D-Link EXO mesh system or two routers in bridge mode?

[Automobili3XF]

A few days ago i took down my Portal mesh system, it wasn’t as stable as i would like and the firmware doesn’t support a lot of configurations, good news is that i was able to profit from selling the pair of Portals and i can get something nicer.
My ISP loaned me a Mercusys MR50G to keep my network running while i decide what to get, and i actually like it, its quite cheap for the amount of features it has, the wi-fi range is decent, i could get a pair of these, bridge one through the other and have a solution similar to what i had before the mesh with a pair of routers (Archer C9 and a DIR-868L), its not as practical as mesh, but works.
Before picking up the loan router, i was taking a look at D-Link’s EXO mesh kit, consisted of a DIR-1360 router and a DRA-1360 range extender, while it is more expensive and doesn’t support as much throughput speed as the other one, hey its mesh, more convenient, and its from D-Link, which i usually trust.
Why do i need two bridged routers or a mesh system? My house is medium sized, but its an older style construction with 15cm thick solid brick walls that are hard for wi-fi signals to pass through, i always need to have APs positioned on opposite corners of the house in order to have an optimal signal in all places i need it.
Discarded options:

Asus AiMesh routers: the model that fits my wallet is the RT-AC59U, and according to Asus it doesn’t support the AiMesh config i need (bridged via cable), that’s reserved for the RT-AC68U (or superior models), and those cost 3x as much.
Router + Wireless AP: The router would be easy to get, but APs are harder to get here (Brazil) and tend to cost a lot more than equivalent routers.
Xiaomi routers: Supports mesh, but the firmware is chinese and its not certified to work 100% with local ISPs, so i could and probably will run into issues running these.

[rcxb]

Any two Wi-Fi routers will minimally work, just set them both to the same SSID and password. Preferably on different Wi-Fi channels. Your devices will just pick the one with the stronger signal.

For things to work seamlessly, one of the two should be in client/bridge mode, with an ethernet cable running from the main router to the second. Plenty of cheap, mainstream Wi-Fi routers have this option, like most Asus models. Just check the specs.

Wirelessly bridging or having a mesh will dramatically reduce performance, and should be avoided if at all possible.

[Automobili3XF]

@rcxb

Any two Wi-Fi routers will minimally work, just set them both to the same SSID and password. Preferably on different Wi-Fi channels. Your devices will just pick the one with the stronger signal.

That’s perfect! I didn’t know you could use the same SSID on two devices with different channels, its perfect for what i’m trying to achieve.

@rcxb

For things to work seamlessly, one of the two should be in client/bridge mode, with an ethernet cable running from the main router to the second. Plenty of cheap, mainstream Wi-Fi routers have this option, like most Asus models. Just check the specs.

Yep, the Mercusys can do that, i think i’m going to get a couple of them.
Note: client/bridge and Access Point Mode are the same thing, right? Just to be 100% sure.

@rcxb

Wirelessly bridging or having a mesh will dramatically reduce performance, and should be avoided if at all possible.

Yeah, cable is the only option around here, the signal from the other side of the house barely reaches the point where i intend to install a secondary router (just 1 bar on 2.4ghz), so its not at all feasible to consider a wireless “re-propagation” of sorts.
On Portal the mesh was achieved by having both routers connected via cable as well.