WiFi for new home

[MACKENZIE303]

Hello,

I am moving to a new build property next month with BT Infinity available. Probably will go for 900 but may take 300.

I think the set up will be;

Open reach modem at front door cupboard.
4 x Ethernet connections to
Living room (downstairs front) around 4m from modem.
Family room kitchen (downstairs back around 8-9m from modem)
Main bedroom (upstairs front above living room)
Study (upstairs back)

I’m looking to connect Sky q, Sonos, tv and PS4 by Ethernet in living room.Tv, Sonos Ethernet in family room kitchen.
Computers and printer Ethernet in study.
Not sure if I need any Ethernet in main bedroom.

will have 3 mobile phones, 2 iPads, 6 Alexa, and 4 ring camera (possibly adding more)

im confused on what I should get to achieve what I want?

1. Non wireless Router in cupboard, wireless aps at end of 4 Ethernet?
2. Mesh?
3. Router in cupboard, wireless ap’s end of Ethernet?
4. Router in cupboard, switch’s at end of some
Ethernet runs?

some other method?

house is around 1800sq ft total. Looking for WiFi 6. Happy to spend £600 maybe £700 maximum.. but want to spend a lot less if I don’t need too.

thanks In advance.

 

[Tucu]

Better to avoid WiFi-6 until WiFi-6E becomes approved, common and cheap.
What equipment do you currently have? and what will be supplied with the BT Infinity package?

I would start with the router in the cupboard, switches in the living room and study. Then add APs in any roomwhere WiFi speed is not enough; 2x2 AC access points or wired mesh nodes would probably be enough. You could go as cheap as £20 per each 8-port switch and £50 per each AP or mesh node.

 

[ulaganath]

Dream Machine Pro

All-in-one, enterprise-grade UniFi OS Console and security gateway designed to host the full UniFi application suite. Connect the Dream Machine Pro with a USP RPS to create an uninterruptible network. Features: Pre-installed UniFi Network application LAN ports: (8) GbE RJ45, (1) 10G SFP+ WAN...

store.ui.com

If you want AP setup 6 will be way to go but this brand stock on WIF-6 need to check

Ideally WIFI-6 lite would work with one long range wifi 6.

Switch Lite 8 PoE - Ubiquiti Store

An 8-port, Layer 2 PoE switch supporting silent fanless cooling.

store.ui.com

UniFi6 Lite

Compact, dual-band WiFi 6 access point with flexible mounting options. Features: 5 GHz WiFi 6 band, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 band 1.5 Gbps aggregate throughput rate Focused antenna pattern for optimal ceiling or wall mounting (1) GbE RJ45 port (PoE In) Fits UAP nanoHD covers and the recessed...

store.ui.com

UniFi6 Long-Range

High-performance, indoor/outdoor WiFi 6 access point with extended signal range. Features: 5 GHz WiFi 6 band (4x4), 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 band (4x4) 3.0 Gbps aggregate throughput rate Horizontal, downward-tilted antenna pattern to widen coverage area (1) GbE RJ45 port (PoE In) Powered with PoE+...

store.ui.com

You need these to setup complete network. You can decide if this setup fits or move to router and extender which still be similar price but coverage needs to analyzed though WIFi-6 top end router claims 3k-4k Sqft coverage reality may be half or even less depends on obstacles.

Nighthawk AX12 WiFi 6 Router - RAX120 12-Stream Router | NETGEAR

Discover the ultimate performance for the smart home of today and tomorrow. Enjoy the fastest speeds on 4X more connected devices than before. Buy now!

www.netgear.com

Multiple extenders on each room or where need more coverage

NETGEAR EAX15 – AX1800 Dual-band WiFi Mesh Extender | NETGEAR

Discover Netgear EAX15 EX1800 Dual-band WiFi 6 Mesh extender, seamless WiFi coverage on more devices throughout your home with speeds up to 1.8Gbps. Buy now!

www.netgear.com

 

[MACKENZIE303]

Better to avoid WiFi-6 until WiFi-6E becomes approved, common and cheap.
What equipment do you currently have? and what will be supplied with the BT Infinity package?

I would start with the router in the cupboard, switches in the living room and study. Then add APs in any roomwhere WiFi speed is not enough; 2x2 AC access points or wired mesh nodes would probably be enough. You could go as cheap as £20 per each 8-port switch and £50 per each AP or mesh node.

Will just have the BT smart hub 2... the method you suggest is probably the best way when I think about it.. can you mix and match most brands? Netgear with BT for example?

