Advice on Networking Setup for nbn FTTP

Lgugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 11:19
Last edited 28/03/2022 - 11:30 by 1 other user

Hey all,

I am looking for some advice on how to best structure the network at my place. It is an FTTP with Ethernet from the NBN box in the garage wired to 2 spots: the living room and the bedroom upstairs. I have an office where I do my work however no ethernet port in there. When wired I can get full gigabit speeds which is awesome! But wireless is leaving a bit to be desired.

Current setup

Atm things are pretty simple as I have the nbn box connected to the port in the living room where I have my router setup. It is an older TP Link Archer C7 which is doing ok for now but I am looking for an upgrade.

Future setup

I am not sure how to get everything connected properly. I was thinking of getting a switch to connect to the NBN box and have 2 wired from it to the 2 ports that go to the living room and bedroom - do you have any suggestions for this? Alternatively, would it be better to get a router in there? Finally would you think a mesh system is best?

Currently I think I'll get a switch for the garage and go with some asus routers with AI Mesh + Wifi 6. Would love suggestions.

Internet Broadband FTTP nbn Wireless Router

Comments

  • baronorder on 28/03/2022 - 11:39
    +1

    If you are tech savvy then a 1G compact (or 2.5G for the future) capable 4/5 port intel based router box from Aliexpress that you can run PFsense on, a cheap POE switch and one (U6-LR) or two (U6-lite's) unifi AP's to make with the invisible waves.
    Otherwise if you want something that just works(tm) just drop the cash on a unifi dream machine or full unifi gw / switch / AP setup if you want to go hardcore mode and its all pretty point and click to make life easy for both install and admin.

    • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 12:15

      I have indeed been looking into the Ubiquiti stuff, just have no experience with it in the past and it is definitely a little more expensive than I was hoping for. Maybe I'll see if I can find some second hand?

      I wouldn't mind running a pfSense box, have also been reading into them however I am not so convinced on the benefits it will bring. When you say the intel boxes, do you mean one of these?

      • baronorder on 28/03/2022 - 12:41

        The Unifi gear is expensive but in the wifi world you pay a premium to get something that works well and is easy to use - if people are not really into rolling their own but need reliable and easy to admin gear its totally worth the premium paid vs trying to cheap out and having to do everything manually.

        Yes pretty much a box exactly like that is what I was talking about. The big advantages with pfSense is the ability to do stuff like easy separation of networks (you can have a network just for IoT garbage and one for user traffic etc) and the ability to run pfBlockerNG to provide ad / malware filtering or doing parental control on network access with schedules etc.

        • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 13:40

          With Ubiquiti, do I need to go with the dream machine as a router? Could I start with a cheaper model, if it even exists? Something like the Amplifi? Would be easier to get started and I can add the UDM later down the track. What do you think?

          • Twix on 28/03/2022 - 14:06

            @gugahoi: Amplifi and Unifi are two separate Ubiquiti platforms. Choose one or the other.

            • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 14:07

              @Twix: Thanks for that! I assumed they would be compatible. Is there no cheaper entrypoint than the UDM?

              • Twix on 28/03/2022 - 14:13

                @gugahoi: The entry point into Unifi is the Ubiquiti USG. I wouldn't use a USG for Gigabit and I can't find any stock until June.

          • baronorder on 28/03/2022 - 14:49

            @gugahoi: If you want you can just grab a single U6-lite AP and move the existing C7 router out to the garage and disable wifi to use it as just a router if you like. Then run the AP coming off the old archer C7 with a POE injector on it attached to one of your indoor ports to see if you like the unifi ecosystem and assess where you go from there. Worst case you have a decent AP you can use as an extra coverage AP later on regardless of what way you go.

  • AndyC1 on 28/03/2022 - 11:40
    +2

    What speed FTTP?
    What speed do you want between the devices?

    How are you going to protect the two ports without having a router plugged into the FTTP? Protect means help protect as you can still get hacked, but being behind a NAT and blocking ports and not responding to ICMP packets helps stop the kiddy scripts and wanna bee hackers. Are you going to have a router plugged into both ports and configured for port blocking/ICMP?

    Have a think about how hackers are going to get to your devices as the NBN NTD will not stop any hackers.

    And just because a device has a 1GB port does NOT mean it can handle sustained 1GB throughput, so read reviews on throughput as some routers can only go to 300, 400 or 500Mbit and as such are crap on 1Gbit FTTP plan.

    • baronorder on 28/03/2022 - 11:52

      He already mentioned that he has an old Archer C7 setup in the living room connected to the NTD at the moment.

