Kitchen Wired Broadband
Discussion
Once the restrictions are lifted we're having our kitchen refurbished. As part of this I want to sort out a wi-fi issue.
The kitchen sits at the back of the house, a standard BT home hub router supplies wireless internet from the front of the house. Like many families, with two kids, we've acquired loads of devices that use wireless broadband, and internet connectivity really struggles at times at the back of the house. This has become more apparent now we're all stuck in the house together and Netflix, Disney+ and Youtube are getting a real hammering while Mrs P and I are trying to take video calls over wi-fi all at the same time!
Plugging the TV in the front room directly into the wireless router has made a big difference, so I'm considering improving this further by running a single cable from another of the gig-ethernet ports on the wireless router into the kitchen. I'd then have a simple ethernet switch in the kitchen to connect TV, hi-fi which (used for internet radio & Spotify), and possibly single wireless access point(s) as well that could help coverage in the kitchen and patio area too.
Is this a feasible solution? it seems a reasonably cheap way of taking some key devices off the wireless network and improving wi-fi coverage to the back of the house at the same time. Are there any pitfalls in doing this?
I was thinking of using a switch like a plug and play 5 or 8 port Netgear switch, which seems quite straightforward.
Though I'm not so sure about an access point, there seems to be a huge variety (in type as well as cost), I'm not really sure what I want for a single room (30sqm, with coverage of similar to the patio outside), plus whether it can be easily configured to work with the existing BT Home hub.
Also - do I ignore Cat5 cable now and just get Cat6?
Thanks for any recommendations!
The kitchen sits at the back of the house, a standard BT home hub router supplies wireless internet from the front of the house. Like many families, with two kids, we've acquired loads of devices that use wireless broadband, and internet connectivity really struggles at times at the back of the house. This has become more apparent now we're all stuck in the house together and Netflix, Disney+ and Youtube are getting a real hammering while Mrs P and I are trying to take video calls over wi-fi all at the same time!
Plugging the TV in the front room directly into the wireless router has made a big difference, so I'm considering improving this further by running a single cable from another of the gig-ethernet ports on the wireless router into the kitchen. I'd then have a simple ethernet switch in the kitchen to connect TV, hi-fi which (used for internet radio & Spotify), and possibly single wireless access point(s) as well that could help coverage in the kitchen and patio area too.
Is this a feasible solution? it seems a reasonably cheap way of taking some key devices off the wireless network and improving wi-fi coverage to the back of the house at the same time. Are there any pitfalls in doing this?
I was thinking of using a switch like a plug and play 5 or 8 port Netgear switch, which seems quite straightforward.
Though I'm not so sure about an access point, there seems to be a huge variety (in type as well as cost), I'm not really sure what I want for a single room (30sqm, with coverage of similar to the patio outside), plus whether it can be easily configured to work with the existing BT Home hub.
Also - do I ignore Cat5 cable now and just get Cat6?
Thanks for any recommendations!
Edited by prand on Sunday 19th April 08:09
If you want to stick with BT then we just upgraded to their FTTP and they gave us a new Home Hub and a BT disc (access point). Not used it as I have a Netgear Nighthawk wifi router that reaches all over the house. But might be a cheaper option?
We recently had the kitchen extended and replaced. I got the builders to install Cat 6 cable into the walls (but Cat5e would have been fine) connected to a 4 port netgear switch. Well worth doing and wasn't that expensive, plus so much easier to do when all the walls are bare.
We recently had the kitchen extended and replaced. I got the builders to install Cat 6 cable into the walls (but Cat5e would have been fine) connected to a 4 port netgear switch. Well worth doing and wasn't that expensive, plus so much easier to do when all the walls are bare.
I’d definitely get Ethernet cabling put in, but would suggest at least two cables rather than one for future proofing.
You could then get a switch and Wireless Access Point as you suggest. Don’t forget the switch and WAP will need power so get a double socket put in near the Ethernet cables - hopefully these can be hidden in or on top of a cupboard.
Also need to think about how to hide the cabling from the switch to the Devices you want to connect.
You could then get a switch and Wireless Access Point as you suggest. Don’t forget the switch and WAP will need power so get a double socket put in near the Ethernet cables - hopefully these can be hidden in or on top of a cupboard.
Also need to think about how to hide the cabling from the switch to the Devices you want to connect.
595Heaven said:
I’d definitely get Ethernet cabling put in, but would suggest at least two cables rather than one for future proofing.
You could then get a switch and Wireless Access Point as you suggest. Don’t forget the switch and WAP will need power so get a double socket put in near the Ethernet cables - hopefully these can be hidden in or on top of a cupboard.
Also need to think about how to hide the cabling from the switch to the Devices you want to connect.
Thanks All, seems a simple solution could work then, starting with a couple of runs of Cat6 You could then get a switch and Wireless Access Point as you suggest. Don’t forget the switch and WAP will need power so get a double socket put in near the Ethernet cables - hopefully these can be hidden in or on top of a cupboard.
Also need to think about how to hide the cabling from the switch to the Devices you want to connect.
Is Power Over Ethernet an option? These seem a pretty useful thing simplifying power supply but maybe a bit overkill paying the extra for a POE switch for one powered port.
