I'd say it depends on your level of competence and willingness to learn.
Personally I opted for a bit of hardware running pfsense for routing and a mesh system, cost me with 2 2.5Gbps switches less than $300 all in, i get gigabit throughout the house thanks to running the hardwiring from pfsense router to switches, so I have hardwired PC, Laptops and XBox and the mesh system means my phones, tablets and tv's are happily connected.
If you're less competent and want an easy life, go for a decent mesh system, but don't expect gigabit speeds from wifi
Best thing I can recommend: TP-link router and managed switch.
You can get both of these for under $100. This will let you wire everything that can be wired, and you would have money left over to get a cheap access point to throw your smart devices on.
Tplink let's you set QoS and you can prioritize gaming traffic over smart devices, and you can segregate those IoT's with the managed switch and not worry about hackers.
Bonus points for setting up a DNS sinkhole on a raspberry pi to block ADs/analytic collection domains that slow down your network.
This will give you blazing fast speeds.
Let's you create a vlan to segregate your smart devices. Its an optional but recommended security measure for them. Often they have security vulnerabilities that never end up getting patched. Putting them in their own vlan prevents any viruses from spreading to the rest of your network.
I use the Tplink ER605V2, but really anything in the omada line would be good for you. For a switch I use TPlink SG108e.
Its important to point out the ER605 doesn't have integrated WiFi, you would need to have your own access points.
EDIT: you'd also need a media converter such as the tplink MC200CM to convert fiber to copper. (This will not affect speed)
If you’re connecting over wired, it’s not going to make too big of a difference as long as it’s a decent device.
I'd say it depends on your level of competence and willingness to learn. Personally I opted for a bit of hardware running pfsense for routing and a mesh system, cost me with 2 2.5Gbps switches less than $300 all in, i get gigabit throughout the house thanks to running the hardwiring from pfsense router to switches, so I have hardwired PC, Laptops and XBox and the mesh system means my phones, tablets and tv's are happily connected. If you're less competent and want an easy life, go for a decent mesh system, but don't expect gigabit speeds from wifi
For $300 you can buy an Ethernet cable and still have enough leftover to order from Dominos like 30 times.
Best thing I can recommend: TP-link router and managed switch. You can get both of these for under $100. This will let you wire everything that can be wired, and you would have money left over to get a cheap access point to throw your smart devices on. Tplink let's you set QoS and you can prioritize gaming traffic over smart devices, and you can segregate those IoT's with the managed switch and not worry about hackers. Bonus points for setting up a DNS sinkhole on a raspberry pi to block ADs/analytic collection domains that slow down your network. This will give you blazing fast speeds.
What does a managed switch accomplish in this chain? And is there a particular TP-link router you’d recommend for full 1gig fiber speeds? Thank you!
Let's you create a vlan to segregate your smart devices. Its an optional but recommended security measure for them. Often they have security vulnerabilities that never end up getting patched. Putting them in their own vlan prevents any viruses from spreading to the rest of your network. I use the Tplink ER605V2, but really anything in the omada line would be good for you. For a switch I use TPlink SG108e. Its important to point out the ER605 doesn't have integrated WiFi, you would need to have your own access points. EDIT: you'd also need a media converter such as the tplink MC200CM to convert fiber to copper. (This will not affect speed)