Questions about Routers For Fibre?

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jackfry

227 posts

Master Geek

#111504 5-Nov-2012 20:28

Hey,

I'm about to get fibre and I had a few questions about routers. So off of the router which the fibre optical cable goes into, I want to run some Cat5e cables around the house and setup my routers which I have been using for ADSL. They are TP-Link TL-WR841ND all configured with DD-WRT.

ill I run into any problems using these with Fibre? I always see people talking about vlan tagging which I dont really understand either.

On another subject VOIP phones, whats the best way to deploy these throughout the house, I have never dealt with them before. Any recommended handset?

Thanks :)

kyhwana2

2566 posts

Uber Geek

#712563 5-Nov-2012 20:32

You'll need to plug the ONT into a single router, then go from there.
Does the WR841ND with DD-WRT let you turn one of the LAN ports into a WAN port? Generally you can't use ADSL routers as normal routers like that.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#712572 5-Nov-2012 20:57

Fritz!Box will sort you out. Gigabit ethernet ports, WLAN and DECT. Can tag VLANs on the WAN. Lots on here about them.
Snap are the importers in NZ.

sbiddle

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#712573 5-Nov-2012 21:00

The first thing you need to decide with phones is what approach you want to take - IP phones or analogue phones with an ATA.

mercutio

1392 posts

Uber Geek

#712595 5-Nov-2012 21:47

you should be sweet with recent tp-link router. my tp-link adsl modem can do vlan tagging. (8960n)

basically you just have to use eth0.10 rather than eth0.

on command line it's like vconfig add eth0 10

then ifconfig eth0.10 as you would eth0

not sure how the setup scripts work in ddwrt, but you should be able to track down how it works online.

it may also be called wan0 or something rather than eth0

with voip phones, if your house is wired with dual ethernet cables to rooms you can get a switch with power over ethernet, and run them that way.

otherwise, things start getting complicated - you may find it easier just to use a ethernet to voice box and utilise the existing phone cable.

generally offices are done properly with dual or quad plugs, but homes often are kind of lacking in that respect.

with phones the linksys models are pretty good, but a little pricey.

where someone else said about fritzbox, it does have the handy thing of taking dect phones. Although a lot of the cheaper dect phones you can buy (uniden) aren't compatible.

chevrolux

4962 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#712597 5-Nov-2012 21:59

In the home these days I really don't see the point of plugged in phones. Obviously a plugged in phone on the PSTN is beneficial if there is a power outage. But if you are going to VoIP and a phone is really that important then a battery backup is non-negotiable. Then if you have IP DECT phones the batteries in them should be able to last the power outage and the only needing power would be the base station.
DECT obviously saves on worrying about wiring and just makes the whole phone thing very very simple.

mercutio

1392 posts

Uber Geek

#712600 5-Nov-2012 22:06

the other way you can go is just use a sip client on your cellphone, csipsimple works fine on android.

hamish225

1418 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#712629 5-Nov-2012 23:10

I wonder if you can use orcon's voip on other devices, or is it locked to one specific device?
Slightly off topic

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

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jackfry

227 posts

Master Geek

#712636 6-Nov-2012 00:07

kyhwana2: You'll need to plug the ONT into a single router, then go from there.
Does the WR841ND with DD-WRT let you turn one of the LAN ports into a WAN port? Generally you can't use ADSL routers as normal routers like that.

It has a WAN port on it, but currently is a LAN port through my choice in the firmware. I have never known what WAN is used for. Its not a ADSL router.

jackfry

227 posts

Master Geek

#712637 6-Nov-2012 00:08

chevrolux: Fritz!Box will sort you out. Gigabit ethernet ports, WLAN and DECT. Can tag VLANs on the WAN. Lots on here about them.
Snap are the importers in NZ.

Not interested in the Fritz!Box, I spent some coin recently getting these routers and want to get at least a few years out of them.

jackfry

227 posts

Master Geek

#712638 6-Nov-2012 00:11

sbiddle: The first thing you need to decide with phones is what approach you want to take - IP phones or analogue phones with an ATA.

Good question, I will only have two phones in the house, up and downstairs. Any recommendations over one or the other?

jackfry

227 posts

Master Geek

#712639 6-Nov-2012 00:19

chevrolux: In the home these days I really don't see the point of plugged in phones. Obviously a plugged in phone on the PSTN is beneficial if there is a power outage. But if you are going to VoIP and a phone is really that important then a battery backup is non-negotiable. Then if you have IP DECT phones the batteries in them should be able to last the power outage and the only needing power would be the base station.
DECT obviously saves on worrying about wiring and just makes the whole phone thing very very simple.

Is this how a DECT phone setup would look? If so that seems like a easy option for me. I suppose the further the Phone is away from the Base station the worse the voice quality becomes?

hamish225

1418 posts

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#712640 6-Nov-2012 00:55

that just looks relly quite confusing, what you could do, in regard to your phone system, is get a 2 (or more) handset dect phone like this one and plug that into your ata, so you can move your other handset somewhere else in the house.

with regards to the way you distribute the internet to your devices you shouldn't need to change that. unless you're going for the 100/50 plan then you should make sure you're using wifi N since that'll handle the speeds.

*Insert big spe*dtest result here*

sbiddle

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#712652 6-Nov-2012 06:27

hamish225: that just looks relly quite confusing, what you could do, in regard to your phone system, is get a 2 (or more) handset dect phone like this one and plug that into your ata, so you can move your other handset somewhere else in the house.

with regards to the way you distribute the internet to your devices you shouldn't need to change that. unless you're going for the 100/50 plan then you should make sure you're using wifi N since that'll handle the speeds.

Speed depends entirely on the environment. It's not uncommon to find 802.11n topping out at 20Mbps in a noisy environment.

If you want the best speed possible ethernet is essential.

jackfry

227 posts

Master Geek

#712664 6-Nov-2012 08:06

hamish225: that just looks relly quite confusing, what you could do, in regard to your phone system, is get a 2 (or more) handset dect phone like this one and plug that into your ata, so you can move your other handset somewhere else in the house.

with regards to the way you distribute the internet to your devices you shouldn't need to change that. unless you're going for the 100/50 plan then you should make sure you're using wifi N since that'll handle the speeds.

I will be on the 100/50 plan :) My house is notorious for destroying wireless signal, sometimes I think I have lead in my walls >.<

chevrolux

4962 posts

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Inactive user

#712665 6-Nov-2012 08:15

Bringing PSTN in to it aswell makes it a little bit more complicated but not too much. If you have the routers already the you need to decide whether you want to just use an ATA (assuming you are going VoIP) or go IP DECT. The SPA3102 will let you bring in a PSTN line and use VoIP. Then you can just use your analogue phones off that.
Or my recommendation would be look at the Siemens Gigaset range. A510IP is the base model and will allow PSTN and up to 6 SIP registrations. Has all the call routing features you need in a home and a fairly good voicemail. You can have up to six handsets off one base unit. There is also the A580IP still in stock in most shops but this is now a legacy product. Works just the same as the A510 but doesn't look as pretty lol.