Spend the money on the cabler to get an ethernet port installed to a central location in the house where you can put your router.
You may wish to consider adding a couple of extra data points from there up into the ceiling space so you can a ceiling mounted AP (or two).
I have a 2 storey house and did one AP upstairs and another downstairs. I also went a little nuts with the cabler and ended up doing a full rewire of the house, both levels. The result is my house is now fully cabled with ethernet ports in every room, and I have a 48 port managed switch in the garage connecting everything. It was worth every cent.
Gets expensive, but totally worth it.
In our case we had the luxury of adding ports as we built the house, but we've since added more ports post-build too.
Need to consider your own use case as not everyone needs ethernet ports in every room. I just built a new house and put in 1 for a mesh router and will stick to wifi.
Yes, I’m not suggesting everyone do this. For most people, just getting a single cable run from the garage to wherever the router is going to be located should be enough.
My setup is overkill for most people’s needs. WiFi is fine, but if you are getting FTTP with a 1000/xx plan you’ll be wanting WiFi 6 or 7 to make the most of it
2.5G access points, 2.5G POE switch, 10gb uplink to the router, 2.5G to the NBN HFC connection.
I figured that the APs are good for 5 years, hopefully by then we might have mgig fttp.
/looks sadly at NZ
Firewalla just released a 10gb router too. I went with the 2.5gb version as I don’t see NBN going beyond that in the near future.
My internal switch is 48-port PoE with a 10gb SFP+ uplink. The only use case I have for 10gb right now is my Synology NAS, so I couldn’t justify a 10gb switch just for one device. Main thing is that my switch can have every port running at max speed continuously and still have spare processing capacity (it switches at 76gbps throughput)
My only planned upgrade at the moment is to swap out the APs for WiFi 7 versions.
I guess what I'm still trying to get my head around is the benefit of having the router installed in a central location vs getting a mesh unit?
If I had the money to spend then I would have ethernet ports in every room like you but we aren't heavy internet users (our upgraded plan is only 100mbps). I'm the only one in the family who does online gaming and the occasional stream while the wife and kids only use the internet for normal general use on their phones.
I get that connecting to the ethernet ports would give me stability and max speeds but it's kinda hard to justify spending too much on them at the moment.
The mesh unit still has a base station. Unless you need good WiFi in your garage, you are best off bringing the router inside the house where you can a) make use of the LAN ports on it for your gaming and b) setup a mesh WiFi from the same router.
Your router itself could actually be the Mesh base station, so you would not want that hidden away in the garage where the signal is likely to be weak.
So, if you do nothing else, figure out where you like the router in the house and then get the cabler to run a single Cat 6 to the NBN NTD in the garage. All you then need is two patch leads (one at each end) to connect the NTD to your router.
Mesh does give you some flexibility to get coverage where you need it. Some satellite units also have an Ethernet port on them so you have an Ethernet port available in any room.
I think 2 story are always tricky to get good coverage from a single unit.
If you have a flavour of home automation then that can steer you towards their offerings. I use TP-Link Deco and they have some affordable X series units. Check latest comparison tech articles for good guides.
Yes, get the Cabler to install a more central Ethernet port and get two quality mesh units. Nothing like having a solid home network. Best to spend the money now and get it right, rather than half assing it and having so so coverage.
I have a large two story house and have two Asus Zenwifi AX units which are tri-band, plus has the option of Ethernet or dedicated wifi backhaul. I’m using Ethernet backhaul.
Here you go OP;
Limited-time deal: ASUS ZenWiFi XD4S AX1800 WiFi 6 Mesh Router (3 Pack), Coverage up to 4800 sq ft, Subscription-Free Network Security, Built-in Parental Control, Instant Guard, VPN, Easy Setup via ASUS Router App https://amzn.asia/d/j0trNGd
That's a 3 pack mesh for $249.
Alternatively you can get your cabler to move your NTD to a spot inside the house. Still 1 cable run only its fibre not copper. Doesn't even need splicing as the cables come pre-terminated.
