My current home network setup is lacking in coverage. I've been looking at the various wireless mesh networks and have decided that will be my best bet. I'm a novice when it comes to network configuration and hardware so I am figuring out several things as I go along. I'm leaning heavily towards Google WiFi based on the cost, reviews and ease of setup. Based on what I am reading / being told I am a little confused on what exactly I will need based on my needs. Suggestions / assistance is greatly appreciated...

My current setup is a cable modem wifi router combo upstairs in my office. That modem is hard wired to my desktop PC and a hub downstairs. The hub downstairs is hard wired to a TV, Roku & slave wifi router/repeater.

My issue with this setup is the lack of speed/performance downstairs and switching between wifi points. The issue is significantly worse with Apple devices. I'm sure it is likely a config issue but I'm not experienced enough to figure it out and I would like to upgrade my modem anyway.

My desired setup would a cable modem upstairs in my office hard wired to my PC and the primary wireless mesh hardware. The hub downstairs is optional.

Where my questions come into play...
The better rated cable modems I am finding have a single LAN port in the back meaning I need another piece of hardware in order to hard wire the PC as well as the wifi hardware. I'm told I will need a router to connect the modem to any other equipment I want hard wired. If that is accurate...
A) everything I am seeing on Amazon are wifi routers. I don't need the wifi portion due to the mesh network hardware. Do I get one of those and turn off the wifi or are there other good options available?
B) is it better to go with a modem/router combo and turn off the wifi?
C) is there an alternative config I could be looking at?

get the Orbi...

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Where my questions come into play...
The better rated cable modems I am finding have a single LAN port in the back meaning I need another piece of hardware in order to hard wire the PC as well as the wifi hardware. I'm told I will need a router to connect the modem to any other equipment I want hard wired. If that is accurate...
A) everything I am seeing on Amazon are wifi routers. I don't need the wifi portion due to the mesh network hardware. Do I get one of those and turn off the wifi or are there other good options available?
B) is it better to go with a modem/router combo and turn off the wifi?
C) is there an alternative config I could be looking at?

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Yes, you'll need a router. Your modem is going to kick out a single IP. You need something to handle DHCP which will allow you to assign local addresses to items on your network and will handle that traffic controlling. Once you have a router handling the address assignments, you can just add switches to get more connections (but switches won't handle addressing for you, which is why you need a router behind your modem)

A) You could certainly get a router and disable the WIFI side of things. Unless Google has specific hardware they designed for their system, this is probably the easiest solution
B) I always try to avoid combo modem/routers. I find it much easier to have designated devices - that said, the combos I've had in the past were typically from the ISP so they were usually junk to begin with (most of that was 2wire crap for u-verse which I hated)
C) I recently set up a Ubiquiti Unifi system and I LOVE it. Not sure how it compares to the Google stuff as I never looked into that, but I find the Unifi hardware to be very good and their software is top notch.

Just some thoughts and there are others on here with far more expertise.

I've read numerous reviews on the Ubiquiti, Google, Orbi, Eero, etc... they are all rated pretty well and each has it's positive and negative but most of those points are nitpicky. Main reason I am leaning towards Google is cost ($100 cheaper than other options) and easy of setup/use. Google is the only one that I feel my wife could easily troubleshoot if I am out of town.

As I posted this I found some router options on Amazon. Will these work...

Ubiquiti EdgeRouter option 1
Ubiquiti EdgeRouter option 2
Mikrotik option 1
Mikrotik option 2

If not, any you suggest?

Anyone used the new Samsung one that got announced earlier this year?

I would stay away from Edgerouter X and get the Lite if you were going to go that route. The Lite link you posted is to the older model with the cutoff edges (but they may send the newer version like this one). The ERL does take some decent technical skills to setup. If you're looking for a dedicated router that is a little easier to configure, look at the Ubiquiti USG.

The Orbi is a good choice - I liked the speed it provided, but I'm hooked on my Ubiquiti setup.

The only thing I don't like about my Orbi units are its size and shape. Not sure what they were thinking when they designed it. I know they want it to "blend in" like a vase, but ... ugh.

Okay we're closing on a new house and I know that my current router/modem combo is not going to be able to handle the new house.

Current house was <1600 sq ft, single story with the router/modem combo in the middle of the house. Now I'm moving into a 3600 sq ft two story with the primary internet being in an office downstairs away from the main living area/backyard and a ways away from the upstairs that will have the game room and the bed rooms. The upstairs will most likely see the heaviest use at night, streaming, gaming, homework etc.

Am I better off getting the Orbi and putting the satellite upstairs or running the Google Wifi? I'll be upgrading the modem to something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/ARRIS-SURFboard-SB6190-DOCSIS-Cable/dp/B016PE1X5K/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1500315545&sr=1-3&keywords=internet+modem

Bump for advice.

Good choice on the cable modem. The Orbi or Google Wifi should work fine for your situation.

Are there any hard wires already in the house? If there are then you don't need a mesh router. You can just get wireless AP's that plug into the wires to save money.

Otherwise, I'd give the Orbi a shot. It wins on throughput over the Google WiFi, but you aren't going wrong either way. I had a Ubiquiti Amplifi mesh network before my current Orbi (gave it to my parents). It had much better software and looked better than the Orbi.

And you have a wireless bridge at the satellite.

Finally got everything setup today. Surfboard, EdgeRouter Lite and Google Wifi.

Took me awhile to get access to the EdgeRouter and get it setup. Once I got past that point it was all a breeze.

Thanks for the help guy.