 

[Tucu]

I have a mismatch of routers, APs and switches. The router is the one provided by the ISP (a Movistar HGU); it has 4x4 AC and 4 GbE ports. The second units is a repurposed TP-Link Archer C2600 running OpenWRT configured as an AP; it is also 4x4 AC with 4 GbE ports. In a room used as an office I have an 8 port switch (TP-Link TL-SG1008D) for work/gaming equipment. Finally in the basement I have a 1x1 AC Tenda AP that is enough for the intended use. I have splitted the SSIDs in two: a 2.4Ghz one for slow devices and a 5Ghz one for fast devices. My phones and laptops seem to easily roam between the APs as needed.
In a couple of years I will probably do an upgrade once XGS-PON fibre, WiFi 6E routers/APs and 2.5GBASE-T switches become available and/or cheaper.

 

[MACKENZIE303]

Dream Machine Pro

All-in-one, enterprise-grade UniFi OS Console and security gateway designed to host the full UniFi application suite. Connect the Dream Machine Pro with a USP RPS to create an uninterruptible network. Features: Pre-installed UniFi Network application LAN ports: (8) GbE RJ45, (1) 10G SFP+ WAN...

store.ui.com

If you want AP setup 6 will be way to go but this brand stock on WIF-6 need to check

Ideally WIFI-6 lite would work with one long range wifi 6.

Switch Lite 8 PoE - Ubiquiti Store

An 8-port, Layer 2 PoE switch supporting silent fanless cooling.

store.ui.com

UniFi6 Lite

Compact, dual-band WiFi 6 access point with flexible mounting options. Features: 5 GHz WiFi 6 band, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 band 1.5 Gbps aggregate throughput rate Focused antenna pattern for optimal ceiling or wall mounting (1) GbE RJ45 port (PoE In) Fits UAP nanoHD covers and the recessed...

store.ui.com

UniFi6 Long-Range

High-performance, indoor/outdoor WiFi 6 access point with extended signal range. Features: 5 GHz WiFi 6 band (4x4), 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 band (4x4) 3.0 Gbps aggregate throughput rate Horizontal, downward-tilted antenna pattern to widen coverage area (1) GbE RJ45 port (PoE In) Powered with PoE+...

store.ui.com

You need these to setup complete network. You can decide if this setup fits or move to router and extender which still be similar price but coverage needs to analyzed though WIFi-6 top end router claims 3k-4k Sqft coverage reality may be half or even less depends on obstacles.

Nighthawk AX12 WiFi 6 Router - RAX120 12-Stream Router | NETGEAR

Discover the ultimate performance for the smart home of today and tomorrow. Enjoy the fastest speeds on 4X more connected devices than before. Buy now!

www.netgear.com

Multiple extenders on each room or where need more coverage

NETGEAR EAX15 – AX1800 Dual-band WiFi Mesh Extender | NETGEAR

Discover Netgear EAX15 EX1800 Dual-band WiFi 6 Mesh extender, seamless WiFi coverage on more devices throughout your home with speeds up to 1.8Gbps. Buy now!

www.netgear.com

I think when I have 4 x Ethernet points, I don’t really want to go down the WiFi extender route.

Also want AP’s that have Ethernet to client capability.

 

[Zetto]

Better to avoid WiFi-6 until WiFi-6E becomes approved, common and cheap.

By that time, Wifi7 will arrive lol

 

[Tucu]

By that time, Wifi7 will arrive lol

And the rat race of early adopters will begin again. "Do you want the latest and most expensive router of all time?, get our 32 antenna 60Gbps parallel-dimension-MU-MIMO marvel right now!"

 

[Zetto]

And the rat race of early adopters will begin again. "Do you want the latest and most expensive router of all time?, get our 32 antenna 60Gbps parallel-dimension-MU-MIMO marvel right now!"

actually, when "WiFi-6E becomes common and cheap" wifi7 will be in full swing, official and Wifi7E will be soon to be approved... In other words - the race is always on, there's always something better on the horizon, waiting is pointless, so unless you got money to burn on routers every year, buy the best you can out of what is available right now to make it last.

 

[Tucu]

actually, when "WiFi-6E becomes common and cheap" wifi7 will be in full swing, official and Wifi7E will be soon to be approved... In other words - the race is always on, there's always something better on the horizon, waiting is pointless, so unless you got money to burn on routers every year, buy the best you can out of what is available right now to make it last.

The "best" that is available right now (WiFi-6) is crap. Barely faster than 4 year old AC equipment in residential environments. At least WiFi-6E will bring us usable 160Mhz channels. Who know what parts of WiFi-7 will be really useful; 16 streams, 320Mhz and 4096-QAM will probably not be among the useful features. Maybe OFDMA and MU-MIMU will finally work ;-)

 

[Trip]

@MACKENZIE303 - For only 1800 square feet, roughly 20 wifi devices, and ethernet run to enough spots, it's highly likely that a single consumer all-in-one (AIO) with remote-expandable wifi, such as an Asus RT-AX86U or AX88U (running Merlin for stability), would do perfectly fine for you. If you really needed it, you could hard-wire an additional AiMesh-compatible Asus in a remote corner.

