Home network setup advice

[Apparatus]

I might be a bit contrarian here, but *if* you’re going to all the trouble of running wires then maybe it’s worth skipping the consumer grade wireless routers (or wireless access points) and getting something higher grade that’s more likely to get many years of timely security updates.

Singtel is ONR-based, I think. So an access point is really all you need, especially if you want to avoid double NATs. Maybe a Ubiquiti U6+ or Aruba A22? (Anyone have any current favorites? How’s Ruckus?)

If you want to avoid running wires then I think you still have a few good options:

• Powerline bridging is still available, mostly from TP-Link. For example, you could put one wireless access point in the bedroom next to the living room for whole home coverage and make the hop from your Singtel ONR to that WAP using a pair of powerline adapters. Powerline-based network bridging isn’t as reliable as coax (typically MoCA) or phone line (G.hn 2.0) bridging — find those RJ11 jacks if you can — but it can work.
• Get a good quality WAP that has two 5 GHz radios. Position it near your Singtel ONR, set one of the radios to 20 MHz wide Channel 165 (the “slower but farther” radio), set the other 5 GHz radio to 80 MHz width (the “faster but nearer” radio), set the 2.4 GHz radio to 20 MHz wide Channel 1 or Channel 13 (depending on your neighbors — NEVER use 40 MHz wide channels on 2.4 GHz; that’s just rude), and see how it goes. For example, the Netgear WAX630 can do this, but it’s a bit pricey. Any others?
• Of course there are lots of options involving 2 wireless access points with a wireless connection between them. But you don’t necessarily need to start with that option.

Powerline low speed and not reliable connection

WAP. Her mom don't like the idea of drilling holes on the walls. So how are you going to mount the WAPs on the wall/ceiling? Unless his house has false ceiling/false walls then no issue

 

[Apparatus]

Will the Asus aimesh be suitable? Which one will be good ah?

Asus has AiMesh and TP-LINK has 4 different types of mesh. Best is the Deco Mesh for TP-LINK

I would recommend you take

ASUS ZenWiFi Pro XT12 (Triband WiFi 6)

2.0 GHz quad-core 64bits processor

WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (2.4GHz) : up to 1148 Mbps
WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (5GHz-1) : up to 4804 Mbps
WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (5GHz-2) : up to 4804 Mbps

20/40/80/160 MHz bandwidth
* The 160MHz bandwidth may be unavailable in the 5GHz band in some regions / countries due to regulatory restrictions.

Check your devices whether they support 160MHz to take advantage of it

https://www.asus.com/sg/networking-...-wifi-systems/asus-zenwifi-pro-xt12/techspec/

With the 5GHz-2 use as wireless backhaul your fronthaul speed is 4804 + 1148 Mbps = about 6000 Mbps. And I believe you will not use the 2.4GHz band unless you have IoT devices so that reduces your fronthaul speed further to 4804Mbps for the 5GHz-1 band

With the ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) your net fronthaul speed reduces drastically to 1201Mbps for the 5GHz-1 band as below

WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (2.4GHz) : up to 574 Mbps
WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (5GHz-1) : up to 1201 Mbps
WiFi 6 (802.11ax) (5GHz-2) : up to 4804 Mbps

20/40/80/160 MHz bandwidth
* The 160MHz bandwidth may be unavailable in the 5GHz band in some regions / countries due to regulatory restrictions.

https://www.asus.com/sg/networking-...fi-wifi-systems/asus-zenwifi-ax-xt8/techspec/

 

[xiaofan]

Will the Asus aimesh be suitable? Which one will be good ah?

AImesh is good, better than Deco Mesh, but you need to use triband WiFi 6/6E mesh and they are not cheap.

From Asus, cheapest is Asus ZenWiFi XT8 or ROG GT6, listed price S$599 for a pair, but you may find better lobangs. ZenWiFi Pro XT12 will be even better but more expensive.

TP-Link Deco XE75 Pro is another option, quite a bit cheaper. It is WiFi 6E mesh solution.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Powerline low speed and not reliable connection

Can be, yes.

