Review on TP-Link EAP225-Outdoor Omada AC1200 Wireless Access Point by Jamie Rogers

I have purchased two of these devices and will not be compensated or paid for this review. I already have a pretty strong WiFi mesh network for our phones and mobile devices in our (big) house. Grid means they all have the same SSID and password, so when you get within range, the device will connect to the strongest. But I recently installed several security IP cameras and about 2/3 of them are connected to my network wirelessly. I don't need this traffic on my existing Wi-Fi network for reasons I won't describe here. But the fact of the matter is that these access points were designed to connect 8 security cameras, some of them outside and a reasonable distance from the house! I needed two because half the cameras are on one side of the house and the rest are on the other. No access point would be suitable for everyone. In any case, these TP-Link access points worked great! They've been in place for about two months and they've been rock solid. One is powered by an injector, the other by a POE hub in my garage and both work equally well. The signal strength between them and the cameras is much stronger than the old access point I initially connected my cameras to. I like the long, thin shape, the ability to mount it on a pole, and the adjustable antennas. The only caveat I would like to point out in recommending these hotspots to everyone is that you cannot mesh two or more of them together. ! So if you use them for mobile devices and want to cover a large area (like a big house or individual buildings) with a single SSID/password, this is not the best choice. I knew that before I bought it! However, in my case, the IP cameras are fixed and don't need to be able to connect to more than one access point, so I don't need this feature. For accommodating an area that can be covered by a single hotspot, these units offer excellent value for money. They offer many mounting options (pole, wall, vertical or horizontal, POE allows you not to worry about power requirements). They have external antennas that you can tune for maximum performance, and they're inexpensive! I've set up a lot of access points (I've been in IT for 20 years and have managed several fairly large networks). I'm excited about these devices. In fact, all of the TP-Link devices I've used work as well or even better than devices that cost many times more. I can't say how it will hold up in the long run, but my first impression is that this is a quality device that will serve you well for a long time to come!