Question Upgrading my apartment network to 10Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 7 ?

[Snick2040]

I would like to upgrade my apartment's home network to 10Gbps Ethernet with Wi-Fi 7. Even though it’s just an apartment, every band and channel seems to be taken. Fortunately, I already have Ethernet running throughout the apartment. I recently bought a Fluke to test the quality of the Ethernet runs.

All the Ethernet runs terminate in a cabinet in a utility closet. I don’t need Wi-Fi in that location, so I currently have a router there with Wi-Fi disabled. The router connects to two access points located on either end of the apartment and to Ethernet switches placed around the apartment. I’m so grateful for Ethernet because I hate Wi-Fi.

I decided to try out a Netgear Orbi 970 with a satellite. I don’t plan to use the mesh feature (again, I’m not a fan of Wi-Fi). My plan is to move the cable modem to where one of the current access points is located. I’ll replace that AP with the primary Orbi 970 and run a 10Gbps backbone from the Orbi to the utility cabinet. In the cabinet, I’ll install a 10Gbps switch to distribute the connection throughout the apartment, including to the satellite Orbi at the other end of the apartment.

My Questions​

1. Is there a better solution? Are there any alternatives to my current plan that would work more efficiently? Like keeping a non WIFI router in the utility closet.
2. Will this setup introduce noticeable lag? Specifically, would having a 10Gbps switch in the utility cabinet, instead of the main router, cause any noticeable latency from the main 970 to the satellite?
3. Switch Recommendations: Should I use a managed or unmanaged 10Gbps switch in the cabinet? Are there any specific models you’d recommend?
4. Wi-Fi Roaming: I’d like seamless Wi-Fi roaming throughout the apartment. I’m not sure if my current setup supports this anyway or if the 970 would either in the scenario I described.

I know that 10Gbps is overkill, I only have a 1.2Gbps internet connection, but I want to future-proof my network.

Thanks in advance...

 

[bill001g]

The problem with 10gbit is your wires. If you running new you want to use cat6a which is rated to 10gbit at 100 meters. Although not in the official standard it is well known that 10gbit works on cat6 to about 50meters. Since all cable has risen in price so much there is almost no difference in the price of cat6 and cat6a so for new cables you always just go cat6a.

You can also get 10gbit to run even on cat5e at shorter distance. Only cat6a is officially certified but lots of non standard stuff actually works but it is hit and miss. Don't waste money on cat7 or cat8. Cat7 cable was never actually fully certified an cat8 is only used in data centers and almost all the cat8 cable you find being sold is fake cable.

So it seems your design overall is the recommended one.

The path the data must take is.

------cable/fiber modem----router----switch-- (wifi ap and end ethernet devices and even more switches if needed).

Where exactly the equipment is physically located doesn't matter. It can be a challenge sometimes if the ISP connection and modem are not close to the central location where you need to place your switch. You can get very creative and use vlans if you for example do not have 2 physical cables.

This all is going to depend on how the wires in your particular house run but the logical path must follow my crude diagram.

10gbit switches used to be extremely expensive and had all kinds of fancy features. Now days they are actually in the affordable range for most people that want 10gbit in their house. Unmanaged switches are fine. The only feature home uses need on a managed switch would be vlans or PoE stuff.

I have not looked at the specs of cheap 10gbit switches lately. Many years ago you had to worry about the backplane speed. This is the total traffic that can pass a switch. Almost all modern stuff is what is called non blocking or wire speed. What this means is every port can run at full upload and download speed at the same time. So for a 8 port switch the backplane speed would need to be 160gbit. There really is no realistic install where every port would be running at maximum upload and maximum download rate at the same time so a lower number likely isn't going to matter if cost becomes a issue.

There is no such thing as seamless wifi roaming. They like to pretend there is and technically there are wifi roaming standards but most end devices do not support the protocal. The key problem is not the network equipment it is your end device. Unlike a cell phone where the cell tower control the radio in the cell phone on wifi the end device makes all the decisions. They tend to be very stupid because they only have 1 radio chip and can not look for a better signal without disconnecting the current one. They basically use signal level and if the level is ok they will not change to a newer signal even if it is much stronger.

What many of the so called "seamless" roaming mesh systems do is based on what the differnet AP detect the device signal level as they will force disconnect the end device and hope it then picks the better/stronger signal but there is no actual control to what it connects to. This of course is not actually seamless it can take a couple seconds in bad cases to reconnect after a forced disconnect.

The solution that has been done since the start of wifi many years before the marking guys started talking about mesh and seamless roaming was called site survey. You would manaully adjust...ie turn down..the radio signals so you get as little overlap as possible but still have enough signal in the middle area to function. This allows the end device to switch over the the optimum AP....of course it is still not technically seamless since it must recalculate the new encryption keys using the new AP mac address.