Router and access point

ProStreet · 11 Sep 2022 at 19:10

Hi all

I am finally getting VM after over 2 years of waiting for them to install it...

Opted for the 1 gigabit VM business broadband. It comes with a Hitron Chita router which I'm keen to replace.

I live in a small ish bungalow with a cabin at the back of the garden.

I would like a router with wifi 6 or wifi 6e for the house and then was thinking of an ethernet cable to the cabin and then using a wireless access point.

What do you guys recommend and do you think this is the best way? Thought of mesh but the speed in the cabin may not be great at that range

Zeebedy · 11 Sep 2022 at 19:25

what is your cabin primarily made of?? Wood?

ChrisD. · 11 Sep 2022 at 19:28

Wire in a decent access point centrally and ceiling mount it. It will be rubbish for the outbuilding so get cable there too if you can.

Sparx · 11 Sep 2022 at 19:43

Nothing wrong with a decent mesh WiFi kit - assuming you get one you can cable up with a Cat6 backhaul (i.e. don't do 'wireless' meshing) and wire it up. This way you don't lose any bandwidth on your WiFi wherever you are.

That way you can have the whole home and cabin on a single WiFi network, which you can seamlessly roam between. Much better and smoother than having 2 separate WiFi networks (house and cabin).

Maybe go for something like the TP-Link Deco X60 3 pack kit? Approx £259 - then you have 2 APs to put around the house and 3rd for the garden cabin.

WJA96 · 11 Sep 2022 at 21:57

Sparx said:
Nothing wrong with a decent mesh WiFi kit - assuming you get one you can cable up with a Cat6 backhaul (i.e. don't do 'wireless' meshing) and wire it up. This way you don't lose any bandwidth on your WiFi wherever you are.

That way you can have the whole home and cabin on a single WiFi network, which you can seamlessly roam between. Much better and smoother than having 2 separate WiFi networks (house and cabin).

Maybe go for something like the TP-Link Deco X60 3 pack kit? Approx £259 - then you have 2 APs to put around the house and 3rd for the garden cabin.

If all the ”mesh” units are wired then it’s not a mesh, it’s a 3-pack of access points. And if you think access points mean you can’t have the same network in multiple locations you’ve obviously never been to any workplace with more than one location.

And I’m not sure why you’d insist on CAT6 for backhaul given that it’s under 1GbE ‘cause WiFi.

Personally, I’m with @ChrisD. One centrally mounted access point (UniFi U6-lite, Pro or LR) will do the house and either a cable or a point-to-point wireless connection eg.Ubiquiti NanoStation 5ACs or a Mikrotik Wireless Wire setup.

Sparx · 11 Sep 2022 at 22:37

WJA96 said:
If all the ”mesh” units are wired then it’s not a mesh, it’s a 3-pack of access points. And if you think access points mean you can’t have the same network in multiple locations you’ve obviously never been to any workplace with more than one location.

And I’m not sure why you’d insist on CAT6 for backhaul given that it’s under 1GbE ‘cause WiFi.

Personally, I’m with @ChrisD. One centrally mounted access point (UniFi U6-lite, Pro or LR) will do the house and either a cable or a point-to-point wireless connection eg.Ubiquiti NanoStation 5ACs or a Mikrotik Wireless Wire setup.

I understand the sentiment, but it’s a generic term these days. People call these ‘pack of APs’ mesh kits, but they have the option to wire up mostly. The term ‘mesh’ is in every god damn product title for crying out loud with these things :cry:

Not sure what you mean I haven’t instead on Cat6? OP already suggested they were happy to run a Cat6 cable to the cabin - so why wouldn’t you?

Suggesting a Ubiquiti UniFi AP with an airMax or Mikrotik AP just mixes your hardware and management software as well. My suggestion was a simple, easy and effective one…

Also of course you can have different hardware/APs running the same WiFi - but again why would you? Opening yourself up to conflict mixing your hardware once again.

Rainmaker · 12 Sep 2022 at 01:12

Can you replace the Hitron router on VM Business? I vaguely recall the need for GRE tunnels and other shenanigans - is this transplantable onto different CPE?

ProStreet · 12 Sep 2022 at 08:52

Rainmaker said:
Can you replace the Hitron router on VM Business? I vaguely recall the need for GRE tunnels and other shenanigans - is this transplantable onto different CPE?

Thanks all for the comments.

I asked them if I could replace it for the residential router as the Hitron doesn't have a 2.5gbps port and the max speed on the Gig1 plan is 1.1gbps so you're losing 100mb. The new superhub 5 has a 2.5gbps but they said they couldn't give that.

I'm thinking to buy a wifi 6 ax6600 for the house and then wire up the cabin and get a similar speed wireless access point.

ChrisD. · 12 Sep 2022 at 08:56

smeemi said:
ax6600

Wow that thing is ghastly. Wire in a proper access point centrally, you won’t regret it. Consumer routers are nearly always placed in the worst position and it doesn’t matter if they have 300 antennas, they’re still in the worst position and bound by the laws of physics and radio.

bm_999 · 12 Sep 2022 at 08:59

Like others ap in the middle, provided its possible for thr wiring and cable to the back for another ap

ProStreet · 12 Sep 2022 at 09:18

ChrisD. said:
Wow that thing is ghastly. Wire in a proper access point centrally, you won’t regret it. Consumer routers are nearly always placed in the worst position and it doesn’t matter if they have 300 antennas, they’re still in the worst position and bound by the laws of physics and radio.

Which one would you recommend? I would like to utilise the 1gigabit speed as much as possible

ChrisD. · 12 Sep 2022 at 11:32

Are you able to run a cable to a central location from the VM hub? If so, switch off wifi on it and then get a UniFi 6 or similar AP, depending on what you get you may need a PoE injector. Then also run a cable to the outbuilding and put in a switch so you can cable devices and if necessary also put in another AP for it.

Slackworth · 12 Sep 2022 at 12:52

smeemi said:
Thanks all for the comments.

I asked them if I could replace it for the residential router as the Hitron doesn't have a 2.5gbps port and the max speed on the Gig1 plan is 1.1gbps so you're losing 100mb. The new superhub 5 has a 2.5gbps but they said they couldn't give that.

I'm thinking to buy a wifi 6 ax6600 for the house and then wire up the cabin and get a similar speed wireless access point.

Even from a residential perspective, VM are still giving Hub 4's out for Gig1 so you're not forced to get a Hub 5 as these are still currently on a staged rollout.

You can't get rid of the Virgin equipment entirely - only put it in modem mode.