losses. TP-Link's Omada guide gives them: 802.3af (PoE) "up to 15.4W at the PSE and up to 12.95W at the powered device", 802.3at (PoE+) 30 W and 25.5 W, and 802.3bt Type 3 (PoE++) 60 W and 51 W.

Switches can account for that budget two ways. Some reserve each device's class maximum: Juniper's EX switches allocate by classification by default, where a Class 4 (PoE+) device is allotted 30 W. A switch can also allocate less: Juniper's can lower a port's allocation through LLDP power negotiation, and TP-Link's guide sizes a switch by realistic concurrent draw plus headroom. The Zyxel datasheets and Ubiquiti pages we read don't say which their switches do. RouterHaus's planner takes the cautious reading, as our methodology describes: 15.4, 30 or 60 W per device by class, and a device whose published maximum draw exceeds what its class delivers (12.95 W for 802.3af) is treated as the next class up.

That rule moves real money in these builds (arithmetic):

• Four EAP723s: 4 × 30 W = 120 W by class, more than the XMG-108HP's 100 W, so the planner steps up to the $299.99 XMG1915-10EP (130 W). By maximum draw they'd need 4 × 17.83 W = 71.3 W, which fits the $149.99 switch. If your switch allocates by draw, Home C's Omada build costs $150 less.
• Four EAP772s exceed 100 W either way: 4 × 25.4 W = 101.6 W.
• U7 Lite: Ubiquiti lists its power method as "PoE" with a 13 W maximum, just above the 12.95 W an 802.3af port delivers, so it's sized as a PoE+ device (30 W).
• Flex 2.5G PoE: Ubiquiti lists 196 W of PoE with its 210 W adapter, but only 76, 46 or 16 W when powered over PoE from another switch. With the adapter, class sizing fits six PoE+ access points (180 W), not all eight ports.
• eero PoE Gateway: eero lists "100W of pooled power" and says it powers up to eight eero PoE 6 or six Outdoor 7 units; it gives no number for the PoE 7. The PoE 7 needs PoE+ ("Standard PoE (802.3af) will not provide a large enough power budget"), and eero lists its power as "PoE+ 25.5W (802.3at)". By class, three fit (90 W); four would need 120 W by class, or 102 W at 25.5 W each. The Outdoor 7 is also a PoE+ unit, so eero's six-unit figure means the gateway doesn't reserve 30 W per port, but without a PoE 7 number we haven't priced four. eero says the PoE 7 can also run from "a PoE+ capable injector/switch", which is one way to power a fourth.

Upgrades follow the same logic: a future access point may need a higher class. The catalog lists Ubiquiti's U7 Pro XGS as an 802.3bt (PoE++) device, which a PoE+ port can't power. Every PoE port on the Flex 2.5G PoE and the Zyxel switches above is PoE++.

What the totals leave out

• Cable runs. Each ceiling access point needs its own run to the switch, and labor and length vary too much to price. In an existing house without cable, this is often the deciding cost. Zyxel says 2.5 Gbps runs over existing Cat 5e, so a house that already has cable may need none; for new construction, see what to pre-wire in a new home.
• A controller for Omada. TP-Link's ER707-M2 and EAP spec pages say centralized management, app and cloud access, Omada Mesh and Seamless Roaming need an Omada controller. TP-Link says its software controller and Cloud Essentials are "free of charge with no ongoing subscription fees"; the software controller is "a free application you can install on your own server", so it needs a computer that stays on, and hardware controllers are a separate purchase our catalog doesn't price. UniFi's Cloud Gateway runs its controller, so the UniFi totals are complete.
• Subscriptions, checked October 29, 2026. None of these setups needs one to provide Wi-Fi. eero Plus is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year, and eero says the PoE Gateway and PoE 7 work with it. Ubiquiti's CyberSecure threat signatures are an optional add-on, from $99 per unit billed annually on its US store. TP-Link's Omada Cloud Standard is "a paid license that unlocks advanced capabilities"; Cloud Essentials stays free. Per the catalog, Deco's HomeShield and NETGEAR's Armor have paid tiers. For a side-by-side, see router subscriptions compared.
• Mounting and power. TP-Link's EAP723 and EAP772 and Ubiquiti's U7 Pro and U7 Lite include ceiling and wall mounts. Mesh units need an outlet at each spot instead.

What each design wins on besides price

From each maker's documentation, checked October 29, 2026:

Roaming help is only help: your device still decides when to move. eero says "different devices have different thresholds for when to roam". Whichever design you pick, stay in one system (see the FAQ below). For the management and subscription side in more depth, see Ubiquiti vs eero vs ASUS.

When each design wins

Choose a mesh kit when

• You can't run cable to most unit spots, and there's no TV coax for MoCA. Mesh is built to work over the air and falls back to it on its own.
• The home needs two or three access points and hardware cost matters most. In our tables mesh saved $180 to $300 at those sizes.
• You want app setup and nothing in a closet, or you rent and can't mount anything.
• You can wire some units: a mesh kit with wired backhaul gets most of the benefit for the mesh price. See mesh systems with wired backhaul.

Choose a gateway with wired access points when

• Cable already reaches the ceiling spots, or the walls are open in a build or remodel. Then the extra cost is the $180 to $340 in our tables, not a wiring job.
• The home needs four or more access points, or has block or concrete walls and floors that weaken the wireless links between mesh units; our article on walls and floors gives the ITU's planning figures.
• You want ceiling placement, VLANs or a local controller, or want to add or replace one access point at a time. On the UniFi switch above, a fifth or sixth U7 Pro adds $208 each with no new switch.

Both designs share the same weak spot: a rule of thumb can't see your floor plan. Over about 5,000 sq ft, or with block walls on two or more floors, our methodology suggests talking to a person; RouterHaus offers remote network design consultations, with on-site visits in the Phoenix metro, where block and stucco homes are common.