Best Setup for 1000/50 nbn FTTP in a Narrow but Long House?

A curious G on 01/07/2023 - 11:59
Last edited 01/07/2023 - 12:27 by 1 other user

Hello,

Moving into a rental and have started the process for Superloop's flip to fibre and their 1000/50 plan.

Spent the last 2 days trying to learn about wifi systems and have concluded I know nothing!

There's only one ethernet access point at the very front of the house on the ground floor, and the master bedroom is down at the very back of the house on the 2nd floor.

What's the best solution to maintain a strong wifi signal across all 4 bedrooms? The main pc will be hardwired into the modem downstairs, but i'm still hoping that the main bedroom can get 300~Mbps down via wifi at least.

Do I:

  1. Order Superloop's stock modem and then setup a wifi 6 mesh system with a 2 or 3 pack bundle i.e TP-Link Deco X68 2pk? Total cost = $475~

  2. Order a Asus DSL-AX82U modem/router and another Asus RT-AX3000P and setup AiMesh with the secondary router somewhere in the middle of the home = $560

  3. Order Superloop's stock modem and one router to be hardwired to the middle of the house from the modem = $519

  4. Scrap all of the above and just give up = My dignity

pls send me your suggestions

Internet Broadband FTTP nbn Wireless Router

Comments

  • Twix on 01/07/2023 - 12:12
    +5

    Scrap the VDSL2 modem/router from Superloop and Asus DSL-AX82U VDSL2 modem/router all-in-one.

    Plug in a TP-Link Deco X68 or Asus RT-AX3000 router straight into the nbn NTD and put the extra TP-Link or Asus mesh node(s) on the second floor and maybe one near the middle/end on the first floor. If you can hardwire them together with ethernet even better.

    • A curious G on 01/07/2023 - 12:45

      is the AX82u (router only) overkill? will the RT-AX3000 be more than enough as the main router and then the Deco X68 as the mesh routers? Thanks!

      • Twix on 01/07/2023 - 12:51
        +5

        The RT-AX82U router is not overkill. The RT-AX3000 is fast enough for Gigabit. I wouldn't be mixing the Asus and Deco's together. Stick with one brand or the other.

        Option 1. nbn NTD —- Asus RT-AX3000 —- Asus RT-AX3000.
        Option 2. nbn NTD —- Deco —- Deco.

        • A curious G on 01/07/2023 - 13:59
          +2

          Ahhh okay, I see! If that's the case then even if not totally necessary i'd rather opt for the 3pack of deco and have 2 downstairs on each end with one upstairs, thanks!

  • brokenglish on 01/07/2023 - 12:30
    +2

    There’s no perfect solution. It’s all determined by how much you are willing to spend right now.

    You can run a mesh (like Twix suggested) to cover the house to include the bedrooms.

    You can also use Powerline adapters and put a mesh in each bedroom. This way the mesh gets the source from the Powerline.

    • A curious G on 01/07/2023 - 12:44

      https://ibb.co/pdGsD7K

      I'm assuming the NTD is usually installed in the garage, but this house doesn't have any ethernet wall ports other than the one in the office, which has a telstra logo on it and there's a telstra box outside the house near the meter box, idk what it's for lol.

      I have 0 modems/routers, currently living with parents who had ethernet ports installed in every room so i've been hardwired into a telstra gen 2 modem for years on a 250/50 plan getting maxed out speeds 24/7/365 and have never needed any other router/wifi solution.

      I just want wifi in every nook and cranny of the house so all 4 occupants have no deadzones to complain about when they're streaming their shows and playing their games!

    • cheach on 01/07/2023 - 12:46
      +3

      For Ethernet over Power, your power points that the powerline adapters connects to has to be on the same circuit.

    • Twix on 01/07/2023 - 12:59
      +2

      @A curious G - The NTD can be put in the garage but you can get it put somewhere else. The Telstra box has your copper cable in it.

      Note: sometimes powerline can make your speeds and latency worse than using mesh Wi-Fi. Start with mesh Wi-Fi and use ethernet where you can.

      • A curious G on 01/07/2023 - 14:05

        That's cool, so when Superloop contacts me to setup the fttp installation I can request to have it setup in the office for example? That would make it easier for me to start the mesh network there rather than from the garage, and I wouldn't mind just running ethernet cables along the skirting of the walls to get the mesh nodes hardwired, at least for the downstairs ones.

        I'm not so sure on powerline adapters, my previous experience with it (7 years ago) was so awful I swore off it

        • Twix on 01/07/2023 - 14:09
          +3

          Discuss the NTD location with the installers and your landlord. The office can be used.

