New HDB BTO Flat - How do you connect your Home Fiber Network

xonix

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Yes will be running VPN for work, which router or network switch would you recommend?
This might be a little biased but the Asus ax86u i'm using is pretty bang for the buck.
But do check if you have height limitaton as it's a vertical design with only 5 x LAN ports
Else, you can check smallnetbuilder's ranking chart for alternative recommendations.
 

xiaofan

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Yes will be running VPN for work, which router or network switch would you recommend?

I believe many VPN for work will not really working on the router side. You install the VPN client on the PC or Mobile devices. So it does not really matter for the router.

But yes RT-AX86U is one of the best router out there in terms of price performance ratio. Promotion price from Courts is as low as around S$320.

Make sure you have two or three LAN ports in the living room console area so that you do not need to put a router in the DB box. Rather you can put a cheap switch like TP-Link TL-SG105 in the DB box.

ONT in DB Box -- Living room LAN port 1 -- RT-AX86U -- Living room LAN port 2 -- TP-Link TL-SG105 in DB box -- room LAN ports

Room LAN ports -- Asus RT-AX55 or RT-AX58U AI mesh nodes if required.
 
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autokana

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This might be a little biased but the Asus ax86u i'm using is pretty bang for the buck.
But do check if you have height limitaton as it's a vertical design with only 5 x LAN ports
Else, you can check smallnetbuilder's ranking chart for alternative recommendations.
Ok thanks, my DB box has space, should have enough height. I only need 4 LAN ports to connect to access points.
 

autokana

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I believe many VPN for work will not really working on the router side. You install the VPN client on the PC or Mobile devices. So it does not really matter for the router.

But yes RT-AX86U is one of the best router out their in terms of price performance ratio. Promotion price from Courts is as low as around S$320.

Make sure you have two or three LAN ports in the living room console area so that you do not need to put a router in the DB box. Rather you can put a cheap switch like TP-Link TL-SG105 in the DB box.

ONT in DB Box -- Living room LAN port 1 -- RT-AX86U -- Living room LAN port 2 -- TP-Link TL-SG105 in DB box -- room LAN ports

Room LAN ports -- Asus RT-AX55 or RT-AX58U AI mesh nodes if required.
Thanks for the advice, yes VPN client is installed on my PC. But my living room has only one LAN port. Possible to use my current AC-2600 in DB box and connect to 4 access points? Living room plug in RT-AX86U for wifi access and 3 bedrooms plug in RT-AX55 for AI mesh for wifi access?
 

xiaofan

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Thanks for the advice, yes VPN client is installed on my PC. But my living room has only one LAN port. Possible to use my current AC-2600 in DB box and connect to 4 access points? Living room plug in RT-AX86U for wifi access and 3 bedrooms plug in RT-AX55 for AI mesh for wifi access?

Your current router is Asus RT-AC2600? Yes it will work but you have to set up the RT-AX86U in AP mode and main AIMesh node.

In that case, the strong CPU and good FW features of the RT-AX86U is kind of wasted. But if you put RT-AX86U in the DB box, then the strong wireless capability is kind of wasted.

Then probably you can go with the following cheaper option which should be good enough for most use cases as well..

RT-AX56U in the DB Box as main router.
RT-AX58U in the living room as main AP.
RT-AX56U or RT-AX55 in the other room if needed.

Or just sacrifice the wireless capability of the RT-AX86U and put it in the DB box.
 

autokana

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Your current router is Asus RT-AC2600? Yes it will work but you have to set up the RT-AX86U in AP mode and main AIMesh node.

In that case, the strong CPU and good FW features of the RT-AX86U is kind of wasted. But if you put RT-AX86U in the DB box, then the strong wireless capability is kind of wasted.

Then probably you can go with the following cheaper option which should be good enough for most use cases as well..

RT-AX56U in the DB Box as main router.
RT-AX58U in the living room as main AP.
RT-AX56U or RT-AX55 in the other room if needed.

Or just sacrifice the wireless capability of the RT-AX86U and put it in the DB box.
Yes my current router is AC 2600 using it at my current place.
As per your suggestion, if put RT-AX56U in DB box, should I disable the wifi function?
 

xiaofan

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Yes my current router is AC 2600 using it at my current place.
As per your suggestion, if put RT-AX56U in DB box, should I disable the wifi function?

I believe you can do that if you want to save some power and reduce heat of the RT-AX56U.

But to futher reduce the cost, you can try the following.

Keep RT-AC2600 in the DB Box as main router (disable wifi). Its CPU is probably good enough for average use.
RT-AX58U in the living room as main AP and AIMesh main node.
RT-AX56U or RT-AX55 in the other room if needed.
 

autokana

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I believe you can do that if you want to save some power and reduce heat of the RT-AX56U.

