I currently have 1.2Gbps service through Xfinity and I currently have a 4 year old Netgear nighthawk modem/router combo which has been dropping internet, so it feels like it’s time to replace it. I also currently have two wi-fi extenders, one connected via Ethernet in my basement and another in my kitchen which is not. My router sits in my office which is at the front of my house, so signal strength isn’t great to the back of my house or basement. I have two stories + basement, 3.3k sq ft total.

Now I was looking around at mesh systems, hoping to cover the whole house and also trying to actually use the 1.2Gbps I have and future-proof a bit. I have many smart devices, cameras, etc. throughout the house I would connect via Wi-Fi. My computer and NAS sit in my office and would be the main point where I’d want to get the most out of the >1Gbps connection. What I’ve found is there are very few systems that have >1Gbps ports, and most of them are more expensive.

My current thinking is to get an Arris S33, 3 TP-Link XE75 Pro (1 2.5Gbps port) to run a mesh network and then a 2.5Gbps switch to run Modem > Switch > Computer, NAS and XE75. I don’t have much networking knowledge, so would this even work like I’m thinking it will? Would the XE75 Pro make any difference for the mesh network over the normal XE75 with 1Gbps ports?