I have a D7800 Netgear modem/router and was wondering whether the AP903 will work fine with this? i.e. will there be issues with set-up.
Current use with Netgear EX7700 extender which keeps dropping out so wonder if AP903 will be better.
Also how reliable is AP903 i.e. I have had to power cycle my EX7700 at least 10 times in 2 years!

In my (admittedly limited) experience of 'Extenders', they are a bad idea...because they halve the throughput and don't necessarily support all protocols (due to the NAT-like implementation) .

But it looks like the EX7700 is capable of running in some kind of Bridge mode (WDS/ Mesh / whatever), though that is likely to be proprietary to Netgear (so you couldn't just swap in a Draytek AP903, in that scenario).

(Draytek Routers and Access Points have their own proprietary methods of doing the same thing - but you'd need to swap both).

You could do with finding out why you need to keep power-cycling the EX7700 - if I had an issue like that with Draytek kit, I know they would investigate. (How long it would take them to actually fix it, is another matter :wink: )

I'm happy with my AP903 - but it runs in Access Point mode, wired back to the Router. I'm more than happy with the 'reliability', but living in North Devon it gets power-cycled more than five times a year by Western Power's crumbling infrastructure! ... (three times in just the last four weeks )

Thanks for the information on the AP903.
Unfortunately I need a MESH configuration - Main router is effectively in the front extension and so effectively outside the original house. Also we have warm air heating and so there is a largish metal tube going up the middle the house causing signal black out zones - hence the extender.
What is the router you are using?
How easy is it to set them up. I know the Netgear is very easy to set up as they are really meant for home use.
The Draytek have much more features that can be used (but do you have to?) and so look slightly more complicated/difficult.
However, that said, I have found that I have roughly changed the Netgears after 2 years (warranty period) as they do seem to start having issues.
How long have you had your system and how reliable?

There are many definitions of 'Mesh', but I don't think any of them apply to a two node configuration :? ...
...in Draytek's world, "Mesh" seems to mean 'config-less WDS Bridging'...

I have two Draytek Routers in use (they are in different properties, with a (private) VPN between them). They are both ancient (5+ years old). They were both bought second hand off eBay. The 2830n and 2860n are both now considered 'legacy', but the 2860 still receives the occasional update. I've easily had my money's-worth out of them :wink:
I've looked at upgrading my 2860n, but there's no immediate need.

I've been using Draytek gear since the early noughties (USB 2200 or some such device). Subjectively, I find them easy to configure - once you get used to the Taiwanese - English translation 'style'!

I have two criticisms of Draytek in general:

1) They release products before they are finished and you sometimes have to wait for features (or for them to work as advertised). (They do get there in the end and occasionally release new features you didn't expect. They respond quickly to security issues.)

2) They were never the fastest of devices. I was a long time NTL/Virgin customer and their speed increases outpaced Draytek, forcing me to upgrade. Draytek seem to have got to grips with this of late (but I've moved out to the sticks and am stuck with VDSL-2, so it's not an issue for me anyway).

If you don't want to change your Router, have a look at Devolo's "Magic 2" Powerline offerings ( https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/the-best-powerline-adaptors ). I helped my Brother-in-law set up a load of these in his rambling Victorian house. They worked very well, though they're not cheap. They claim to implement 'Mesh' wifi, but I don't think that's accurate description - the 'Mesh' is on the Powerline network.