But to futher reduce the cost, you can try the following.

Keep RT-AC2600 in the DB Box as main router (disable wifi). Its CPU is probably good enough for average use.
RT-AX58U in the living room as main AP and AIMesh main node.
RT-AX56U or RT-AX55 in the other room if needed.
Thanks! Will try to do this.
 

Karael

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Hi, asking for help from all the experts here if this layout is feasible or can be improved. Just started reading about home network, appreciate any advice.

Doing reno for my resale flat. Laying lan points in each room. Creating a utility box where i'll put the TP, ONT, Router, lan outlets. The wireless router will be in the living room, together with the TV.


 

BradenHeat

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Hi, asking for help from all the experts here if this layout is feasible or can be improved. Just started reading about home network, appreciate any advice.

Doing reno for my resale flat. Laying lan points in each room. Creating a utility box where i'll put the TP, ONT, Router, lan outlets. The wireless router will be in the living room, together with the TV.



First fast impression

just one ax82u and above [ ax86u or even ax88u should cover the entire area,]
cavat is to pull the LAN cable slightly upwards, edging to the main bedroom entrance to minimise the interferance the walls and doors might have

and it depends which looks nicer and how you want to display it [ out of sight, vertical height vs horizontal fat ]


use a old existing router, ac/wifi 5 to test before deciding, if possible


then if required, you can just use the LAN ports for aimesh or even mesh systems from asus

and it really depends which ISP you going for, but mostly, would avoid SingTel and VQ
 

xyz890

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First fast impression

just one ax82u and above [ ax86u or even ax88u should cover the entire area,]
cavat is to pull the LAN cable slightly upwards, edging to the main bedroom entrance to minimise the interferance the walls and doors might have

and it depends which looks nicer and how you want to display it [ out of sight, vertical height vs horizontal fat ]


use a old existing router, ac/wifi 5 to test before deciding, if possible


then if required, you can just use the LAN ports for aimesh or even mesh systems from asus

and it really depends which ISP you going for, but mostly, would avoid SingTel and VQ
my parents have similar house, can I use ASUS ax88 inside DB box (disable wifi and connect all room, living 6 Lan points), and use 2 or 3 xiaomi ax3000 routers for AP for mesh setting? use xiaomi ax3000 because of lower cost and look nice.
 

xiaofan

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my parents have similar house, can I use ASUS ax88 inside DB box (disable wifi and connect all room, living 6 Lan points), and use 2 or 3 xiaomi ax3000 routers for AP for mesh setting? use xiaomi ax3000 because of lower cost and look nice.

A bit wasted for the RT-AX88U if put inside the DB Box.

Why not put a cheaper RT-AX56U in the DB box and then add Zenwifi XD4 in the rooms? Full AImesh based solution.

You can also use RT-AX55 in the rooms.
 

BradenHeat

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@xyz890 what @xiaofan says,


do not worry about other things, just place the ax88 at the main area of the house, as centralised as possible

from there just simply get a second hand or cheaper ac/wifi 5 from asus to aimesh / ap using the LAN ports

[ though im not sure if there will be a feedback loop on ip-address [ lol dejavu, think i proposed this before but not sure if this instance, double NAT would impact anything or not ]

as for the ISP router/ fiber, you can simply just leave it in the DB, but disable the 5Ghz if you're on singtel,

hence why most of the folks would recommend you to simply get MyRepublic or m1 for bang for buck features


as for the alternative, ax86 for less horizontal space [ foot print ]
and added bonus is what you've seen in the threads from ax82u and ax86u, the way to do custom scripts for better QoS than asus's out of the box implementation

why im bringing up is because, wfh + HBL for the kids, ive witness alot of unhappy disconnection

just today, one of my internal clients, called for assist and her router was a mesh nokia, the sub-par-no-performance Nokia Becon.


the wifi signal would consistantly drop and our remote session keeps lagging until she was infront of the main router , line of sight :s13: :s22:


my parents have similar house, can I use ASUS ax88 inside DB box (disable wifi and connect all room, living 6 Lan points), and use 2 or 3 xiaomi ax3000 routers for AP for mesh setting? use xiaomi ax3000 because of lower cost and look nice.

A bit wasted for the RT-AX88U if put inside the DB Box.

Why not put a cheaper RT-AX56U in the DB box and then add Zenwifi XD4 in the rooms? Full AImesh based solution.

You can also use RT-AX55 in the rooms.
 

Karael

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Thanks for the replies! Yeah, my current place doesn't have lan ports, wifi very choppy especially when everyone at home. Quite embarrassing during work meetings. Now with the new house, must do the home network nicely
 

xyz890

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A bit wasted for the RT-AX88U if put inside the DB Box.

