iphone sucks, grab an android

I used tplink omada in myb2 story, 3000 sqft house. coverage is pretty good

I did NOT go the PoE route, but did do the software controller, so that clients only see 1 ssid, and it forces clients onto the beat connection

In my simplistic view, it almost seems as though the adapters are drawing on the main WiFi even when nothing is connected to them. Could this be the case?

no