      • AndyC1 on 28/03/2022 - 11:54

        Op also mentioned "I was thinking of getting a switch to connect to the NBN box"

    • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 12:17

      I will definitely be running a router somewhere just looking for ideas on where? I can put a network switch in the garage and a router in one of the ports with an access point in the other. Alternatively, the router is in the garage with access points in each port. Do you have any recommendations on routers that can sustain Gigabit?

      • AndyC1 on 28/03/2022 - 12:34

        No idea as there are way too many and they keep changing. I have a TPLINK Archer AX55, but it's a year old and so there is probably a newer one out there. I have TH AX55 connected to HFC and then all of the devices on the other side of it (TV and etc) along with a TPLINK RE605X diagonally across the room. I have the RE605X as I am renting in a unit and do not want to run CAT5 around the walls as there is vinyl floorboards and doors that the CAT5 would need to go around.

        I would suggest a router at the NTD and then plug the CAT 5e cables into the router. At the other end of the CAT 5E I would put some 5 port 1GB switches and plug in something like the TPLINK RE605X (or newer version or equivalent or better) to allow wifi devices to connect to it in the house or plug directly into the switch.

        I would also make sure the rotuter and wifi access device are from the same manufacturer as it makes things easier to configure.

        I would read reviews as to what router and access points are good and as I have said the throughput. I did not have to worry about the throughput when I bought the equipment as the HFC was limited to 100Mbit where I am, but it looks like it may have changed to 1GBit.

        • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 13:38

          Fair enough, thanks for the suggestion. I was previously also on HFC and we were eligible for the gigabit plan and could achieve 600+ Mbps quite consistently. Worthwhile looking into IMHO.

  • djsweet on 28/03/2022 - 11:40
    +2

    What about this in your garage: Dream Machine Pro

    And a couple of these in your house: Wifi 6 AP Lite

    • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 12:48

      This sounds really good and it was what I was looking into. A little expensive so I might need to budget for it.

      • djsweet on 28/03/2022 - 21:23

        I imagine you can probably use the APs with your existing router instead of buying the Dream Machine Pro. Not 100% sure, but worth looking into.

        • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 22:53

          Yep going to try the APs this way and see how it goes.

  • Hellfire on 28/03/2022 - 12:00

    An cheap & easy improvement to your current setup would be to add a OneMesh extender: https://www.tp-link.com/au/onemesh/

    • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 13:47

      Certainly an option. I haven't had experience with TP-Link mesh before, have you? If so, what's your experience been?

  • ESEMCE on 28/03/2022 - 12:05

    Sounds like your house will be WiFi only (with only 2 LAN cables into the house)?
    Why are you getting a gigabit connection then?
    WiFi is not good enough to sustain gigabit speeds.

    You need a router between a switch and the NBN box.
    May as well put the router in the garage assuming it doesn't get too hot in there.
    Routers typically have a switch and 4 LAN ports inbuilt, so the 2 LAN Cables can connect directly into the router.

    You're going to need a commercial grade router to handle a gigabit NBN connection (as others have said, just the presence of Gigabit Ethernet is insufficient).

    Then for the house, all you need are WiFi Access Points unless you're planning to have hardwired devices connected to the 2 LAN Cables.
    A switch at the end of one or both cables will allow you to share the bandwidth of that LAN cable to hardwired devices and WiFi (via an AP connected to the switch)

    • baronorder on 28/03/2022 - 12:27
      +1

      Decent Wifi 6 (mimo) devices on a compatible AP in the 5ghz band are more than capable of saturating a 1g link in real world circumstances without issues - my pixel 6 pro is capable of hitting well past 700mbps on Wifi 6 in the same room on speed test and its nothing spectacular from a wifi point of view. Also most recent (as in the last few years) enthusiast / premium level home routers are well capable of handling 1gbps of traffic without breaking a sweat unless you are running DPI / lots of filtering rules or trying to run them as a VPN host.

    • jv on 28/03/2022 - 12:31

      Why are you getting a gigabit connection then?

      Browsing OzBargain…

      • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 13:44

        How else would I able to save on all the deals that get posted? Need to maximize my chances!

    • gugahoi on 28/03/2022 - 13:44

      On Wifi 5 I can get easily over 200 Mbps on my laptop so I would easily max out 100 mbps plans. That also doesnt take into account that there are multiple devices and I can still hardwire some of them near the data ports (like TV, Video Game console and other stuff). Sure, I won't have full speeds everywhere all the time but I would definitely reduce the chance for contention internally.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join