595Heaven - yes I'm planning to create a cupboard behind the false wall where the hi-fi and TV will live, so intend to put sockets, switch and cabling end points there.
prand said:
Thanks All, seems a simple solution could work then, starting with a couple of runs of Cat6
Is Power Over Ethernet an option? These seem a pretty useful thing simplifying power supply but maybe a bit overkill paying the extra for a POE switch for one powered port.
595Heaven - yes I'm planning to create a cupboard behind the false wall where the hi-fi and TV will live, so intend to put sockets, switch and cabling end points there.
If you need to upgrade to PoE at some point, you’d just need to replace the switch with a PoE one. Just had a very quick look, and a Netgear 8 port PoE switch is c. £80, against c. £30 for and unmanaged non-PoE one. Might be useful if you wanted to have IP security cameras at any point, but if you have power in the network cupboard then it’s probably not required yet.Is Power Over Ethernet an option? These seem a pretty useful thing simplifying power supply but maybe a bit overkill paying the extra for a POE switch for one powered port.
595Heaven - yes I'm planning to create a cupboard behind the false wall where the hi-fi and TV will live, so intend to put sockets, switch and cabling end points there.
595Heaven said:
If you need to upgrade to PoE at some point, you’d just need to replace the switch with a PoE one. Just had a very quick look, and a Netgear 8 port PoE switch is c. £80, against c. £30 for and unmanaged non-PoE one. Might be useful if you wanted to have IP security cameras at any point, but if you have power in the network cupboard then it’s probably not required yet.
Makes sense - having the cabling and power to a simple switch in a useful cupboard means upgrading later is the best option right now. I'd not thought of POE, or the possibilities it brings and it has got me thinking, but really not needed at this point.POE Switch and cat 6 to somewhere in the ceiling and something like this would be my vote.
https://www.ebuyer.com/769398-tp-link-eap245-ac175...
https://www.ebuyer.com/769398-tp-link-eap245-ac175...
One thing
Dont run one wire. If you have the chance to run wires, run more than you think you will need. At least two a socket.
This gives resilience in case of failure (rare, but it would be a pain), allows aggregate links if you ever need it (probably not in the kitchen) and can be run to several points if you ever need to put equipment in different places in the future.
Dont run one wire. If you have the chance to run wires, run more than you think you will need. At least two a socket.
This gives resilience in case of failure (rare, but it would be a pain), allows aggregate links if you ever need it (probably not in the kitchen) and can be run to several points if you ever need to put equipment in different places in the future.
Gary C said:
One thing
Dont run one wire. If you have the chance to run wires, run more than you think you will need. At least two a socket.
This gives resilience in case of failure (rare, but it would be a pain), allows aggregate links if you ever need it (probably not in the kitchen) and can be run to several points if you ever need to put equipment in different places in the future.
Its an interesting thing this - our house is a victorian semi with stripped floor downstairs and void underneath. For the kitchen, I was simply going to lift a couple of floorboards and run cable from the front where the router is situated, to back, and bring up at the point of the new cupboard. Dont run one wire. If you have the chance to run wires, run more than you think you will need. At least two a socket.
This gives resilience in case of failure (rare, but it would be a pain), allows aggregate links if you ever need it (probably not in the kitchen) and can be run to several points if you ever need to put equipment in different places in the future.
In theory I could easily run underfloor cable to any of the downstairs rooms without much disruption at any time we need to move equipment around. What will be fixed is the cabling, wall sockets etc in the new kitchen as that will all be behind new plaster walls and ceilings and a new tiled floor which is what we're giving some thought to now about socket and appliance positioning.
prand said:
Its an interesting thing this - our house is a victorian semi with stripped floor downstairs and void underneath. For the kitchen, I was simply going to lift a couple of floorboards and run cable from the front where the router is situated, to back, and bring up at the point of the new cupboard.
In theory I could easily run underfloor cable to any of the downstairs rooms without much disruption at any time we need to move equipment around. What will be fixed is the cabling, wall sockets etc in the new kitchen as that will all be behind new plaster walls and ceilings and a new tiled floor which is what we're giving some thought to now about socket and appliance positioning.
So I've gone low budget, to buy the parts and see if I can get this to work. If anything it's going to teach me a bit about networks and wifi coverage and give me something to do during lockdown. I've ordered an TP Link access point and repeater, a TP link 8 port switch and a bunch of cable from Amazon. First thing will be to see if I can run a line to the kitchen from my homeHub, plug in the switch, the access point for improved wifi in the kitchen and plug the current TV into the switch and see how we can improve things. Total cost so far about £30 In theory I could easily run underfloor cable to any of the downstairs rooms without much disruption at any time we need to move equipment around. What will be fixed is the cabling, wall sockets etc in the new kitchen as that will all be behind new plaster walls and ceilings and a new tiled floor which is what we're giving some thought to now about socket and appliance positioning.
The access point comes with independent POE injector so I will play around with that too.
Good news about our building work is that after an indefinite delay, our builder is ready to start as soon as restrictions are lifted and he can get supplies, so it's a good time start to work on details like this now.
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