BT Full Fibre 900 (FTTP) with AC Tri-band or WiFi 6 Mesh

Chris Geldard

Chris Geldard

Chris Geldard

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I'm due to move on to BT Fibre 900 soon and will likely have to replace the Smart Hub 2 with a mesh WiFi system which I believe can be plugged straight into the ONT connecting via PPPoE. I'm after a system which is capable of providing the speeds my package is able to supply. I've been I need one with good 'backhaul'. I appreciate wired connections are the best way to go but for my circumstances this isn't feasible. I've been looking at the Asus ZenWifi, the Tri-band version or the WiFi 6 one or the Tri-band Velop AC6600. Is anyone currently using any of these units with FTTP, are you having any problems? Can anyone recommend any other mesh systems they are using with BT Full Fibre 900? Is this taking full advantage of the speed via WiFi? Thanks
 
You’ll only get full-speed 910Mbps WLAN between a WiFi6 Access Point with a WiFi6 client.

Any non-WiFi6 client is only going to be limited by current WiFi5 speeds - so maximum about 600Mbps on a 4x4 client, 450Mbps on a 3x3 client, 300Mbps 2x2 client etc.

So even if you have super-duper wireless backhaul, you probably don’t have the clients to use it.

What’s wrong with the BT mesh solution?
 
Thanks for providing some clarity. Your correct in saying I haven't got any WiFi 6 devices at present. As I need to rely on a WLAN only my limited knowledge meant I was under the impression that in order to achieve the near gigabit speeds over a WLAN i needed to focus on a mesh setup which has a good backhaul ability.I thought a dedicated third band for this would be better than a dual band set up. I currently have Google WiFi which is AC1200 so if this is split between the dual bands I thought I would never get anything near the 910 promised over the WLAN. I was therefore going to sell this and look for alternative options. I think the BT option is AC2600 so whilst faster than the Google units I thought the fact that it's dual band would mean the wireless speeds would be impacted. So in reality I'm never going to achieve the 910 speeds which begs the question why pay for this speed and would it be better to look at Full Fibre 500 instead
 
One of the reasons i'm only going for the 150 package, i'm in the process of getting as much as i can using ethernet, anything new i buy i'm making sure its at a minimum gigabit with 2.5 and 5Gb being preferable, wifi just isn't keeping up.
Plus the speeds advertised aren't what you will get even stood next to an access point you wont get the headline speeds.
 
If you don't need the increased upload speeds then getting a gigbit service instead of 500Mbps if you intend to rely on Wi-Fi is a waste of money
 
robj20 said:
One of the reasons i'm only going for the 150 package, i'm in the process of getting as much as i can using ethernet, anything new i buy i'm making sure its at a minimum gigabit with 2.5 and 5Gb being preferable, wifi just isn't keeping up.
Plus the speeds advertised aren't what you will get even stood next to an access point you wont get the headline speeds.
Click to expand...

To be fair, I use ethernet connected upstairs to my property, and I am on BT 900 and average from 880-1.1gb sometimes, although, wireless, it does drop quite a bit.

I use the Smart Hub 2 router downstairs, and the BT WHoleHome disc upstairs to boost the wireless speeds for my TV, phone, XBOX etc..
 
We ‘be finally reached that point when WiFi5 just isn’t fast enough for a retail broadband connection in the UK. I’m really quite pleased by that. I’m sure there must be a WiFi6 Homehub coming soon...
 
Caged said:
If you don't need the increased upload speeds then getting a gigbit service instead of 500Mbps if you intend to rely on Wi-Fi is a waste of money
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Agreed entirely. I've got the 910Mbps package being installed tomorrow but the reason I went for that is that I wanted the higher upload over the 500Mbps package.

Edit - Hmm, I'm sure there was a 500Mbps package on offer to me but I just checked and the options are 150/30, 300/50 and 910/110. No sign of 500/something.
 
the-evaluator said:
Ah, that rings a bell. Seems an odd way to do it (ie, not offer 500 after the end of the promotion) but that's BT for you.
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Its probably trying to get more people to take the 1gbps package, as there really is very little point to go beyond 500mbps at the moment given the lack of services that can deliver at those speeds.
 
Interesting thread - I'm also moving onto BT fibre 900 next week and have been doing the same research - my conclusion was that I could spend a lot of money on AX mesh kit to not much impact given I only have a few devices capable of accessing that sort of speed. I'm going to stick to my Orbi RBK50.

Instead I'm concentrating on making sure the two desktops in the home office are hard-wired to the router to get the maximum benefit and not worrying about the wifi side as much...
 
cgk said:
Interesting thread - I'm also moving onto BT fibre 900 next week and have been doing the same research - my conclusion was that I could spend a lot of money on AX mesh kit to not much impact given I only have a few devices capable of accessing that sort of speed. I'm going to stick to my Orbi RBK50.

Instead I'm concentrating on making sure the two desktops in the home office are hard-wired to the router to get the maximum benefit and not worrying about the wifi side as much...
Click to expand...

yeah from a cost point of view, its not a great argument for getting an AX router especially at current prices,

im in a similar boat, currently my virgin is down stairs in the living room, but initially had a 2nd virgin box upstairs (cables still in place). in the same room my pc is now, which has AX wireless, and have fibre 900 being installed next month,
1st thought was getting an AX router, and having bt fibre installed where the virgin box currently is, but now thinking of removing the coax cable going to pc room, getting bt to fit the fibre in the same room as pc, and having everything else using the wireless, there is no extra cost that way
 
MaDMaX** said:
yeah from a cost point of view, its not a great argument for getting an AX router especially at current prices,

im in a similar boat, currently my virgin is down stairs in the living room, but initially had a 2nd virgin box upstairs (cables still in place). in the same room my pc is now, which has AX wireless, and have fibre 900 being installed next month,
1st thought was getting an AX router, and having bt fibre installed where the virgin box currently is, but now thinking of removing the coax cable going to pc room, getting bt to fit the fibre in the same room as pc, and having everything else using the wireless, there is no extra cost that way
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C19 is a bit of a problem as Open Reach say the engineer cannot come upstairs currently and the home office on the first floor would be the best location - might see if they like brown envelopes.
 
cgk said:
C19 is a bit of a problem as Open Reach say the engineer cannot come upstairs currently and the home office on the first floor would be the best location - might see if they like brown envelopes.
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ha ha like your thinking, mines not till 13th July so hopefully be a bit more relaxed by then :)

I used to have similar skills!! just not fibre but a quick learner!, if its an easy enough install, might just get him to install in hallway and move the thing myself!,

p.s im glad you said brown envelopes, if you give him a brown paper bag he might do one :p lol
 
cgk said:
C19 is a bit of a problem as Open Reach say the engineer cannot come upstairs currently and the home office on the first floor would be the best location - might see if they like brown envelopes.
Click to expand...
Do like i did and do all the internal stuff yourself. The optical is ready terminated so run it where you like. Then leave them the other end to connect to the box outside.
 
robj20 said:
Do like i did and do all the internal stuff yourself. The optical is ready terminated so run it where you like. Then leave them the other end to connect to the box outside.
Click to expand...

not sure i understand your statement, "ready terminated" what does that mean ? , my optical cable is already pulled thru from u/g box and curled up outside my door so not sure im going to be able to run it anywhere 1st !
 
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