Wiring a network or ASUS ZenWiFi XT9

[IronSpider]

I have currently 70mb FTTC internet using BT homehub. My wifi is getting clogged with about 30+ devices on a system not designed for that many. I'm planning on going fibre to property very soon and will get them to move the installation from my hall way to behind my TV so I can directly connect to my AV system.

I'm then trying to decide if I buy a mesh system like the Asus one to cover the rest of my house or pay someone to come and run network cable to my bedrooms and home offices. I currently use powerline adapters and have had no issues for 15+ years, but obviously they aren't fast enough these days for FTTP. Do you just find an electrician or are there specific companies that will come and wire in home networks?

I'm only planning to be in this house for 3 or 4 more years. Do I go for a cabled network or just chuck £450 at the wireless option?

 

[ChrisD.]

How big is the house? You might find a single wired access point mounted centrally on the ceiling upstairs would be enough.

 

[WJA96]

I have currently 70mb FTTC internet using BT homehub. My wifi is getting clogged with about 30+ devices on a system not designed for that many. I'm planning on going fibre to property very soon and will get them to move the installation from my hall way to behind my TV so I can directly connect to my AV system.

I'm then trying to decide if I buy a mesh system like the Asus one to cover the rest of my house or pay someone to come and run network cable to my bedrooms and home offices. I currently use powerline adapters and have had no issues for 15+ years, but obviously they aren't fast enough these days for FTTP. Do you just find an electrician or are there specific companies that will come and wire in home networks?

I'm only planning to be in this house for 3 or 4 more years. Do I go for a cabled network or just chuck £450 at the wireless option?

It’s VERY unlikely that 30 devices will ‘clog up’ your Wi-Fi.

Even if you run cables you’ll still need one or more wireless access points throughout the house to give you whatever level of coverage you require.

While I can see why you might want your wired network to come in ‘behind the TV’ that’s generally a poor idea as you don’t usually want your router and switches behind the TV so get them to put the incoming connection (ONT) somewhere you might want a wired network to start in the future. Then run a cable (or two) to the back of the TV. Depending on what you have to be networked you might need 4 or 5 cables behind the TV, so one or two cables plus a switch.

You can get a decent idea of how good the coverage would be by buying a really long pre-made Ethernet cable (30-50m) and just laying out that cable from your existing ISP router to a wireless access point held in your hand somewhere near the ceiling central in the house (The ceiling in the landing is usually about right in most two-storey homes). Move the cabled access point around to determine how many you need for the desired level of coverage. My own home is L-shaped so I have more access points than I would otherwise need, plus I like access points and use them for geofencing clients (let’s just say I always know where the cat is, even in the garden. Heck, even in the next door neighbour’s garden )

 

[IronSpider]

How big is the house? You might find a single wired access point mounted centrally on the ceiling upstairs would be enough.

2500sq ft approx. Reasonable sized 4 bed I guess. I will give that a try

It’s VERY unlikely that 30 devices will ‘clog up’ your Wi-Fi.

Even if you run cables you’ll still need one or more wireless access points throughout the house to give you whatever level of coverage you require.

While I can see why you might want your wired network to come in ‘behind the TV’ that’s generally a poor idea as you don’t usually want your router and switches behind the TV so get them to put the incoming connection (ONT) somewhere you might want a wired network to start in the future. Then run a cable (or two) to the back of the TV. Depending on what you have to be networked you might need 4 or 5 cables behind the TV, so one or two cables plus a switch.

You can get a decent idea of how good the coverage would be by buying a really long pre-made Ethernet cable (30-50m) and just laying out that cable from your existing ISP router to a wireless access point held in your hand somewhere near the ceiling central in the house (The ceiling in the landing is usually about right in most two-storey homes). Move the cabled access point around to determine how many you need for the desired level of coverage. My own home is L-shaped so I have more access points than I would otherwise need, plus I like access points and use them for geofencing clients (let’s just say I always know where the cat is, even in the garden. Heck, even in the next door neighbour’s garden )

Thanks for that information, I guess I'd better get someone round to give me some quotes to run the cables.

 

[Firegod]

I'm only planning to be in this house for 3 or 4 more years. Do I go for a cabled network or just chuck £450 at the wireless option?

Tough one. I mean 3-4 years isn't a long time really. So perhaps the mesh nodes might be better, however saying that, having cabling ran in the house is neat and you could use that as a USP come move time. You could also leave the APs behind to help sweaten the deal. Something to consider I guess. Just an FYI I use the XT12 mesh nodes, my brother has the XT9 mesh nodes. Both throughly happy with their performance and management.

 

[montymint]

I went for the wireless option when I moved here, as I too had FTTC with maxed out at 70MB/s.

Once FTTP rolls around later this year, I'll change to a wired network to make use of the gigabit speeds.

 

[IronSpider]

Just an FYI I use the XT12 mesh nodes, my brother has the XT9 mesh nodes. Both throughly happy with their performance and management.

Do you know if I wire between Asus router and node to then just have one cable between my two studies upstairs and downstairs, can I then run ethernet cables off the Lan ports to my PC and Xbox for example or even a switch off the upstairs one? That would probably be a good halfway point for how long I will stay here in this house.

 

[montymint]

I don't even bother doing that on a tri-band. I use wifi for the backhaul and wire my NAS into one node and my office pcs into another.

Edit: but the way you described would work well, did that in my old place.

 

[WJA96]

I find it strange that folks almost always think of their internet connection as being the arbiter of speed on their network whereas they often want to stream from NAS devices or move big files about etc. certainly more than you’d do with a 70/20 connection.

 

[Firegod]

Do you know if I wire between Asus router and node to then just have one cable between my two studies upstairs and downstairs, can I then run ethernet cables off the Lan ports to my PC and Xbox for example or even a switch off the upstairs one? That would probably be a good halfway point for how long I will stay here in this house.

I don't even bother doing that on a tri-band. I use wifi for the backhaul and wire my NAS into one node and my office pcs into another.

I couldn't remeber the Ethernet port setup on the XT12 so I took these from the app and annotated. Hoepfully gives you an idea of what you could hook up. (I really must move that NAS into the 2.5GB port).

 

[montymint]

I find it strange that folks almost always think of their internet connection as being the arbiter of speed on their network whereas they often want to stream from NAS devices or move big files about etc. certainly more than you’d do with a 70/20 connection.

well yeah, but I don't move files that are THAT, so the circa 300MB/s satisfies my needs.

the OP could well require streaming huge amounts of data between machines, then at least a wired backhaul would be mandatory IMO.

 

[IronSpider]

Apologies, I wasn't even thinking about a wired backhaul. More that I would be direct wiring my sons Xbox etc rather than suffering wifi ping? I've never used one of these mesh systems but surely they still aren't great for gaming latency. If they are fine, then I wouldn't even bother with the wired connection between them both.

Again, thanks for all the replies and information

 

[Mysterae_]

I'm another advocate of the Asus XT12 using the wireless backhaul, been using it for a few months now. One unit downstairs, one unit upstairs, in a large house with perfect coverage even outside for a fair distance. No dropouts or other issues at all.

I will add that I don't move large files around so not tested this, the mesh system was bought for it's ease of install, range and stability.