  • GordonD on 01/07/2023 - 16:12
    +4

    OP, if you have 2 wifi units do not put them at the ends of the house. That means the maximum distance anything is away from the wifi its using is 1/2 the house. You put them 1/4 and 3/4 of the way along the house, that way nothing is more than 1/4 of the house length away from its wifi unit. Actually most of the attenuation occurs through walls. So if you have 6 rooms in a row, you put the wifi units in rooms 2 and 5. That way nothing has more than a single wall to send its signal through to the wifi unit. That also means the signal between the meshed wifi units only has to go through 3 walls, not the 5 that would be the case if they were at the ends of the house.

    If you have 3 meshed wifi units over 2 floors you'd put the two on one floor each on the second last room away from each end on that floor, and the third one in the middle room on the other floor. With the internet connection going to that one.

    • A curious G on 01/07/2023 - 18:28

      Very good point! Will definitely try to place them about a quarter way on each end of the house, makes a lot of sense! thanks!

  • Devastator0 on 01/07/2023 - 17:27
    +1

    It's really difficult to give a rock solid, 100% suggestion since everyone's property is different and many things can impact wifi signal.

    The one thing I can say is that I personally utilise an Asus RT-AX86U and I swear by it (I know it's not the cheapest one but like I said, I swear by it and it hasn't skipped a beat for me). It has quite impressive 5Ghz coverage and it's 2.4Ghz coverage is, in my opinion, fantastic (to give you an idea, I get 2.4Ghz connectivity in my neighbors place across the road and both our houses sit back from the street a bit so the gap is quite wide. I get 2-3 bars of 5Ghz connection in his front yard). I used to use 2 RT-AC68U's in AiMesh mode but after getting the AX86U, I ditched any mesh nodes and just use the router.

    I have a friend who followed the same as me and he has a similar set up as you (NBN FTTP NTD is in the garage that sits towards the front of the property) and all he did differently is angle the antennas on the router towards the house (I just leave them all pointing up since mine is more centralised in my place).

    • A curious G on 01/07/2023 - 18:50
      +1

      That is some crazy range, and the sort of thing I'm looking for, will keep that in mind if I don't like my first solution lol, thanks!

      • Devastator0 on 01/07/2023 - 19:33
        +1

        Of course mate, all good! I hope you find a solution that works well for your set up (and doesn't give you too many headaches lol).

  • juzza87 on 01/07/2023 - 17:30
    +1

    If you're going to pay $150 a month for internet, might as well organise/pay for a sparky to run ethernet points around the house and go with some enterprise WAPs and an OPNsense router or something

    • Devastator0 on 01/07/2023 - 17:35
      +3

      OP says it's a rental. Can't just unilaterally do it. Good chance landlord would nix something like that but OP would need to discuss with them.

    • A curious G on 01/07/2023 - 18:41

      Would love to do that ideally, but $99/month / 4 people is algood so i'm happy to get the best for my specific situation!

      • juzza87 on 01/07/2023 - 19:20

        $99 is a good price, I'm paying $154/mo with Aussie Broadband 1000/50 with a static IP

      • pasey25 on 01/07/2023 - 19:39

        Why can’t you run an Ethernet cable outside and to the back yourself? Run it along the edge of the building and secure to the wall with adhesive clips

  • jonkvh on 02/07/2023 - 08:14
    +1

    I shunned wifi age's ago. Ethernet cables aren't fun to look at but what make's up for that, is if you're on 1000/50, you are actually going to get that speed.

    Put it this way, if you're going to fork out for that kind of plan, bit pointless ending up with only a third of that speed.

  • ColtNoir on 02/07/2023 - 08:51
    +2

    If you’re happy to pay for a 1000/50 connection, get the best mesh router you can. Arguable that Orbi is the best, but I’d definitely recommend a tri band router at a minimum.

    • Ramrunner on 03/07/2023 - 14:32

      Tri band for sure so WiFi channels aren't congested by backhaul channel traffic.

      Normally I would ALWAYS recommend wired access points through the house but in the case of rentals and non-agreeable landlords (altough I would actually just ask them) then Mesh would be the best.

      • ColtNoir on 04/07/2023 - 10:35
        +1

        100% I agree. I’m in a rental that has Ethernet cable from the nbn box to 2 parts of the house. Issue is, there’s no plug on the ends, just the cables. I couldn’t be bother to get them to get an electrician out, so I just got mesh that I could rake with me. House is small enough for my google mesh (I know not tri-band but I got it half price a couple years ago).

  • ThePunchingBag on 04/07/2023 - 13:11
    +1

    Just moved to fibre from FTTN 50mbps… was running this (https://www.amazon.com.au/Netgear-RBK353-AX1800-Dual-Band-Sy…) on the FTTN…

    Considered getting a sparky in & putting ethernet points throughout the house but thought I would try the mesh system I was already using…

    We have a long house with lots of kids in it … So we have lots of devices having to run through the mesh system (PC's, PS5's, PS4, XBOX, Foxtel, iPads & phones) but so far it has handled it with aplomb…

    Unsure if this is what you are after as I'm no expert but this is the situation I'm running with at this time …

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