New router for 900mbps FTTP or wait and see?

[butchstewie]

Finally pulled my finger out and ordered FTTP 900mbps broadband to replace a GFAST service which is absolutely fine except the "phone line" cost keeps going up as copper is being phased out etc.

Anyway I have a TP-Link "Archer AX10 v1.0" or "AX1500 Wi-Fi 6 Router" depending which description you go off and it's been rock solid for the three or four years I've had it.

Part of me wants a new toy part of me thinks this will be absolutely fine for what I use the internet for - I don't need a 900mbps connection but it's still cheaper than sticking with the 160mbps GFAST.

Despite working in IT I know jack st about home grade routers and at home I'm just a normal consumer with "stuff" scattered around the hour on Wi-Fi. No home-lab or weird requirements.

[megaphone]

What router is the ISP providing? Often they 'like' their router on the end so they can manage the service, they claim they won't offer any support if their routers not on the end.

[butchstewie]

None.

It's IDNET so whilst they can sell me one they don't insist on it.

[outnumbered]

butchstewie said:

None.

It's IDNET so whilst they can sell me one they don't insist on it.

As long as your device has an Ethernet WAN port that will do the appropriate encapsulatipn for IDNET (e.g. is it PPPoE or straight IP using DHCP?), then I'd just stick with it, it'll probably do 900 on a speed test anyway from a wired port.

[megaphone]

Yes stick with the one you have, as said it will do gigabit via ethernet and is wifi 6 so will be fast on wifi.

[butchstewie]

outnumbered said:

As long as your device has an Ethernet WAN port that will do the appropriate encapsulatipn for IDNET (e.g. is it PPPoE or straight IP using DHCP?), then I'd just stick with it, it'll probably do 900 on a speed test anyway from a wired port.

PPPoE with the router picking everything up automatically.

To be honest I'm sort of surprised how little it looks like home routers seem to have moved on given I got this in 2020.

Tempted to suck it and see I just didn't know if getting something newer/better would be a noticeable improvement or just money in the bin for little benefit.

[eltawater]

You'll be fine sticking with the archer, I'm still on a BT smart hub 2 which has been through the 500 - 900 subscriptions and is currently on 500 as we just never needed the additional bandwidth despite the hammering by the family.

[Captain_Morgan]

butchstewie said:

PPPoE with the router picking everything up automatically.

To be honest I'm sort of surprised how little it looks like home routers seem to have moved on given I got this in 2020.

Tempted to suck it and see I just didn't know if getting something newer/better would be a noticeable improvement or just money in the bin for little benefit.

What extra services / features are you expecting them to deliver to domestic customers?

As ever if your wireless is shallow in some areas then it’s possible to consider a mesh system or access points or a mesh connected via Ethernet.

Is you don’t have such a shortfall anywhere then what you have will suffice, most likely.

[butchstewie]

Only issue in my case is the FTTP service will come in the other side of the house to where the copper phone line is.

It's not a big house so my basic test has been to go stand where the FTTP will come in and check wifi coverage as we're effectively reversing the current location and it seems fine.

So yeah if range is an issue I may need to look at something like a mesh.

But in terms of basic service I think the concensus is try what I have now and see what I get.

[Captain_Morgan]

Also don’t forget that you can use ethernet to move your router elsewhere where there are some ultra thin ethernet cables out there that could help.

[handpaper]

butchstewie said:

None.

It's IDNET so whilst they can sell me one they don't insist on it.

Shhh. Pas devant les enfant!

It's OK guys, he's with Thus. They're brilliant, you get loads of offers and stuff!

[donkmeister]

Fritzbox if you want ease of use and flexibility.
Mikrotik if you want more flexibility and can tinker.
Ubiquity if you feel fancy.

[Magnum 475]

donkmeister said:

Fritzbox if you want ease of use and flexibility.
Mikrotik if you want more flexibility and can tinker.
Ubiquity if you feel fancy.

Ubiquiti / Unifi if you have a complex house requiring lots of access points, ideally cabled, and you want integrated camera security, integrated NAS drives, etc. Expensive, but versatile and complex. The Dream Machine's a great bit of kit, but probably not worth the extra if you don't want / need all of the additional functionality - and I speak as someone who has full Unifi kit at home.

[butchstewie]

Honestly don't need any of that.

Just need a decent low latency wi-fi connection and decent coverage.

Not going to lie a new shiny toy has crossed my mind but the main thing is what I have now will work just fine with the new connection though I would be staggered if I see 900mbps on anything other than a wired connection - not that I need it

[donkmeister]

Magnum 475 said:

donkmeister said:

Fritzbox if you want ease of use and flexibility.
Mikrotik if you want more flexibility and can tinker.
Ubiquity if you feel fancy.

Ubiquiti / Unifi if you have a complex house requiring lots of access points, ideally cabled, and you want integrated camera security, integrated NAS drives, etc. Expensive, but versatile and complex. The Dream Machine's a great bit of kit, but probably not worth the extra if you don't want / need all of the additional functionality - and I speak as someone who has full Unifi kit at home.

Interesting to hear. I've got a Fritzbox set-up across two houses/four buildings (VPN tunnel between the two "sites") and I've always hankered for a Ubiquity set-up when I have occasion to build a new network. Really just for the better VLAN configuration, but maybe a little for the bragging points.