Wanting to upgrade, but don't want "overkill". Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Looking for a recommendation here on what is the best wireless router for me.  While it’s always nice to have the latest and greatest, and while money is really no object, I also hate to waste money going overboard.

I have a 2 story, 3800 Sqft home, set up with 3 work laptops upstairs, and 2 personal desktops downstairs for non-interactive gaming (non-interactive meaning nothing like RPG).  All are relatively new PCs/laptops.  I also have a couple of cell phones, both of which can connect at 5Ghz, although they actually work better under 2.4Ghz.  I will be adding additional wireless connections in the near future (home automation stuff/cameras, etc) but that is 8 – 10 months down the road.

I’ve got a 60Mbps/4Mbps connection via cable.  The router I currently use is a non-Netgear AC1200, but it has no external antenna, so coverage is so-so.  It is located upstairs, center of the house.  The laptops are connected wirelessly via AC1200 USB wireless adapters since none of them have GB Ethernet and I don’t want cables running all over my home office area.  My two downstairs desktops are connected (wired) to a Netgear R6700 that is connected wirelessly (5Ghz) to the upstairs router.

While I can afford something like the R8500, I think it’s a bit overkill for what I need now, and most likely will need in the future.  I want to get rid of the internal antenna router I currently use just so I can get better connectivity at other parts of the house (back porch for example).  I wwould like to keep the R6700 in AP mode and take advantage of the 1300Mpbs throughput capability on the 5Ghz band on the R6700 (and I don’t want to purchase additional wireless adapters for the desktops downstairs).

So, any recommendations?   Is the 8500 overkill?  Would something like the 8000 or 7800 be a better option – or even something else?    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Tom