Pulling my hair out with home networking...

FBi7

FBi7

FBi7

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Hi Folks,

A moment of your time if you wouldn't mind. Perhaps you could identify where I'm failing :cry:

Background: New build, FTTP, Sky is ISP using supplied Sky router. Getting 70-75Mbps at the router. All good so far.

Disclaimer: I know, by reading the stickied FAQ thread that I'm lucky that my powerline adapters are working at all, let alone on separate rings.

For some reason, Openreach put the fiber input in the garage. The landline is VOIP, so the master landline handset needs to be plugged into the router. My PC is upstairs, opposite end of the house.

This is what I've tried so far:

Option 1: Router/landline no use to me in the garage. Used powerline adapters to get from fiber point in the garage to router in living room. Getting full speed at router, wifi upstairs at the opposite end of house is poor, drops out occasionally, even when my PC is hard wired to a wifi extender. The incoming signal to the router is plugged into LAN port 4, as per the instructions.

Option 2: Router/landline no use to me in the garage, but I set it up in there anyway. Use 2 power line adapters, one in garage and the other upstairs next to my PC, hardwire PC to powerline adapter, full speed internet. (Upstairs and downstairs sockets on separate rings)

Option 3: router back in living room, powerline adapters between fibre inlet and hub and additonal two powerline adapters (same brand/model) (output from router) between router downstairs and PC upstairs. This is where I've hit a wall. This works, sort of. Except internet speed is half of what it should be. And when using this method, the wifi network will still exist, but doesn’t connect to the internet. Smart TVs, mobiles, tablets, etc no longer receive wifi internet signal.

I can't figure out why both of these things are happening. Am I short circuiting something? Creating noise/interference?

PC needs to stay where it is.

I could try option 4: put the router upstairs, but I do like the TV and Sky Box in the living room being hard wired to the router.

As a last resort, I could start knocking holes in walls and running a cable upstairs, but I'd rather avoid that.

Does anyone have any thoughts? Including why the faults at option 3 are occurring?

Cheers,

FB..

P.s, I'm away from home for a few days, so will try any suggestions when I'm back on Monday. In case of my own stupidity, all powerline adapters, the router and fiber inlet in the garage are all unplugged til I get home :p

Edit: forgot to say, I do have a switch lying around if you think that would be beneficial to use in some way.
 

whitecrook

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my thoughts are generally that poweline adaptors kind of suck and you should avoid using them where possible.

however option 1:
you moved the sky router from that garage and then used a powerline adaptor to feed the network from the fibre box (i assume this presents a RJ45/ network jack with 'the internet' on it ? You say you have FTTP, so I would have thought that it would be fibre coming in to the 'router' in which case how are you sending it over the powerlines ??? makes no sense ?


Either way if it is a rj45 jack presented (I guess theres a Fibre termination point ? ) why not leave the router there and just run a switch at the other end the power line adaptor ??



IMO, you shouldditch all this janky stuff and run proper cat5e lines to the places you need and terminat all in a patch panel next to your fibre ingress point, router and switches. This is also the spot you should put a nas and CCTV equipm etc etc

sure its a pain, but its a new build, and do it right, do it once for £1-200 quid you can wire the whole house. or at least what you need.
 

Caged

Caged

Caged

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Nuclear option is to order an ONT move from Openreach but it depends how the fibre gets to your property as to whether this can be done neatly. FYI if it's a new build the ONT location would have been selected by the developer.
 

Earth[Tera].bin

Earth[Tera].bin

Earth[Tera].bin

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Is it possible option 3 has probably created 2 networks?, check the ip addresses from the power lines and then the router to see if they are different.

The original power lines inserted between the incoming Sky FTTC ( suspect it's 'fibre to the cabinet' rather than to the property) and upstairs have synced over the electrical circuit and created one network and then your router has created another after receiving a DHCP from the power lines.
 

JohnStewart

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You could potentially waste many hours trying to get the powerline adapters working correctly. The speed will be limited as well, and you'll be unlikely to reap the full benefit of fttp if you opt for a 500 - 900mb package in the future.