If you're wondering about a purpose-built consumer mesh system (like Orbi or Eero), again I don't really think you have enough square footage to take true advantage, and besides, since you have wired backbone already in place, you'd be better off moving right on up to SMB-grade discrete components with hard-wired wifi APs (mentioned below).

The final step up would be business-class discrete components (wired router, PoE switch and hard-wired APs), which may or may not make sense, depending on how badly you wanted more advanced data control (VLANs), remote power delivery (PoE) and/or set-and-forget reliability.

Both options are within your budget, although the latter would be a bit more expensive, for potentially minimal gain (requirements-depending). Your call.

 

[Zetto]

Barely faster than 4 year old AC equipment in residential environments.

But it is faster. The point is, Wifi6 is here. No point in spending money on Wifi5 when any Wifi6 will match all the features and offers something more on top of it. Obviously, if all else being equal (streams, price etc).

 

[Tucu]

But it is faster. The point is, Wifi6 is here. No point in spending money on Wifi5 when any Wifi6 will match all the features and offers something more on top of it. Obviously, if all else being equal (streams, price etc).

Prices are not equal. Plus the router supplied by the ISP (BT Smart Hub 2) has 4x4 AC; there is almost nothing to be gained by going AX in this case.

 

[Zetto]

Prices are not equal. Plus the router supplied by the ISP (BT Smart Hub 2) has 4x4 AC; there is almost nothing to be gained by going AX in this case.

that's where you are wrong. 4x4 matters little unless you got clients to use it, or MU-MIMO clients (the latter, as you mentioned, actually doesn't work at all). As for prices- that's highly dependent on local market conditions. I also doubt that everyone gets that same exact router you mentioned, even if they all subscribe to BT. And finally - "almost nothing to be gained" means there's something to be gained after all

 

[MACKENZIE303]

@MACKENZIE303 - For only 1800 square feet, roughly 20 wifi devices, and ethernet run to enough spots, it's highly likely that a single consumer all-in-one (AIO) with remote-expandable wifi, such as an Asus RT-AX86U or AX88U (running Merlin for stability), would do perfectly fine for you. If you really needed it, you could hard-wire an additional AiMesh-compatible Asus in a remote corner.

If you're wondering about a purpose-built consumer mesh system (like Orbi or Eero), again I don't really think you have enough square footage to take true advantage, and besides, since you have wired backbone already in place, you'd be better off moving right on up to SMB-grade discrete components with hard-wired wifi APs (mentioned below).

The final step up would be business-class discrete components (wired router, PoE switch and hard-wired APs), which may or may not make sense, depending on how badly you wanted more advanced data control (VLANs), remote power delivery (PoE) and/or set-and-forget reliability.

Both options are within your budget, although the latter would be a bit more expensive, for potentially minimal gain (requirements-depending). Your call

thanks for the reply. I like the thought of ASUS with ai mesh... it means upgrading it in the future won’t make the router you buy now, redundant.

the ring cameras are quite important to me. I know they are not the best and can be very tempremental, however I own a few and hope that getting them on there own SSID at 2.5ghz will help. Getting those cameras strong WiFi is important. So Orbi mesh is something im
Thinking about. I can get the RBK 253 for £264 from costco. (Router plus 2 satellites)

router in cupboard at front door.
LAN 1 - living room - switch
LAN 2 - office (back middle of house upstairs) - sat
LAN 3- kitchen/family room - satellite

if I wanted to add a switch to the satellite.. would you do this before or after the satellite?

so;

1. Modem > Router > LAN>>>>>>>>>>> satellite > switch

or

modem > Router > LAN >>>>>>>>>>> switch > satellite

also could you go;

modem > switch > router >>>>>>>>>>>

Thanks for all the advice so far.

 

[MACKENZIE303]

Prices are not equal. Plus the router supplied by the ISP (BT Smart Hub 2) has 4x4 AC; there is almost nothing to be gained by going AX in this case.

Im looking to change the router, I’m updating my lap top to utilise WiFi 6. My next phone will have WiFi 6. I may update cameras in the next year or so if they improve with WiFi 6. Edit also getting PS5 when I can eventually get hold of one.. that will probably run on WiFi 6.

 

[Tucu]

Im looking to change the router, I’m updating my lap top to utilise WiFi 6. My next phone will have WiFi 6. I may update cameras in the next year or so if they improve with WiFi 6. Edit also getting PS5 when I can eventually get hold of one.. that will probably run on WiFi 6.

For laptops you can already buy the 6E AX210 (although it still needs some work in the driver). Depending on timing and segment your next phone will probably have 6E; Samsung already opened the gates at the highend with the S21 Ultra.
You can see the performance improvements 6E brings with 160Mhz channels in the preview of the ASUS GT-AXE11000:

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wir...-6e-preview-with-asus-gt-axe11000-rog-rapture