Adding wired access point to VM hub 3

[Ed B]

My sister has really bad wifi in her house, to the extent they have to run a cat5 cable from the VM hub to the TV to be able to stream Netflix, etc.

I've tried various things to improve it but none have really worked. So I want to try adding a wired router to the VM hub 3 and using that as a wireless access point...i.e. run a cat5 cable from the VM hub to the router and position it somewhere nearer the centre of the house.

What I'm wondering is, would the VM hub have to be put in modem mode? Or could it be left in router mode? Two reasons for asking this:
1) there are several devices currently plugged directly into the ports on the hub and I believe putting the hub into modem mode deactivates all but the first one...is that correct?
2) if the hub can remain in router mode then presumably both it and the new router will kick out wifi...is that also correct?

In terms of the new router, I was thinking of getting the TP-Link AC1750...seems to be a decent bit of kit that is well reviewed. Can anyone confirm whether these play nicely with the VM hub 3?

Thanks

 

[Orcvader]

Most 3rd party routers have an access point mode so it won't interfere with the VM hub if you want to use it in router mode. It's only if you want to use the 3rd party router as a router does the VM hub need to be in modem mode. And to answer the second question, yes, the VM can still output a wifi signal. You can even set the same SSID and password on both, just make sure to have them on different channels so they won't interfere with each other (eg VM hub on channel 1, TP-Link on channel 6 for 2.4GHz, c36 and c56 for 5GHz).

What sort of budget do you have in mind? Another alternative option is a mesh setup if she wants better coverage around the house.

 

[Duke]

As above put the wireless router in AP mode and run the cable back to the VM hub. I would always suggest running a cable to any device that you can, within reason. I put a small switch behind my TV cabinet that goes to my VM hub so all my TV stuff runs off that (TV, PS4, HTPC, Tado) instead of them all using wireless. I just keep that to phones and laptops.