Suggest a modem for my 3 story house please

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Suggest a modem for my 3 story house please

ryadre

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#280014 22-Nov-2020 16:46

Hi all, last week we got slingshot fibre, and the supplied netcomm nf18 modem doesn't seem to have as strong WiFi and frequent drops WiFi compared to my old dlink 2888a (I did try setting this up but it didn't stay connected to fibre for long).
We need a modem with voip, and the modem is in the middle of the middle floor of 3 level house. I can't run a cable to upstairs for an Ap up there.
I do have an old hg659 modem I can use temporarily if need be.
I see the ubiquity dream machine mentioned, but is reasonably expensive, and I read about setup issues with vlan10?
What other options should I look at with strong WiFi, and voip?

Jase2985

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#2608517 22-Nov-2020 17:08

wifi doesnt generally go up and if it does floor joists kill wifi signals

you would be better with a couple of cabled access points if you can, if not have a look at a mesh wifi solution.

nztim

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#2608522 22-Nov-2020 17:12

Unifi stuff is good

on the floor your ONT is

https://www.snappernet.co.nz/product/20958/ubiquiti-udm-unifi-dream-machine

plus one of these on each of the other floors

https://www.snappernet.co.nz/product/14294/ubiquiti-uap-iw-hd-unifi-ap-high-density-80211ac-wave-2-in-wall-access-point

you would need to cable to each of the other access points, they are designed to replace a cat6 outlet

This solution would completely replace your Netcomm which while has a lot of nice features, the wifi is not that great

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

ryadre

33 posts

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#2608577 22-Nov-2020 17:37

Thanks for the reply, I can't really get a cable up to the top floor for the access point unfortunately.
I have just set up the old hg659 for now to stop the WiFi drops of the netcomm
The likes of the hg659 and my old dlink 2888a are on the edge of usable WiFi at the ends of the house upstairs. So something slightly more powerful might be OK.
I have run cat6 in the house where possible for devices, but the top floor isn't really possible.
Are there wireless AP options or are they not that good?

nztim

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#2608586 22-Nov-2020 17:45

ryadre: Are there wireless AP options or are they not that good?

These are Wireless APs which are better than using a router as an Access point

here is another option

1. Turn off wifi on your netcomm

2. get three of these (1 for each floor) https://nz.ingrammicro.com/_layouts/CommerceServer/IM/ProductDetails.aspx?id=000000000004513058

They will mesh together once configure (not that I am a fan of mesh but if you cant cable you have to use them)

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kobiak

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#2608603 22-Nov-2020 18:14

I have 2 spark smart modems currently working: main at the lounge 2 level, and second ethernet wired on the first level. Covering all 3 levels without an issue. Best mesh set up :)

helping others at evgenyk.nz

ryadre

33 posts

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#2608608 22-Nov-2020 18:38

Yea I have had a second modem set up as an AP in the basement before, my main concern is getting decent WiFi upstairs withoit a cable

I see there are Amplifi mesh setups as well

https://www.gowifi.co.nz/wifirouters/afi-ins.html
https://www.gowifi.co.nz/wifirouters/afi-hd.html

timmmay

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#2608629 22-Nov-2020 19:36

I'd look at powerline networking as option one, with a WAP on each level, or maybe a mesh system.

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nztim

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#2608631 22-Nov-2020 19:40

timmmay:

I'd look at powerline networking as option one, with a WAP on each level, or maybe a mesh system.

That would avoid Mesh (which I believe should only be used as a last resort)

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

ryadre

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#2608644 22-Nov-2020 20:05

I do have powerline adaptor somewhere, whether it's on the same power circuit I guess

nztim

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#2608663 22-Nov-2020 21:27

ryadre: I do have powerline adaptor somewhere, whether it's on the same power circuit I guess

Power Adapters don't require been on the same circuit, they need to be on the same Phase, your whole house will be on the same phase

Your street is wired with Three phases, lets say you are on phase 1, Neighbour A is on phase 2, Neighbour B is on phase 3, and Neighbour C is also in phase 1

A good powerline adapter might work between you and neighbour C if you are close enough

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sbiddle

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#2608721 23-Nov-2020 07:28

The simple answer is there is not a single device out there that will cover a 3 story house properly - the concept of a single router / AP that can cover a large house is simply not the reality of how the world works, especially now where in most urban environments 2.4GHz simply can't deliver reliable performance and 5GHz is pretty much essential for streaming.

Antenna design also makes such a task even more unrealistic, because an omnidirectional antenna design (which is what any AP with dipole antennas and pretty much every router with inbuilt antannas uses) radiates in a donut shape meaning it spreads outwards - ie it will spread out outwards across a floor but won't radiate upwards or downwards. Most people think an antenna radiates outwards in every direction (which is the theory of a isotropic radiator) which is not correct.

If you want coverage below the solution is a traditional ceiling mount AP which sends a signal downwards and outwards in the same way a conventional lampshade directs light.

ryadre

33 posts

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#2610154 25-Nov-2020 07:56

Thanks, what I ended up doing is using a HG659 modem in bridge mode to send the wifi from the Slingshot Netcomm NF18. The HG659 has surprisingly really good wifi strength, possibly more so than my old Dlink 2888a I had been using previously on vdsl. And this way I dont lose some of the features the NF18 has, like the remote speed test function etc.

And just because I had in an old box of cables a powerline adaptor, I have put one upstairs with a cheap old wifi repeater/ AP connected with an ethernet cable (could have made do without this extra system but thought I will give it go as I already had it)

Any of the main streaming via Nvidia shields are connected via ethernet. The upstairs wifi is just for phone coverage, and occasional low quality streaming on a chromecast in bed.

hio77

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#2610158 25-Nov-2020 08:07

go with a mesh setup, preferably something you can use ethernet backhaul on.

I live in a flat that should be able to be covered by a single device, however the insulation in the floor is pretty thick so it causes havoc on 5ghz.

took all of 5 mins to run cat5 from upstairs to downstairs (correctly and with approval). anywhere in the flat is 200-800mbit real world throughput on wifi.

Being mesh, it does the roaming on the AP side rather than client side (which you typically would get with single AP's) so it doesn't have the stickyness.

i ended up sticking another mesh unit in my garage, it jumps between 2.4 and 5ghz backhaul, but is enough to get 100mbit into there and cover the whole property in 5ghz so devices don't latch onto 2.4 unless they have to.

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Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.