Don't get me wrong, its your/a.n.posters money. But, regardless of new 802.11 specifications, there is nothing new in the underlying technology.
No one can change the basic principle that wireless is a broadcast medium. No matter how much more bandwidth a given channel has, no matter the increase in "speed" a new specification brings, the underlying principles are the same as any other 'standard' that makes use of the shared electromagnetic spectrum.
The higher the frequency, the shorter the range of a signal transmitted at the same power level, and the greater the increase in susceptibility to interference, refraction, and reflection.
The increase in unmoderated users of a shared medium, the greater the probability of packet collision, even taking into account "listen before transmit" (CSMA) techniques.
Given that you MUST own all of these BD rips (to be discussing them here) then why not just buy a bluray player and stick it down stairs with the TV. You seem to have gone to an inordinate amount of cost and effort to avoid running a cable from one floor to the next. For what you have spent in time, effort and money, I could have chased, cabled, plastered and made good. Which is exactly what I have done in my own home (oh and I do run 3 hard wired Ubiquiti APs as well (running off a gigabit switch) and I confirm that they wont support streaming 4k rips).
Why on earth should the OP spend £120 on a 3x3 access point when for roughly the same money, he/can can buy a high end 4x4 router (eg Netgear R7800) which can also be used in AP mode? Just because its got Ubiquiti written on it doesn't mean it will automatically be high spec hardware.
I would disagree. I would say that as Netgear R7800 is a gaming router and is a domestic appliance and Ubiquiti AP's are enterprise class appliances. Generally when comparing the two, the build quality and feature set of enterprise class devices over domestic devices is far superior.
Like I said the ubiquitis looks good but I may need to rip up floor boards or walls to put a POE in. Unless I am wrong?
Yes you would need a POE injector. Also a single AP wont help you much. I would suggest that you needed a pair of APs one connected to the server and one to your media player, then create a wireless uplink between the two. You would also need a UniFi cloud key controller on the network to do this. It would effectively give you a dedicated point to point wireless link. It wont be cheap but I think that if you are hell bent on a wireless solution, that would work.
Unifi AC Pro's are £135.89 each and a UniFi cloud key would be £78.89 inc VAT, so for £350.85 you may (other wireless spectrum usage pending) be able to create a solid wireless link to stream 4k. Theoretically you could achieve 1750Mbps maximum throughput.
But you're not looking under the hood of the Ubiquiti hardware in question. Its a 3x3 AP, so its an inferior bit of hardware compared to the latest 4x4 routers. Don't get me wrong, Ubiquiti kit is very good but you're looking at paying around £240 for a 4x4 Ubiquiti AP (UniFi AP HD) which is excessive.
Re: R7800, its NOT a gaming router, the newer XR500 is the gaming router. The R7800 sits at the top of SNB router charts for wifi performance and beats any 3x3 stream Ubiquiti AP for wifi performance. If the stock Netgear firmware isn't to your liking, then very easy to run third party firmware such as Kong's DD-WRT firmware on the R7800.
Netgear Nighthawk R7800 X4S AC2600 Smart WiFi Gaming Router
802.11ac Dual Band Quad Stream Gigabit
by Netgear
See more product details
Part No: FER7800-100UKS
Manufacturer No: R7800-100UKS
Delivery: In Stock: Next Day
That is what they advertise it as. Please tell the manufacturers and the retailers that they are wrong.
For roughly the same price, the OP might as well buy Ubiquiti's Amplifi Mesh system for £354 which will pretty much guarantee full wifi coverage:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ubiquiti-Amplifi-4-Ports-System-Wireless/dp/B01L9O08PW
He doesnt want full wifi coverage, that will only degrade his wifi bandwidth. He needs a dedicated point to point wireless link to maximise his bandwidth between his server and his media player. That will give him his best shot at a wireless solution to stream 4K UHD material.