Spend the money on the cabler to get an ethernet port installed to a central location in the house where you can put your router. You may wish to consider adding a couple of extra data points from there up into the ceiling space so you can a ceiling mounted AP (or two). I have a 2 storey house and did one AP upstairs and another downstairs. I also went a little nuts with the cabler and ended up doing a full rewire of the house, both levels. The result is my house is now fully cabled with ethernet ports in every room, and I have a 48 port managed switch in the garage connecting everything. It was worth every cent.
Gets expensive, but totally worth it. In our case we had the luxury of adding ports as we built the house, but we've since added more ports post-build too.
I used 4 x 350m spools of Cat6a doing my house. Was absolutely worth it.
Need to consider your own use case as not everyone needs ethernet ports in every room. I just built a new house and put in 1 for a mesh router and will stick to wifi.
Yes, I’m not suggesting everyone do this. For most people, just getting a single cable run from the garage to wherever the router is going to be located should be enough. My setup is overkill for most people’s needs. WiFi is fine, but if you are getting FTTP with a 1000/xx plan you’ll be wanting WiFi 6 or 7 to make the most of it
2.5G access points, 2.5G POE switch, 10gb uplink to the router, 2.5G to the NBN HFC connection. I figured that the APs are good for 5 years, hopefully by then we might have mgig fttp. /looks sadly at NZ
Firewalla just released a 10gb router too. I went with the 2.5gb version as I don’t see NBN going beyond that in the near future. My internal switch is 48-port PoE with a 10gb SFP+ uplink. The only use case I have for 10gb right now is my Synology NAS, so I couldn’t justify a 10gb switch just for one device. Main thing is that my switch can have every port running at max speed continuously and still have spare processing capacity (it switches at 76gbps throughput) My only planned upgrade at the moment is to swap out the APs for WiFi 7 versions.
I guess what I'm still trying to get my head around is the benefit of having the router installed in a central location vs getting a mesh unit? If I had the money to spend then I would have ethernet ports in every room like you but we aren't heavy internet users (our upgraded plan is only 100mbps). I'm the only one in the family who does online gaming and the occasional stream while the wife and kids only use the internet for normal general use on their phones. I get that connecting to the ethernet ports would give me stability and max speeds but it's kinda hard to justify spending too much on them at the moment.
The mesh unit still has a base station. Unless you need good WiFi in your garage, you are best off bringing the router inside the house where you can a) make use of the LAN ports on it for your gaming and b) setup a mesh WiFi from the same router. Your router itself could actually be the Mesh base station, so you would not want that hidden away in the garage where the signal is likely to be weak. So, if you do nothing else, figure out where you like the router in the house and then get the cabler to run a single Cat 6 to the NBN NTD in the garage. All you then need is two patch leads (one at each end) to connect the NTD to your router.
Mesh does give you some flexibility to get coverage where you need it. Some satellite units also have an Ethernet port on them so you have an Ethernet port available in any room. I think 2 story are always tricky to get good coverage from a single unit.
So a mesh would be the better option then? Any recommendations for a mesh unit that wouldn't cost a bomb?
If you have a flavour of home automation then that can steer you towards their offerings. I use TP-Link Deco and they have some affordable X series units. Check latest comparison tech articles for good guides.
Take a look at Eero
Yes, get the Cabler to install a more central Ethernet port and get two quality mesh units. Nothing like having a solid home network. Best to spend the money now and get it right, rather than half assing it and having so so coverage. I have a large two story house and have two Asus Zenwifi AX units which are tri-band, plus has the option of Ethernet or dedicated wifi backhaul. I’m using Ethernet backhaul.
Here you go OP; Limited-time deal: ASUS ZenWiFi XD4S AX1800 WiFi 6 Mesh Router (3 Pack), Coverage up to 4800 sq ft, Subscription-Free Network Security, Built-in Parental Control, Instant Guard, VPN, Easy Setup via ASUS Router App https://amzn.asia/d/j0trNGd That's a 3 pack mesh for $249.
Alternatively you can get your cabler to move your NTD to a spot inside the house. Still 1 cable run only its fibre not copper. Doesn't even need splicing as the cables come pre-terminated.
Incomparable! Cable it is then the mesh!