New WiFi plan, will it work?

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shk292

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#3342960 14-Feb-2025 18:33

I'd just get a three pack of decos and have one at the ONT with a switch, and the other two at opposite parts of the house. This is what I have done and it gives seamless coverage throughout the home and section. I'm lucky (actually I chose the location) in that my ONT is behind my TV so that's a good centre of the network

David321

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#3343531 17-Feb-2025 08:03

robjg63:

So you could just have one m4 where the Red square is (connected through to the ONT), another m4 where the second from bottom blue square is (assuming you buy a 2 pack) - they link together over their own wifi connection. You want the primary router at least to have a 1Gb ethernet port - which the M4s do. Some of the others (Deco E4 for example) only have 10/100 ports but their wifi connection should be faster than that.

As your ONT will be providing at least 300mpbs (chorus is increasing that for free to 500mbps very soon), the primary unit doesnt want to be choking your internet connection over its ethernet port.

If it helps - I hate making decisions like this too.🤔

Thanks for that!

Only (slight) problem would be if I connect "one m4 where the Red square is (connected through to the ONT), another m4 where the second from bottom blue square is" none of the other port would have data to them (if im not mistaken) as they all lead back to the garage cabinet with female RJ45 plugs at the end of each cable. I figure the only way I can get data to all the ports through cable is to have one modem in the garage cabinet connected to the ONT with one port on the modem, and use the other port on the modem to connect to a switch to feed all of the ports in the house.

That would also mean having the two units connect to each other using their WiFi, I would prefer to use cable if possible and having one in the garage would allow me to do that.

I did know about Chrous increasing to 500mbps, does that mean my ONENZ plan which is 300 download will increase to 500 download for free? or will ONENZ just pocket the savings?

Decision making, yeah, my wife swears I have OCD when it comes to stuff like this, researching every possibility and device there is to the point it drives me nuts and I cant make a decision.

On a side note, I had concerns the M4 will not fit in my cabinet very well (or at all), but I have discovered the TP-Link M5, from what I understand it is a bit more expensive, but is 100 mbps faster on the 2.4 channel than the m4. Not that that alone would justify the $70 extra in price for me, but its discreet design is a big bonus for me, hoping the coverage would be the same as smaller units possibly have smaller antennas?

So my current thoughts - struggling!

Buy the M4 two pack for $150 - may struggle to fit in cabinet, but im fairly sure they will get in there

Buy the M5 two pack for $218 - more expensive but more discreet (will fit in cabinet and tv stand much better) - has 100mb faster 2.4 but I dont think thats to relevant with such high 5g speeds on both units?

Annoyingly, I could get two X10's from Noel Leeming for $218 (same price as two M5's from PB Tech) thanks to company discount, but the x10's at 110mm diameter would be to large to fit in my cabinet (93mm) - sigh

Both within budget, curious what others would do and if anyone could give a comparison between the 2 models and if there is any thing I should consider apart from what I have mentioned? Just want to be sure I have not missed anything worth considering between these models?

_David_

nitro

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#3343686 17-Feb-2025 11:08

David321:

Annoyingly, I could get two X10's from Noel Leeming for $218 (same price as two M5's from PB Tech) thanks to company discount, but the x10's at 110mm diameter would be to large to fit in my cabinet (93mm) - sigh

Sticking to TP-Link, especially if you're able to get them for a similar price, I'd lean towards the X10 especially if you have any AX devices already. There are advances on AX (over AC) beyond just increased capacity. The reduced number of Ethernet ports is easily addressed with a switch. Even starting with 2 of them is not a bad idea. Mesh backhaul is not ye olde "wifi extender" in functionality, and you might find it meeting your needs.

Or use the X10 pair as ethernet-backhauled WiFi access points to your current router in the garage.

David321:

Both within budget, curious what others would do and if anyone could give a comparison between the 2 models and if there is any thing I should consider apart from what I have mentioned? Just want to be sure I have not missed anything worth considering between these models?

I must admit, I like the Grandstream solution proposed GWN 7604 ($134) earlier. Two of those to work with your current router, and a GWN 7002 ($120) as a future/subsequent router upgrade. Or get the 7002 now and be done with it. I think that would also give you the single management plane (router + APs) that you get with TP-Link Decos.

Having them separate allows you the flexibility of upgrading each (wifi AP / router) separately in the future based on your requirements, e.g. AC now, upgrade to AX in a year or 2 while keeping the same router.

Actually, why don't you get 2 of the AP315s that someone is selling here - https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=77&topicid=318733? Just use them with your router. They will be better than any of the Decos you're considering.

David321

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#3349348 3-Mar-2025 06:30

Just an update for anyone following, my two TP-Link M5's arrived from Amazon Australia during the weekend.

I got to work setting them up, setting them up as access points coming off the old HG659 was easy, but I wanted to ditch the old modem and use one of the M5's as the modem connected to the ONT and the other M5 as the satellite/access point, there is were things got tricky.

I had to configure the M5 that I wanted to act as a modem to work like a modem supplied by OneNZ would, this meant selecting PPPoE or a bunch of other options from the list in the TP-Link app, then filling in other fields such as a username and password etc.

After trying a few options and having no luck I contacted OneNZ who pointed me towards their website, the page about setting up a third party modem. The option they say to use is IP/DHCP which was not on the list of options of the TP-Link app! (can anyone explain this?)

Anyway a few hours late after mucking around with what seemed like almost all of the set up options it finally worked, at that point I dont even know what option I used and still have no idea, I just know its working now so have opted to leave it and keep the HG659 as an emergency backup!

For those of you curious the two pack seems more than enough for our house which is 200sq (plan in previous replies), one in the metal cabinet in the garage (acting as modem conected to ONT), the second sits behind the TV in the middle of the house.

Speeds as various points throughout the house have increased 5-10 times.

I do have a couple of questions about this perhaps some of you could answer:

Does IP/DHCP have an equivalent that might be called something else, for example PPPoE or something else? If I ever have to reset the routers I dont want to spend hours setting them up again.

Is there a way I can ensure the satellite "back haul" to the M5 in the garage is indeed communicating by Ethernet? I have a switch between the modem M5 and the satellite M5 and I want to be sure this has not confused the M5's and made them use their WiFi to talk to each other.

The M5 broadcasts in 2.4 and 5 apprently, but when looking for a WiFi signal in the house there is only one option, it is called the name I was asked to give the home network in the TP-Link app, but I dont know if it is 2.4 or 5, I assumed that like the old HG659 there would be two WiFi options to choose from on devices that can detect 2.4 and 5?

_David_

Spyware

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#3349350 3-Mar-2025 07:00

IPoE/DHCP = Dynamic IP with vlan tag id = 10.

Spark Max Fibre using Mikrotik CCR1009-8G-1S-1S+, CRS125-24G-1S, Unifi UAP, U6-Pro, UAP-AC-M-Pro, Apple TV 4K (2022), Apple TV 4K (2017), iPad Air 1st gen, iPad Air 4th gen, iPhone 13, SkyNZ3151 (the white box). If it doesn't move then it's data cabled.

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