I recently upgraded to gigabit fiber, and spread over the 3,000 sq ft of my house, the multiple Airport Extremes I have is a bit frustrating. If I run the 5Ghz network SSID, I can get as high as 500MB downloads, but if I have my three access points all pushing out the same SSID, I end up getting disconnects, particularly with my wife's MB Air. So, right now I have 3 different networks in the house, basement, main floor, second floor.
But I want to go to a mesh network, and get full bandwidth and just have ONE SSID. I know this is a $400-500 investment, but I am looking for recommendations on best system. Network is fiber comes into the house in basement, which is where the fiber-equivalent-of-a-modem is, and where the five or so ethernet connections go, plus Dish Broadband connector.
Goals: maximize bandwidth to take advantage of my 1GBdown/250 up connection, and to eliminate having so many SSIDs, while covering the 3,000 sq ft over 3 floors.