Wifi advice for new house

nantucket66

nantucket66

nantucket66

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We're not too far away (fingers crossed!) from moving house and I've a feeling the Wi-Fi will need some attention once we have moved.

We're currently with BT and have a Smart Hub 2 - fine for where we are now, but the house we're buying is quite a bit bigger and much more spread out (around 2500 sq ft) and I've a feeling it may struggle, of course it could be fine - only 1 way to find out really. That said I'm of a mind to throw some money at it and get it right, both me and missus work from home, kids and all the usual stuff.

I'm tempted by 2 or 3 of the Unifi AP fed by a POE switch - this appeals as I can install them easily on ground floor ceilings as all the carpet upstairs are getting replaced so easy to run cables back to POE switch, plus 1 can get installed upstairs centrally on the landing as well, again no issue running a cable for this, the 2 reception rooms have original plaster cornicing which are in superb condition so running cables between floors in these rooms could be a challenge, but outside is an option, providing it is kept neat.

I presume you turn off the BT Wifi and set up the Unifi Wifi as a separate network?
Will 2 or 3 be enough or overkill? Or is it suck it and see?

Any other brand to look at or consider? The fact the Unifi can be ceiling mounted really appeals, are the TP Link EAP any good?

I will run ethernet to a couple of key places as well (for the TV's and Sky plus the office), but as little as I can get away with.
Outdoor wifi coverage around the patio area would be good, but I guess I can add something later if what I do inside isn't enough for the outside space
CCTV and an alarm will follow, not decided on what to go for here either just yet, the current alarm looks very old and no CCTV,

Thanks :)
 
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Lots of variables. Depends on the walls if you have brick, stone or just plasterboard in terms of wifi reach.

I'd definitely go with some Unifi APs though, done this myself in last 2 houses and worked great - definitely hardwire as much as you can round the house still to key areas.

A floor plan might be helpful if you have one? For some advice on how many APs and placement etc.
 
I have a 4 bed house which I would say is medium sized, I have a single nano HD UniFi AP on the upstairs ceiling and it covers the whole house and part of the garden.
 
Consider a mesh network, something like the Deco 5 or 9, depending as mentioned on your walls etc. it will plug straight into a router and is easy to set up on a mobile. The unify is a great system, but is hugely expensive and for most personal use unnecessary.

It all depends what you want to spend, and the layout, construction as mentioned.
 
The vast majority of the internal walls are solid, the place is approaching 100 years old and appears to be very well built. Some of the rooms which are important from a wifi perspective are at opposite ends of the house.

I'd spend up to £1000 give or take if what I install does the business, but less is always better obviously.

I guess I could try the standard router and see what happens, then run with 1 AP and a long trailing wire and see how that performs in a few locations and go from there before I commit to locations.

Floor plan to follow
 
I have 3 Amazon eeros (pro 6) which have been great for me, but they are limited in some areas especially when it comes to settings, they appeal to those that want a straight forward set and forget kind of setup without all the array of settings to tinker with.

I think the fact Amazon acquired them puts a lot of people off them, but they are very good devices, just that they have a few drawbacks like forced updates and you need to pay for a secure sub if you wish to have there security to block threats and such. (But that is an option, some don't bother with it)
 
BUDFORCE said:
Yea agree with this.

I've recently done it, wired all main devices now and wish I'd done it years ago.

It's a bit of work but worth it.
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Hard wiring to 2 or 3 key locations will be done for sure, I may need to get creative with the route in places to avoid disturbing the cornicing as it's a decent size and in lovely condition and it is in both main reception rooms, which is where hard wiring is important, but there'll always be a way.

Ethernet for living room for Sky, PS5, TV etc plus the office and the room where my hifi will go.
 
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Go external if you have to with the runs. When you say the walls are solid, do you mean it's all brick internal walls then, both downstairs and up?

It may be that you only need 2 APs opposite ends of the home. One ground floor near the key area, other upstairs on the landing typically works best. Have a better idea once you have a floor plan :p
 
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