Pay EE for their extended WIFI coverage or buy my own mesh

[London1986]

Hi all

I have recently moved to Plusnet full fibre broadband and annoyingly Openreach have installed the new ONT on one side of the property where the router sits, not centrally in the house where the old Virgin router sat.

Anyway, as I imagined, the coverage to the rest of the house isn't great.

So I have two options

Option 1
Plusnet does not offer any coverage extension so I could move to EE for the same price I am paying plus an extra £10/month for their 'Smart Wifi plus' service where they provide some sort of mesh devices to extend the coverage.

Option 2
Purchase my own mesh devices, perhaps one of the TP-Link Deco systems.

The EE service will work out at £120/year extra but after a quick google it seems I can get a decent mesh system for around £150 (or more if I go to something like the Deco XE75), so assuming going down this route makes more sense but interested in any feedback if you've been in a similar situation.

Also any recommendations welcome for what mesh system.

It is also worth stating that my Plusnet router is the Home Hub 2 which is NOT Wifi 6 so maybe using a 3rd party router could be more beneficial.

[un1eash]

Been using a Mercusys H80x triple system for a couple years now with no issues and fast WiFi throughout the whole house and garden.

[The Three D Mucketeer]

Your Router connects to the ONT on an Ethernet cable so doesn't need to be adjacent.

Why didn't you speak to the OPENREACH installer and tell them where you wanted to external box and the ONT before they installed it ?
I told then I wanted to go underground and not overhead and we planned it together.

[Inbox]

£10/month for that!

You can buy a cheap mesh consisting of 2 devices for £120, talk about pulling your pants down.

[London1986]

The Three D Mucketeer said:

Your Router connects to the ONT on an Ethernet cable so doesn't need to be adjacent.

I know but due to the the layout of the house, there is no elegant way of running the ethernet cable to the desired location.

The Three D Mucketeer said:

Why didn't you speak to the OPENREACH installer and tell them where you wanted to external box and the ONT before they installed it ?
I told then I wanted to go underground and not overhead and we planned it together.

I did, I was told it wasn't possible. Where I was intending the ONT to be fitted required them to go either underground or on the roof, neither of which they said was possible.

[paralla]

I paid Openreach £125 to come and move my fibre cable and ONT to where I wanted it after I moved into a house that had the ONT in a location I didn’t like.

I ditched the BT Superhub 2 and connected an Eero mesh thingy directly to the ONT.

[London1986]

paralla said:

I paid Openreach £125 to come and move my fibre cable and ONT to where I wanted it after I moved into a house that had the ONT in a location I didn’t like.

I ditched the BT Superhub 2 and connected an Eero mesh thingy directly to the ONT.

Interesting. Was the new location quite far from the previous? Did it involve them running the cable over the roof?

[paralla]

London1986 said:

paralla said:

I paid Openreach £125 to come and move my fibre cable and ONT to where I wanted it after I moved into a house that had the ONT in a location I didn’t like.

I ditched the BT Superhub 2 and connected an Eero mesh thingy directly to the ONT.

Interesting. Was the new location quite far from the previous? Did it involve them running the cable over the roof?

The cable connection point was moved from one side of the house to the other, clipped to the front of the house and through the wall where I asked it to go. I have a service cupboard in an alcove behind the TV with the gas meter and internet gubbins. It’s way neater than it was before.

[The Three D Mucketeer]

I installed my own duct on my property and OPENREACH sub contractors joined it externally , then the fibre was just pulled in by OPENREACH... I ran the fibre tail from the external box to the ONT because I'd already put a draw rope under my floorboards in advance. So everything now in my Comms Room ( The Cistern Cupboard) including two UPS for the ONT and the Router.
I use EERO 6 ... but the EE WIFI is a lot stronger and faster than EERO at 5GHz in my lounge and gets about 700Mbs

[paralla]

I have two eero Pro 6E’s and I get 750mbps down.

[London1986]

Inbox said:

£10/month for that!

You can buy a cheap mesh consisting of 2 devices for £120, talk about pulling your pants down.

Yeah when you put it like that!

[London1986]

Been doing a bit more reading, Eero 6 looks very decent - 3 pack for £160.

But I think I'm going to spend a bit more and get the TP-Link XE75. £300 but it's 6E, would be good to get to future proof

[Inbox]

Can you just confirm, this a straight equipment rental rather than a rent to buy deal?

[Timz01]

With the ee boxes, even though you rent them and ee will want them back, folks still sell them on ebay.

If you get one, they just work when you connect them, even without the whole home subscription. Thibk I have seen them go for anything from 50 to 90 quid.

You just have to get the right ones for the router ee send you.

This is the same for the bt black disks with the super hub2

[DonkeyApple]

London1986 said:

Hi all

I have recently moved to Plusnet full fibre broadband and annoyingly Openreach have installed the new ONT on one side of the property where the router sits, not centrally in the house where the old Virgin router sat.

Anyway, as I imagined, the coverage to the rest of the house isn't great.

So I have two options

Option 1
Plusnet does not offer any coverage extension so I could move to EE for the same price I am paying plus an extra £10/month for their 'Smart Wifi plus' service where they provide some sort of mesh devices to extend the coverage.

Option 2
Purchase my own mesh devices, perhaps one of the TP-Link Deco systems.

