Adding outdoor wifi spot to AE

[GhostMac24]

Currently have an Airport Extreme and multiple Express (connected to a multi-port ethernet distribution switch) throughout the home to give great wifi coverage throughout. The problem I am having is the backyard has really low wifi signal trying to connect to any of the wifi access points (the home is all brick and rather large with the pool area BELOW the basement level away from the home. Is there an "easy" way to add an outdoor wifi spot? I don't see Apple currently offering an outdoor unit so I'm guessing I need to go off brand. Since the AE is sending the signal out to the multi-port distribution switch, is it going to be an issue to connect an non-Apple outdoor wifi router? Just worried that there will be issues trying to run a non-Apple wifi router to a complete Apple ecosystem.

FYI...speed in the home hardline is 200+ and all the wifi devices INSIDE the home are routinely getting 50-100+. Outside it can drop below 5mbps which kills streaming for any of the smart TVs by the pool connecting.

Thanks for any assistance!

 

[BrianBaughn]

A lot to consider there. If there's line-of-sight between a viable mount point on the house and that pool area...that's step one.

Getting power and signal to the device is next. Some devices may be able to wirelessly "repeat" the signal from just inside the house out to the pool.

There's probably a way to get any outdoor-capable device to work but how well may depend on the configurability of the firmware.

Third-party devices may or may not play well with local networking (printers, file sharing) if that's important.

 

[GhostMac24]

Yes...It will be mounted poolside

I can get a hard line to the outdoor unit and power (several outdoor power outlets). I guess the biggest issue I see is can the outdoor wifi hotspot just take a hard line off the multi-port and set it up independently (i.e., with its' own software rather than the Airport Utility). That's the biggest issue I see.....that the non-Apple device I select may not play nice.
[doublepost=1492708086][/doublepost]The other option, with Apple apparently moving away from it's Airport line (no update in 4 years), is to just move to another manufacturer that has a solution that meets my needs for indoor/outdoor.