Hi folks,

I live in a rural area on a small farm and need to have Wi-Fi cover my home and barn (300' from my home). I have no close neighbors so I don't have interference from other Wi-Fi systems.

For years I've covered my 3 story home and barn with Wi-Fi using one TP-Link OnHub TGR1900 AC1900 router/access point in my house supporting 25 wireless devices including two Roku, one iPad, two desktop computers, two notebook computers, two to four smartphones, several smart bulbs and outlets, and four HD security cameras (Merkury/Geeni and Wyze). I added another TP-Link OnHub AC1900 as a mesh-point to improve signal strength for the HD security camera in my back yard. For years my Wi-Fi life was good!

My barn (300' away from the OnHub mesh point) has one Google Nest Mini speaker and one HD security camera and I can stream audio/video from the camera and stream music over the Nest Mini without any issues. That is, until Google kills support for OnHub and Google Home January, 2023...

One OnHub is connected to my T-Mobile 5G Home Internet WAN port (25-150Mbps down, 10-50 Mbps up), and the other OnHub is about 20' away and one floor down connected via mesh. The OnHub routers have 13 internal antennae with one having a parabolic reflector that pushes Wi-Fi signals as much as 400' away through one exterior wall (sheetrock, fiberglass insulation, foil covered insulating foam board and T111 wooden siding) and about 30' of garden foliage. This is not theoretical, this has been in place and working since 2017.

Google will stop supporting the OnHub devices and, with the new version of Google Home coming out, apparently the old version of Google Home will stop working mid-January, meaning I have to find another solution.

In the past two months I've tried Ubiquiti Amplifi Alien Router (single unit), 3 different TP-Link Deco mesh systems (two and three unit kits, and one with powerline ethernet), a Synology RT2600ac router, Netgear Orbi dual band mesh Wi-Fi system with one router and two satellites (RBK13), Netgear Nightwawk AX1800 router and satellite, TP-Link Omada AC1200 Wireless MU-MIMO Gigabit Indoor/Outdoor Access Point (EAP225-Outdoor) stand alone without the controller, too many range extenders and repeaters to count and many others. Every option I tried, except the OnHub could not provide strong enough signal to maintain connections with the security camera and Nest mini in the barn. While the Amplifi Alien has done the second best job compared to the OnHub, it can't maintain a strong enough signal to keep the camera connected. I thought about buying another Alilen to create an Alien mesh, but don't know if it will do the job. The Alien single router is on sale at Best Buy for $279. They don't carry the two piece kit though.

I know TP-Link Omada and Ubiquiti Unifi make gear to support long range outdoor Wi-Fi. I can't tell if I can buy just the Ubiquiti or Omada long range or mesh access points and configure them in a mesh without also running a "controller" either on my computer, in the cloud, or a separate device. I'm not opposed to running the Omada OC200 controller to support an extended network, but I don't have Ethernet running to my barn, only AC power. I know the Omada devices can use POE injectors for power.

From what I've read, it seems to cover my home and barn I'll need:

1 - TP-Link OC200 controller

1 (or more) - TP-Link EAP610-Outdoor Omada WiFi6 AX1800 (to provide WiFi service to my barn)
1 (or more) - TP-Link EAP610 Ultra-Slim Omada WiFi 6 AX1800 (to provide WiFi service in my home)

2 (or more) TP-Link POE injectors for the access points

1 - T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Gateway (my current ISP)

1 - TP-Link TL-SG1005P V2 or later 5 Port Gigabit PoE Switch (is a switch a required device)

Will I need a router other than my T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Gateway, or do I plug the gateway into the TP-Link TL-SG1005P 5 Port Gigabit PoE Switch?

I think the configuration might look something like this:

T-Mobile 5G Home Internet Gateway connected to the TP-Link TL-SG1005P 5 Port Gigabit PoE Switch or can the gateway plug directly into the OC200?

TP-Link OC200 controller connected to the TP-Link TL-SG1005P 5 Port Gigabit PoE Switch

EAP610 Ultra-Slim access point connected to the switch. Once configured/adopted, does this need to be connected to the switch, or is the POE injector all that is needed?

EAP610 Outdoor access point connected to the switch. Once configured/adopted, does this still need to be connected to the switch, or is the POE injector all that is needed?

Does anyone have a recommended configuration to support what I can do with existing TP-Link Omada routers and controller? 

I'm looking for a fairly simple solution, that won't break the bank.

Any and all advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance...

Jeff