As it's a new build, and you are likely to be staying there for a few years, I would bite the bullet and find a suitable place for the router/phone, and a suitable place for a switch/patch panel (loft if there's power available, or possibly in the garage next to the ONT). Then run Cat 5e or better from the switch to each of the rooms in the house where you will have a PC, TV or sky box. Being a new build, it should be straight forward to pull the cable up through the wall voids, perhaps using existing cables (TV aerial for example) to pull the cables through, with you only needing square holes for the box and faceplate. I would run at least two cables to each room, even if you don't plan on using them at the moment.

Then you can hard wire everything that can use it, such as TVs, Sky box, smart speakers and PCs leaving wifi bandwidth free for phones, tablets, etc. You can even install an additional wifi access point(s) as well to give you great wifi coverage throughout the house and possibly garden.
 

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

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Why are you only getting 70-75 Mbps at the router? What service do you pay for?

Also, run a cable and don't use Powerlines.
 

jaybee

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In option 3 have you used the option on the home plugs to encrypt the traffic to make it secure? You know a lot of them have a button you press to securely pair them? Try doing that. As you say, maybe you have introduced complexity on the same electrical circuits having two of them the same with open pairing. You mention they are the same brand...maybe try one set as a different brand. Theoretically I could very well understand why having two on the same network has caused issues but people do do this with no issues so...

At the end of the day you are crippling any future internet speed upgrade with home plugs anyway often. For now you get full internet speed yes, but when your connection goes up to 500mb or a gigabit in the future - given this is a new build which you may stay at for a while - then it would be beneficial to go through the pain now of puttin gin place cat6 wiring from the off, properly. As suggested, if possible do a couple of runs to each room. The more the merrier frankly in the event you ever decide to run something else like cctv or HDMI over ethernet. I would not bother with cat5e since the cost difference now between that and cat6 is not worth the small saving. I'm well aware cat5e is fine for speeds but my choice would be cat6.

Also consider that it's not just about internet speed. A proper hard wired cat6 connection from your PC area to your TV lounge area and garage area will open up other opportunities which will rely on good speed. Home media server and streaming/sharing resources on your home network for example.
 

FBi7

FBi7

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Thanks all for your replies. Lots to consider and try. Also lots I haven't even thought about.


ChrisD. said:
Why are you only getting 70-75 Mbps at the router? What service do you pay for?
Click to expand...

That's the package I pay for. Sky estimate 59-75 Mbps down and 16-18 up, and that's what I'm getting. Could pay for a faster package, but don't need it at the minute.


Cheers again,

FB..
 

the-evaluator

the-evaluator

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MissChief said:
Seems obvious he’s running FTTC? It’s still many times more common than FTTP.
Click to expand...

ChrisD. said:
This is why I'm questioning it, if it's FTTP OP would get the full 80 Mbps on that service.
Click to expand...

It's entirely possible that's it's FTTP. Several ISP's are selling FTTC type speeds over FTTP. BT for example, note how these are all referred to as 'Full Fibre'

NAeDVjN.png

My parents were initially on 'Fill Fibre 1' after getting FTTP installed but have since moved to 'Full Fibre 100'.
 

the-evaluator

the-evaluator

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ChrisD. said:
Oh I know but when it's over FTTP I thought the speed was fixed as there's no copper leg.
Click to expand...

Unless I'm missing something, there is no copper leg other than whatever is after the ONT.

FTTP isn't a guarantee of full speeds. Issues on the PON, overloaded uplinks, sub-optimal routing and so on can cause speed drops whilst being on an entierly fibre network.
 

ChrisD.

ChrisD.

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True but if you pay for 74 in the example above I thought that it will always sync at the max speed. Mine for example is 900 and if there is network congestion I may get less but it'll still be sync'd at 900.
 

the-evaluator

the-evaluator

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Sync isn't a thing with FTTP.

I haven't read the thread in detail but I haven't seen anything that suggests the OP is getting less than he should be. He's getting 70-74Mbps at the router (variance is likely in the speed testing websites) and is on a 74Mbps package.
 

FBi7

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I hope this settles the FTTP/FTTC debate. This is where the internet feed enters my garage, not via a copper phone line - as I don't have one....

Edit - pic removed
 
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