Powerlines? Mesh wifi? Help

tres

tres

tres

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Bought a new build, biggest regret ever that I didn't get network cables installed during the build process!

So I'm looking for guidance as to the best way to get the BT FTTP 300mb (which works perfectly when you're connected to the router, or nearby with wifi) to the office (which is upstairs, on the other side of the house).

I bought some TP link cheap power lines, and get about 70mbps in the office. I bought a 802.11ac wifi card and with an aerial extension cable (so it's not behind the case against the wall), it hits about 100mbps. But I'd really like to achieve closer to the 300!

I've read about the BT Complete Wifi disks, Google Wifi, Devolo Magic 2, Netgear Orbi, Plume etc.

Other than destroyed the lovely fresh new walls, drilling countless joists and really upsetting the missus, does anyone have any experience or advice?
 
You're going to have to bite the bullet and get some ethernet cabled in, fortunately you could just route it externally. We had 2 ethernet cables installed in a media plate where the FTTP ONT is located, and ran a couple of external Cat5e (could be Cat 6 if you want I guess) cables up the side of the house, into the attic then just a simply hole/conduit in the office ceiling, terminated in a surface mounted box/faceplate.

Certainly easier than trying to get it behind Dot dab, through internal floors etc.
 
VaderDSL said:
You're going to have to bite the bullet and get some ethernet cabled in, fortunately you could just route it externally. We had 2 ethernet cables installed in a media plate where the FTTP ONT is located, and ran a couple of external Cat5e (could be Cat 6 if you want I guess) cables up the side of the house, into the attic then just a simply hole/conduit in the office ceiling, terminated in a surface mounted box/faceplate.

Certainly easier than trying to get it behind Dot dab, through internal floors etc.
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Thanks, you might be right. No guttering or anything on that corner of the house to hide it behind unfortunately, that would have made things easier.
 
if your on the same circuit powerlines are great, otherwise so so,


speed plugged into the router 380/385 Mbits/second
Home plugs 30/40 Mbits/second
cheap Tendra mesh setup 200/220 Mbits/second

Bit bit of cat5e ran from living room up the stairs and into the back bedroom 380/385 Mbits/second (guess what gets done when the other half isnt in :)

hardwiring is the way forward if you can but a decent mesh setup will give good speeds especially in a new build(all our walls are solid brick )
 
233 said:
if your on the same circuit powerlines are great, otherwise so so,


speed plugged into the router 380/385 Mbits/second
Home plugs 30/40 Mbits/second
cheap Tendra mesh setup 200/220 Mbits/second

Bit bit of cat5e ran from living room up the stairs and into the back bedroom 380/385 Mbits/second (guess what gets done when the other half isnt in :)

hardwiring is the way forward if you can but a decent mesh setup will give good speeds especially in a new build(all our walls are solid brick )
Click to expand...

Powerline is not and has never been great. You loose 2x% for every plug connection between each adapter. It’s for emergencies and situations where low bandwidth is acceptable, and certainly not for situations where speed is important.
 
As I said fine on the same circuit I’ve seen well over 100 meg on them on the same ring but nothing beats hard wired
 
Have a look at the Asus zenwifi XT8 - early reviews are good.

Mir should smash that 300mbps - but obviously depends on your layout.
 
I bought the Devolo Magic 2 home plugs, just to give the 'best' a try but I get 80Mbps

We have the electrician round for a little job, he said it was a shame I didn't remember this during first fix, he would have put some cat 6 in for me around the house for next to nothing :(

Mesh WiFi is the next thing to try.
Failing that, the sparky said he could route network cable, it'll just be a full day's labour most likely

Appreciate all your advice.
 
Don’t waste your time and money on mesh. First loss, least loss. A day of work for an electrician won’t be silly money compared to a good mesh system and you’ll get a connection that will do 1Gbps now and 10Gbps in future with a switch upgrade. It’s a no-brainier really. Or try and get a quote from a TV aerial installer. They’re used to running cables from the outside to the inside so they’re usually great at fitting external cable runs for access points and CCTV cameras.
 
WJA96 said:
Don’t waste your time and money on mesh. First loss, least loss. A day of work for an electrician won’t be silly money compared to a good mesh system and you’ll get a connection that will do 1Gbps now and 10Gbps in future with a switch upgrade. It’s a no-brainier really. Or try and get a quote from a TV aerial installer. They’re used to running cables from the outside to the inside so they’re usually great at fitting external cable runs for access points and CCTV cameras.
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Good advice, and I've abandoned the mesh idea.
I'll wait until the other half goes away for a couple of days, get the sparky in and plenty of time to repair holes etc.
 
WJA96 provides sage advice.

I have just got a rough quote of between £280 to £400 to have one cat6 installed from downstairs/front of house to back bedroom/upstairs. He’s coming to double check. The spark you recommended WJA96 seems to have vanished.

https://www.southmancelec.co.uk/
 
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Robert said:
WJA96 provides sage advice.

I have just got a rough quote of between £280 to £400 to have one cat6 installed from downstairs/front of house to back bedroom/upstairs. He’s coming to double check. The spark you recommended WJA96 seems to have vanished.

https://www.southmancelec.co.uk/
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Takes 30 minutes or so to run your own cable if you have the tools.

Done it at both mine and the parents house.
 
So without going into it, I don’t be running my own :p Also, not sure you could neatly run cable around the outside of my house in 30 minutes.
 
The missus really wasn't keen on routing ethernet until I'd explored all options that didn't involve a drill.
Picked up a BT complete wifi disk on ebay for £35 - solved pretty much everything. Whereas homeplugs were getting 70mbps and an 802.11ax card was getting about 80mbps, the mesh disk is hitting 270mbps (300mbps ffttp) with ping <15ms

thanks for all your advice
 
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