Why not put a cheaper RT-AX56U in the DB box and then add Zenwifi XD4 in the rooms? Full AImesh based solution.

You can also use RT-AX55 in the rooms.
also think a bit of wasted, but Ax88u got 8 ports can connect to all 6 Lan ports inside the DB box, so all room will have Lan speed instead of wifi, furthermore my parents don't like to see antennas at the living room. Xiaomi Ax3000 no external antennas and cheap if get if from TB.
 

xiaofan

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also think a bit of wasted, but Ax88u got 8 ports can connect to all 6 Lan ports inside the DB box, so all room will have Lan speed instead of wifi, furthermore my parents don't like to see antennas at the living room. Xiaomi Ax3000 no external antennas and cheap if get if from TB.

Just get RT-AX56U plus a cheap TP-Link TL-SG105 switch to get the 8 ports, much cheaper than the RT-AX88U.

As for Xiaomi AX3000, not so sure how good the mesh works with AP mode, by right it should work. Take note initially Xiaomi AX3600 does not support Mesh in AP mode, later FW update supports mesh in AP mode.
 

xiaofan

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If you have two LAN ports in the living room console area, then you can get RT-AX86U in the living console area. It is cheaper and a bit better than RT-AX88U.

Then you can add a switch like TP-Link TL-SG108 in the DB box.

ONT -- living room LAN port 1 -- RT-AX86U main router -- living room LAN port 2 -- TL-SG108 switch in DB box -- LAN ports in other rooms -- Zenwifi XD4 as mesh nodes if required (do not buy first, probably RT-AX86U is good enough).
 

athieee

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If you have two LAN ports in the living room console area, then you can get RT-AX86U in the living console area. It is cheaper and a bit better than RT-AX88U.

Then you can add a switch like TP-Link TL-SG108 in the DB box.

ONT -- living room LAN port 1 -- RT-AX86U main router -- living room LAN port 2 -- TL-SG108 switch in DB box -- LAN ports in other rooms -- Zenwifi XD4 as mesh nodes if required (do not buy first, probably RT-AX86U is good enough).
Hi Xiaofan, really liked your suggestions given out to others so far. Seek your opinion as well

For my set up, (new BTO), unfortunately only 1 Lan port in the living room. Hence router can only be in the DB box. If that is the case, shld I get a lower cost RT AX56U instead and put Zenwifi XD4 in the rooms as mesh nodes? Or the performance of 86U is much better to support the mesh network even if its 'wasted' sitting in the DB box

DB box and Master Bedroom (main usage area) are like opposite ends of the unit :(

For the rooms, as the TVs also have lan ports, am I able to connect Lan ports -- Zenwifi XD4 --- TV as well? or will the Zenwifi work well with the TV through wifi just by proximity

Alternatively i was thinking to connect the TV to Lan port, and have the Zenwifi work without the ethernet backhaul? (not sure how much degradation in bandwidth will that be).

Current setup is a single AC1200 router.
 
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xiaofan

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Hi Xiaofan, really liked your suggestions given out to others so far. Seek your opinion as well

For my set up, (new BTO), unfortunately only 1 Lan port in the living room. Hence router can only be in the DB box. If that is the case, shld I get a lower cost RT AX56U instead and put Zenwifi XD4 in the rooms as mesh nodes? Or the performance of 86U is much better to support the mesh network even if its 'wasted' sitting in the DB box

DB box and Master Bedroom (main usage area) are like opposite ends of the unit :(

For the rooms, as the TVs also have lan ports, am I able to connect Lan ports -- Zenwifi XD4 --- TV as well? or will the Zenwifi work well with the TV through wifi just by proximity

Alternatively i was thinking to connect the TV to Lan port, and have the Zenwifi work without the ethernet backhaul? (not sure how much degradation in bandwidth will that be).

Current setup is a single AC1200 router.

If you are willing to pay for RT-AX86U and sacrifice its good wireless functionality, then it is for sure a good option. You gain more performance if you want to run VPN, QoS, etc, which needs more CPU power. It has also Merlin FW support which gains quite some nice features compared to stock Asus FW.

If you do not need those features then you can opt to put the RT-AX56U as the main router in the DB box. It should be good enough for average usage.

As for the AIMesh node, cheaper ones are RT-AX55 or Zenwifi XD4. If you really need the small form factor like Zenwifi XD4, then it only has two LAN ports, one can be used to the Ethernet backhaul and the other can be used with your TV. If you need more ports in the rooms, you can add a switch like cheap TP-Link TL-SG105. If you do not mind bigger form factor, then RT-AX55 or RT-AX56U are better AIMesh nodes and they have more ports.
 
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