Ubiquiti vs Orbi home network upgrade help.

[hawker1986]

Hi,

Sorry might be a bit of a long and detailed post but I am hoping for a big home network upgrade with Cat6a wiring for 10G connectivity and trying to plan out which way to go with my wiring options. Hoping this is going to be a long term upgrade and forget about it solution.

So a little background. Currently I have VM broadband 350Mbps, coming in the front right corner of house. Im using the HUB3 as a router and its connected to a 2 unit Orbi 852 Mesh system in AP mode which acts as a bridge. One AP is next to the router and the other is in our office which is on the first floor, front left of the house (this is where most of my hardware is currently).

This has been working well nice a stable, I am getting about 900mbps down the backhaul but there are a few niggles:

1) HUB3 is a rubbish router and it wont let me set up static IPs the way I would like
2) I have something of a wifi dead zone in the kitchen (back left ground floor) - which I think is a due to the office Orbi being above it.

My plans are to create a cupboard on the ground floor under the stairs with a rack and move my home server, main switch and general gubbins under the stairs and from there run Cat6a up through the walls (I have a new build so mainly hollow!) to the office and a couple of other choice points (the router, the lounge, the main bedroom etc).

So my question is this...

1) Should I stick with what I have and add in say an 8port 10G switch to the mix with the option down the line of upgrading the Orbi to 970's to improve wifi coverage (I think they have better 360 antennas so hopefully should hit the kitchen better).
The Cat6a will also mean I can start using the Orbi system in router mode and should get better control of IPs and I would have a wired backhaul.

2) Move over to a Ubiquiti system and take the opportunity while im running wires to place some in the ceilings/walls for POE access points. I have no experience with Ubiquiti hardware but looking at their website I was thinking I would need:
-Switch pro XG 10/24 POE
-2-3 AP U7 pro XGS as access points.
-would I need anything else?

Looking at the specs the switch will do DHCP so does that mean I can take the HUB3 into modem mode and the switch will act as a router?

My house is a 3 storey new build with a breeze block spine in the centre of the house where the stairs are and I am keen to get good high speed wifi coverage with aim of multigig internet in the future. Would I be better with a single ceiling mounted access point in the centre of house near the stairs on each floor (this would leave them all on one side of the breeze block spine and I worry wifi coverage would be weaker on the other side. Or wall mounting (vertically orientated) access points on the centre floor, basically back to back on either side of the breeze blocks to give me an access point on each side.

Sorry for all the questions. Keen to get the wiring situation right as I dont want to have to go back and damage walls all over again .

Many thanks for everyone's thoughts in advance.

 

[ChrisD.]

I don’t know much about Orbi but what I do have experience with is UniFi and they’re exceptional with zero subscription.

Personally, single AP mounted to the ceiling upstairs will provide decent WiFi in a new build. Whilst your walls are plasterboard, they are not hollow. They’ll have insulation in them, and there’ll be wooden battens or metal so running cables isn’t always as easy as you might think. Then from first to ground floor you’ll have floorboards.

However new builds tend to have coax which you can use for 2.5G, or you can use the telephone cabling as they will have used cat 5e if you can figure out where they run. Also there’s the soil stack which you can use for ground floor to loft runs.

 

[dmsims]

"The Cat6a will also mean I can start using the Orbi system in router mode"

I don't understand this statement

Have you considered ditching Virgin? I had FTTP installed (Onestream) with no downtime - you can plug anyhing you like into that

 

[hawker1986]

I don’t know much about Orbi but what I do have experience with is UniFi and they’re exceptional with zero subscription.

Personally, single AP mounted to the ceiling upstairs will provide decent WiFi in a new build. Whilst your walls are plasterboard, they are not hollow. They’ll have insulation in them, and there’ll be wooden battens or metal so running cables isn’t always as easy as you might think. Then from first to ground floor you’ll have floorboards.

However new builds tend to have coax which you can use for 2.5G, or you can use the telephone cabling as they will have used cat 5e if you can figure out where they run. Also there’s the soil stack which you can use for ground floor to loft runs.

Im pretty sure our walls have been dot and dabbed primarily so im hopeful it will be ok, also most of the run will be from ground floor under the stairs to first floor under the stairs (directly above) where I expect they may not have floorboarded. If it looks like its going to end up being too much hassle I will just stick with things as they are but wires are better so want to give it a shot. Thanks for the advice re phone lines and soil stack, may at least make an easy route to the loft for an access point if needed.

"The Cat6a will also mean I can start using the Orbi system in router mode"

I don't understand this statement

Have you considered ditching Virgin? I had FTTP installed (Onestream) with no downtime - you can plug anyhing you like into that

Basically the Orbi system wont allow you to bridge with the satellites if its in router mode which is currently the main reason for it, so once the cabling is hopefully in place I wont need it to bridge and it can go back into router mode. This is a limitation with Orbi so wouldnt matter on the ISP.

I have FTTP installed but overall I am pretty happy with Virgin, other than the usual annual haggling I can think of only about 3 hours in the last 9 years where its been down and ive never seen anything less than the speed I pay for.