[SOLVED] Replacing Fios Router with Nest Mesh & optimal setup for wired backhaul

[guinness74]

I recently expanded my house so am looking to improve my WiFi coverage by upgrading to a Nest Mesh WiFi network. I am looking to both improve my WiFi coverage while creating/maintaining a wired backhaul through my house via coax to keep my PCs directly connected via ethernet (used for gaming & they don't have WiFi cards). I currently have Fios Gigabit connection through a G1100 router and an Actiontec range extender (WCB6200Q) connected via my home's coax. I have the router in the basement and the extender in the home office that I connect to my PCs using the extender's LAN ethernet ports.

I only use Verizon for internet service and stream any TV services through WiFi.

My first question is, can I replace my G1100 & extender entirely and just use the Google Nest WiFi router to connect directly to the ONT via ethernet.

My second question, and the trickier one, is how I can best do that while keeping a wired backhaul.

For added context, I looked at my current Verizon setup, and to be honest, on the surface it seemed nonsensical. It seems that my ONT directly connects to my Coax splitter (my wired backhaul), while my G1100 ALSO connects to the splitter via the LAN connection. I would think it should be one or the other, not both. Secondly, if my ONT is going to my coax splitter directly, doesn't that mean I am not benefiting from the Gigabit internet for my wired backhaul (or WiFi range extender for that matter, since my extender connects to the coax wall jack in my office upstairs)?

I thought a better solution could be to use the Nest Router as the ONLY router (NOT connected to the G1100 in bridge mode), and then use the single LAN connection from the Nest router to connect to a MoCA adapter and THEN to the coax splitter to tie the wired coax backhaul to the Gigabit connection. On the other side in my office, I would just connect the coax from the wall to another MoCA adapter, and then the single ethernet line from the MoCA adapter to a switch to create enough ethernet ports for the devices I need.

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts and guidance that this group could provide. Before I invest in such a change, I want to make sure I'm not throwing money down the toilet, as this is a somewhat pricey change. Will it improve my coverage? Will it increase my backhaul speed?

Thanks in advance!

 

[bill001g]

Why do you want to use nest mesh stuff.

Mesh is all marketing hype. They pretty much took what they used to call extenders/repeaters and put a new label on the box. They all suffer from the poor performance of any other repeater. To even get a small advantage they would need a dedicated radio for the inter wifi connectivity and then 2 radios to talk to the end users. This would increase the costs so it is a very rare feature to have a dedicated radio for the backhauls.

You having verizon is a huge first step which most people do not have because of the moca.

All you do is buy a bunch of the actiontec devices like you currently have. You put them in any room you have poor coverage. This is pretty close to the industry gold standard for wifi coverage. You cable AP back to a central switch via ethernet. In this case the moca is acting as the ethernet and the switch and the remote units act as AP.

You should get excellent performance. I am not sure what the verizon router supports but moca 2.0 runs at gigabit speeds.

Now if you REALLY want the nest stuff you can just toss all this out. You can ask verizon to change the ONT to use the ethernet port and then you can use any router. You would then either need to run ethernet or your own moca network hooking the nest units up as AP.......or your could just do what the marketing people want and just put the nest units around the house and suffer with the horrible performance of a repeater system.