[SOLVED] Virgin + Mesh Wifi

[freeman3030]

Hi,

We're currently with BT and haven't had too many issues. Since moving here 18 months ago, things have changed in the sense that we've ditched Sky and just watch TV via the internet. We've got a a video doorbell and a couple of nest cameras, my now works from home. All of this has had a bit of an impact on our internet speed and reliability. For the most part it seems fine, however it does buffer from time to time and my partner has said that sometimes on a video call, it can be quite jarring/jumpy and he restarts the router. Next month we're having Virgin installed (200mbps) which I'm hoping will help ease our current broadband issues we've had especially as we're becoming more and more reliant on the internet.

I think we're getting the Virgin Hub 4, but I quite like the idea of getting a Google Nest Wifi as we've got a couple of dead spots (particularly at the rear of the house and upstairs at the rear of the house.

I had thought about getting this to use with BT but when I did some preliminary research, I found out the BT Hub can't be used in Modem mode. It all kind of goes above my head a bit. What I'm asking is, can I put the Virgin Hub in modem mode and get a google nest router and a couple of points to improve the coverage within our house? I really like the idea of Google Wifi. I've got various Google Products and really like how simple they all are to use, so hoping the Wifi will be the same.

If anyone can give any advice/pointers, it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanka

 

[bill001g]

Save some money and just buy a couple extra cheap routers to use a AP in the remote rooms. I would use the ISP router as the main router, the ISP routers are not so much garbage as they used to be. They in most cases are using the same radio chips as any other router of the same class.

Now I assume you are going to connect these via ethernet. If you do not have ethernet but have tv coax in the rooms use a device called Moca in place of the ethernet and connect the AP to that. You can also use powerline to accomplish the same thing.

If you plan to somehow magically just put boxes in the remote rooms and get good wifi connections it does not work that way even though the marketing guys try to tell you it does. Like any other form of wifi repeater you must place the units where they can get strong signal from the main router and still provide good signal to the far rooms. This tends to sometimes be very hard when the problem is a wall or floor absorbing the signals.

You want to use a wifi repeater solution as the very last option. You now have 2 radio signals that can be interfered with and just have the 2 radio hops make everything slower.

 

[gggplaya]

As bill said, I would rely on some sort of wired backhaul to extend wifi to the outer reaches of the house. Some of these mesh system have the option for wired backhaul, but don't rely on wifi alone as you'll run into bandwidth issues on some of the nodes.

Options fo wired backhaul:

1. Ethernet wire(hard to install on some homes, easy on others depending on if you have attics and crawl spaces, or basements).
2. MOCA (If you have cable tv outlets(coax) installed in several areas of your house already, you can repurpose those outlets for MOCA ethernet adapters).
3. Powerline (last resort, but easiest plug and play wired backhaul. Uses your power outlets for networking, but speeds vary greatly depending on the house. Typical speeds are 50-200mbps).

I prefer an Asus router running Merlin firmware: https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/ You can run a QOS(quality of service) setting which utilized a more powerful FQ_Codel algorithm to shape the traffic in your house. It will evenly throttle bandwidth of all the people and devices in your house appropriately to ensure everyone gets fair use of the internet. For instance, if you're trying to have a zoom meeting call while a game console is downloading an update(which could easily eat up the full 200mbps), your PC won't have to fight with the console for bandwidth. It will throttle the game console down to allow your zoom meeting plenty of bandwidth to use. A higher end Asus router with a good processor can handle up to about 300mbps of traffic shaping using the FQ_Codel algorithm(very cpu intensive).

 

[eldridgep2]

Hi,

We're currently with BT and haven't had too many issues. Since moving here 18 months ago, things have changed in the sense that we've ditched Sky and just watch TV via the internet. We've got a a video doorbell and a couple of nest cameras, my now works from home. All of this has had a bit of an impact on our internet speed and reliability. For the most part it seems fine, however it does buffer from time to time and my partner has said that sometimes on a video call, it can be quite jarring/jumpy and he restarts the router. Next month we're having Virgin installed (200mbps) which I'm hoping will help ease our current broadband issues we've had especially as we're becoming more and more reliant on the internet.

I think we're getting the Virgin Hub 4, but I quite like the idea of getting a Google Nest Wifi as we've got a couple of dead spots (particularly at the rear of the house and upstairs at the rear of the house.

I had thought about getting this to use with BT but when I did some preliminary research, I found out the BT Hub can't be used in Modem mode. It all kind of goes above my head a bit. What I'm asking is, can I put the Virgin Hub in modem mode and get a google nest router and a couple of points to improve the coverage within our house? I really like the idea of Google Wifi. I've got various Google Products and really like how simple they all are to use, so hoping the Wifi will be the same.

If anyone can give any advice/pointers, it would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanka

Yes you can put the Virgin Hub 4 into modem mode see link below:

Modem Mode

As people say above having cables to each wireless access point is ideal but in the real world we don't all have structured cabling in our houses. Mesh systems are great and will typically solve the issues you are seeing. Can't comment on the Nest Wi-Fi as I've never used it but it looks good on paper I have a cheap TP-Link Deco system which revolutionised coverage in our house (and about 100ft down into our garden). Also commercially install OpenMesh/Datto and looks after Meraki/Ruckus etc.

Most important aspect is WAP placement one will obviously sit near your Virgin Kit to plug in and act as the router and the others will have to be placed close enough to get and pass on the signal to the other units. Typically you will need at least one point on each floor of your house but having additional points will add to the MESH and create redundnant routes in case one of your WAP's drops out for any reason.

Can only speak from personal experience but even without the wired backhaul the MESH solution is far better that previous solutions like home plugs or trying to get a single better router to try and do everything. The big caveat though is building construction if you live in an old granite cottage or castle then all bets are off, general rules avoid any solid stone walls between points and commercially structural steel and lift shafts are a no no. Placing them on a window sill can greatly extend outside coverage if you have a garden etc.

Have to disagree with a couple of the points above just buying old routers and using them as WAP's isn't a great idea you won't get a lot of the benefits of MESH and you require the cabling to do this also the Virgiin Hub wi-fi is garbage so your solution is a good one. Use wired backhaul if you can but if not with careful placement you should be OK in an average house and at least one WAP per floor but preferably have a couple of spares to create extra links for problem areas.