Question Is there a cheaper option than an Eero PoE switch for my situation ?

[rwhipple08]

I would like to take advantage of my house's existing ethernet wiring and also set up a rack to start building a home lab, Plex server, etc.

Current setup:

• House is wired for ethernet. All ethernet drops terminate in the basement.
• Fiber into the house goes to the basement, connects to a fiber modem.
• Fiber modem connects to ethernet cable going to Eero 6 WiFi Gateway Router on 2nd floor.
• Inbound fiber connection is 1 Gbps, the fastest available in my area, so I'm not at risk of introducing networking bottlenecks like I would be if I had 2.5 Gbps inbound but then inserted a 1 Gbps switch somewhere.

I tried connecting a simple switch between the modem and the Eero 6. It didn't work because the modem is just a modem...didn't think about that. The Eero 6 is provided by my ISP and they don't offer anything else.

It looks like the obvious, simple solution is to buy an Eero PoE gateway switch for the basement and connect the ethernet drops including the one to the upstairs WiFi into that. I don't know what issues I'll have using a different Gateway than the Eero 6 my ISP provided will cause, but I assume sticking with the same brand would be the most straightforward option. However, the $400 price take seems excessive for my needs.

It seems like my options are:

1. Buy the Eero switch and insert it between the modem and Eero 6. Connect basement ethernet drops to the switch.
2. Move the Eero 6 to the basement. Use the outbound port to connect a switch to service the Ethernet ports. Put a new Eero where the current one is and connect it in via the switch. (Won't get good signal with the Eero 6 in the basement).

I'm leaning towards option 2 because it doesn't change anything as far as my ISP is concerned. A new Eero for upstairs is $200 and I already have the ethernet switch, so it's $200 cheaper than the Eero switch.

Are there issues with my plan? Are there other options I haven't considered?

 

[bill001g]

Why do you need a PoE switch ?

Your problem is the ISP only gives you a single public ip. That really is the only reason people have "router" in their house to share this IP with all the devices in the house using NAT. These devices are better called gateways.

The path must go ---isp fiber---modem---router---switch---other stuff.

You can not put a switch between the modem and the router because only 1 device gets a IP address and the rest of the devices do not get IP addresses.

A couple of options.

Buy a the cheapest router you can find that has gigabit wan and lan ports. Turn off the wifi and use it in the basement and use the EERO in AP mode upstairs to provide the wifi. Since you don't care about wifi in the basement you can likely use a router with a 1200 number on it. Just be sure all the ethernet ports are gigabit. They make routers without wifi but they tend to be more expensive.

Second option use the Eero in the basement. I would disable the wifi but you can leave it on if you want. Now buy a router that has the wifi you need. Wifi6 provides almost no advantage over wifi5. I would buy wifi6e. The price has come way down since wifi7 is on the market. You still do not need a really fancy router since you are only going to use the wireless radios.

In both cases you will run the device you put upstairs in AP mode. This basically is a switch that has wifi radios. None of the other router functions will be used. You only want 1 device in your network running NAT. If you run mulitple routers and they run in router mode you will have issues communicating between device in your house. It also makes setup a bit simpler.

 

[bill001g]

There are more complex options if you have multiple etheret cables going from the basement to the room upstairs. You could run a cable between the modem and the eero wan port and then run a second cable from a lan port on the eero back down to a switch in the basement. I will not explain in detail but you can also use some "smart" switches and use vlans to run 2 networks over the same cable so it will function as 2 cables.

 

[cruisetung]

As suggested, why do you need a PoE switch and what do you want to achieve?

If you want to access your Plex server from outside world, it's best establish a VPN of your own using ZeroTier, Tailscale or NetBird, etc. instead using public IP and doing port forwarding.

 

[Ralston18]

@rwhipple08

And I will add the suggestion that you sketch out a simple network diagram that includes all devices, connections (by ports), and cable runs throughout the house. Include device names, make and model information, IP addresses, macs, etc.. Note cable types and specs (as printed on the cables).

Power outlets should be part of the diagram. Make other notes as you deem relevant.

The diagram does not need to be fancy and you can find many examples online. It all just need to be clear and complete enough to serve for planning purposes and/or future reference.

Being able to see the proverbial "big picture" is very helpful when considering options and network topology overall.

Make a template and markup as plans change. A copy of the house's floor plan could be used.

Or a layout using small Post-it Notes for each device. Lots of options.

Once all is said and done, the end diagram will likely be very useful for future troubleshooting.

Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[rwhipple08]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I guess I should have expanded on the title a little bit more than I did. I don't want to buy a PoE switch, it just seems like my only options for a gateway switch happen to be PoE (especially if I stick with the Eero brand my ISP uses), and that's an unnecessary expense I'm trying to avoid.

I'm used to having cable internet, where the ISP just provided me a modem so I could do whatever I wanted with the router/AP. My current ISP provides the router/AP, and although I manage it with the Eero app, when I open the app it says "Eero...provided by <ISP>". I'm not sure if putting a new device between the fiber modem and their Eero would mess anything up, and since I work from home I'm a little hesitant to do anything that would require me waiting on them to come out and undo/reset/fix something. Sticking with the Eero-branded switch would make me a little more confident in making the swap, but I can't justify buying a $400 switch.

@bill001g

• I'm leaning towards your second recommendation. Putting the ISP's Eero 6 in the basement means there is no change from their perspective. I have my previous wireless router I can put upstairs as a AP.

@cruisetung

• Right now my "network closet" has to be co-located with my AP. My goal is to de-couple the ideal location for my AP (upstairs bedroom, good line-of-sight to the house and yard) from the ideal location for things like a NAS (the basement location where the ethernet drops are).
• The Plex server is just for the local network, at least for now.

@Ralston18

• All good points. Right now the ethernet drops are un-terminated, mostly un-labelled, and just dangling. I plan to connect them all up to a nicely-labelled patch panel and store sketches and notes in my "network closet" as I go.

 

[cruisetung]

Actually switches with both PoE and VLANs features are not expensive at all

You can use them to power security cameras in the future if needed.

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-TL-SG108PE-Shielded-Lifetime-Protection/dp/B01BW0AD1W?th=1

https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-Gigabit-Ethernet-Switch-GS308EP/dp/B08MBFLMDC/?th=1