Mesh with Cat5e

[jamesmccombie]

Hi, first post here. Looking for some advice - my home is approx 5,000 sq ft over three floors and I have Cat5e to all main rooms and Cat6 in the basement. Verizon Fios Gigabit coming into the basement connected to their “Quantum” router which is doing nothing except feeding a gigabit switch for all the Ethernet cable. Main level have Time Casule (older flat version) and one airport express (newest) and then upstairs we have another Express in the bedroom. Major items like TVs, Apple TV, Laptops have hard wired connections which get in the region of 300 up and down (I am guessing the drop is due to cable run lengths since we get 900 at the router below, though I doubt any are over 100m?).

This was all working fairly well, but over wi-if we only get between 40 and 90 down which is fine for most things but a little disappointing given the connection speed we are paying for. Also, we installed Nest Cams and the two at the front of the house now constantly go offline. We only just finished the basement so now I am considering coverage down there and thinking it may be worth a hardware change.

Questions:
1. Given I already have wired connections in most rooms, will a mesh system be of much benefit to me?
2. Could the signal from the Verizon router which we don’t use be interfering with things?
3. Can the wireless only on it be turned off?
4. Can I eliminate the Verizon router completely and go directly to the switch from the Verizon main box?
5. Can anyone recommend what I should expect in terms of speed over WiFi with this setup, vs if I installed Google wifi with one on each floor connected to the wired points?
6. Is it worth waiting for the protocol changes coming next year in terms of anything hardware related or are things like Google and Orbi fairly future proof for now?
7. Are any of my Apple choking my speed? I believe the expresses only have 10/100 ports?

Many thanks in advance.
JM

 

[USAFRet]

1. No. A couple of well placed access points would work.

2. Probably not. The Quantum (G1100?) is actually a quite good device. I have one.

3. Yes.

4. If you also have TV through Verizon, no. The Verizon router (the Quantum) needs to be in there somewhere.

5. 'google wifi'? You just need some Access Points connected to your existing ethernet cables.
Maybe 1 on each floor.

6. No, not worth waiting.

7. If it only has 10/100 ports, that is all you will ever get through the ethernet ports. Any current router has 10/100/1000 ethernet ports.


The main reason for your poor WiFi performance is the location of the existing Quantum. The basement is the absolute worst place in the house to propagate a WiFi signal.

 

[jamesmccombie]

4. If you also have TV through Verizon, no. The Verizon router (the Quantum) needs to be in there somewhere.

5. 'google wifi'? You just need some Access Points connected to your existing ethernet cables.
Maybe 1 on each floor.

The main reason for your poor WiFi performance is the location of the existing Quantum. The basement is the absolute worst place in the house to propagate a WiFi signal.

4. I do have Fios TV - ok
5. Do you recommend any good value access points?

The Quantum is not propagating the WiFi signal. It is sending out one, but I am not using it. My Airports are propagating a separate WiFi signal from the main floor in the center of the house. Setup as follows, where — denotes CAT5e.

Fios — Quantum — Gigabit switch — Time Capsule Airport ==WiFI
— Airport Express == Extended WiFi