The EE service will work out at £120/year extra but after a quick google it seems I can get a decent mesh system for around £150 (or more if I go to something like the Deco XE75), so assuming going down this route makes more sense but interested in any feedback if you've been in a similar situation.

Also any recommendations welcome for what mesh system.

It is also worth stating that my Plusnet router is the Home Hub 2 which is NOT Wifi 6 so maybe using a 3rd party router could be more beneficial.

My personal opinion is to have as little to do with these businesses. Ultimately they're just set up to find and rinse pensioners and the vulnerable. They'll use the over priced extenders to lock you in for a longer milking.

Quite a few years ago I bought half a dozen Deco units and by far the most rewarding aspect is the freedom from teletwunts. It works seamlessly but it's the fact that it is a gate keeper that keeps people you do not wish to speak with out of your life. You can just plug whatever router you ever want into your Deco system and it all works. All your devices have the login of the deco so you never need to change a device connection because you've changed router.

Move house, change provider, plug in an emergency 4G router etc all your devices remain completely unchanged and you have absolutely no need to ever deal with a phone company other than to terminate them or onboard a new one with the shorted possible lock in.

I love tech that does away with tech people and sales people and despise tech that exists to put these people into your life unnecessarily. Your own mesh v a phone company's mesh is a near perfect example of good tech v paying to be imprisoned by 'always be selling' s.

Edited by DonkeyApple on Wednesday 20th August 09:34

[moustachebandit]

London1986 said:

Hi all

I have recently moved to Plusnet full fibre broadband and annoyingly Openreach have installed the new ONT on one side of the property where the router sits, not centrally in the house where the old Virgin router sat.

Anyway, as I imagined, the coverage to the rest of the house isn't great.

So I have two options

Option 1
Plusnet does not offer any coverage extension so I could move to EE for the same price I am paying plus an extra £10/month for their 'Smart Wifi plus' service where they provide some sort of mesh devices to extend the coverage.

Option 2
Purchase my own mesh devices, perhaps one of the TP-Link Deco systems.

The EE service will work out at £120/year extra but after a quick google it seems I can get a decent mesh system for around £150 (or more if I go to something like the Deco XE75), so assuming going down this route makes more sense but interested in any feedback if you've been in a similar situation.

Also any recommendations welcome for what mesh system.

It is also worth stating that my Plusnet router is the Home Hub 2 which is NOT Wifi 6 so maybe using a 3rd party router could be more beneficial.

Recently asked a similar question on here, bought an TP Link X1500 Deco mesh, which is connected into the standard EE router (which now in pass through) and the wifi has been fast and faultless throughout the house and gardens where previously with just the EE router we would struggle for signal in at least 1/2 of the rooms and suffer major speed loss.

[The Three D Mucketeer]

Just be aware if you have EE TV , the protocols (Multicast/IGMP) they use are not support EERO and I guess other devices , so you may have to Ethernet hardwire or use a BT/EE routers WIFI .

Edited by The Three D Mucketeer on Wednesday 20th August 09:43

[Byker28i]

moustachebandit said:

Recently asked a similar question on here, bought an TP Link X1500 Deco mesh, which is connected into the standard EE router (which now in pass through) and the wifi has been fast and faultless throughout the house and gardens where previously with just the EE router we would struggle for signal in at least 1/2 of the rooms and suffer major speed loss.

Everyone like John Lewis, Argos, Toolstation seems to sell these for £135, which seems very good for wifi extension, better than the old powerplugs we currently use

[London1986]

DonkeyApple said:

My personal opinion is to have as little to do with these businesses. Ultimately they're just set up to find and rinse pensioners and the vulnerable. They'll use the over priced extenders to lock you in for a longer milking.

Quite a few years ago I bought half a dozen Deco units and by far the most rewarding aspect is the freedom from teletwunts. It works seamlessly but it's the fact that it is a gate keeper that keeps people you do not wish to speak with out of your life. You can just plug whatever router you ever want into your Deco system and it all works. All your devices have the login of the deco so you never need to change a device connection because you've changed router.

Move house, change provider, plug in an emergency 4G router etc all your devices remain completely unchanged and you have absolutely no need to ever deal with a phone company other than to terminate them or onboard a new one with the shorted possible lock in.

I love tech that does away with tech people and sales people and despise tech that exists to put these people into your life unnecessarily. Your own mesh v a phone company's mesh is a near perfect example of good tech v paying to be imprisoned by 'always be selling' s.

Edited by DonkeyApple on Wednesday 20th August 09:34

Yeh I agree with this and have come to the same conclusion.

Part of why I am with Plusnet is because they seem to be the cheapest in my area that will supply 900mb broadband AND have good customer service (regularly recommended by Which magazine as a good supplier).

Their router however isn't great, a Wifi 5 router I believe so by swapping out their router with my Deco one I'll benefit from a faster router as well as the mesh network

[London1986]

moustachebandit said:

Recently asked a similar question on here, bought an TP Link X1500 Deco mesh, which is connected into the standard EE router (which now in pass through) and the wifi has been fast and faultless throughout the house and gardens where previously with just the EE router we would struggle for signal in at least 1/2 of the rooms and suffer major speed loss.

Thanks for sharing. This seems to be the consensus with the Deco mesh systems, really reasonably priced too!

I paid a bit more for Wifi 6e, will be interesting how useful the extra 6ghz frequency is