WAP. Her mom don't like the idea of drilling holes on the walls. So how are you going to mount the WAPs on the wall/ceiling? Unless his house has false ceiling/false walls then no issue

I think we're making this too complicated. I think it's worth trying a tri-band Wi-Fi 6 access point located next to the Singtel ONR. Set one of the 5 GHz radios to 20 MHz wide Channel 165, and see how it goes. If anything in the 5 GHz band is going to punch into that "far" bedroom, Channel 165 will. True, a 20 MHz wide channel isn't going to deliver 1.0 Gb/s to that bedroom. But getting decent or better service should be good news.

It should be a short run to put this single WAP a little "north" of the fibre drop/ONR, along the same wall, so that it's pointing down the hallway towards the bedrooms.

I'm assuming this is a Singtel ONR (and not bridged), so a simple wireless access point-based configuration is best to avoid double NATs. If for some reason a single access point doesn't provide enough coverage then the tri-band Wi-Fi 6 access point can easily be augmented with another WAP. The "third" radio then serves as the wireless backhaul to link them. (Although how well this works will depend on the wireless environment and neighbors. This dual WAP setup would require 3 channels in the 5 GHz band. That could be a lot, especially if attempting wide channels.) But you don't necessarily need to buy both WAPs up front. You can start with one WAP and see how it goes.

I'm not enthusiastic about the consumer grade stuff since the vendors never seem to care about security updates. But maybe I'm contrarian?

 

[chiu2000]

Powerline low speed and not reliable connection

WAP. Her mom don't like the idea of drilling holes on the walls. So how are you going to mount the WAPs on the wall/ceiling? Unless his house has false ceiling/false walls then no issue

Powerline is still better than bad WiFi.

At least can get 200-300Mbps with consistent latency

 

[xiaofan]

Powerline is still better than bad WiFi.
At least can get 200-300Mbps with consistent latency

More like 100Mbps to 300Mbps for typical Singapore household.

I am still using it for some of my older development boards without WiFi or with poor 2.4GHz WiFi.

Still got no LAN ports in my rooms but plan to DIY and lay Fibre cables in the end.

 

[BBCWatcher]

Keep your coax wiring if you have it. Even 2-wire telephone cable is quite usable if you have that.

 

[laksa2003]

AImesh is good, better than Deco Mesh, but you need to use triband WiFi 6/6E mesh and they are not cheap.

From Asus, cheapest is Asus ZenWiFi XT8 or ROG GT6, listed price S$599 for a pair, but you may find better lobangs. ZenWiFi Pro XT12 will be even better but more expensive.

TP-Link Deco XE75 Pro is another option, quite a bit cheaper. It is WiFi 6E mesh solution.

XT2 is scary expensive... $800+ for one. $1.6k for 2...
can buy a good laptop liao..

 

[loganrunning]

XT2 is scary expensive... $800+ for one. $1.6k for 2...
can buy a good laptop liao..

if i interpret @xiaofan post correctly.....

if wiring is acceptable, wiring is a one time cost that if done properly, 99% guarantees good connection in the house, and therefore can save $$$ on cheaper AP/routers that dun need triband

if wiring not acceptable, then have to spend on the expensive triband routers. end of the day, the imposed constraints determine the available alternatives
(and yes, i agree that the recommended routers are expensive!)

 

[xiaofan]

if i interpret @xiaofan post correctly.....

if wiring is acceptable, wiring is a one time cost that if done properly, 99% guarantees good connection in the house, and therefore can save $$$ on cheaper AP/routers that dun need triband

if wiring not acceptable, then have to spend on the expensive triband routers. end of the day, the imposed constraints determine the available alternatives
(and yes, i agree that the recommended routers are expensive!)

Yes. Triband AX routers are unfortunately still expensive now.

TP-Link Deco XE75 Pro is one of the cheapest one at S$429 for a pair (older Deco X68 and Deco X75 are probably EOLed). The next one from TP-Link Singapore Deco triband mesh offering is already at much higher price -- Deco BE65.

Linksys Velop MX4200 has some poor reviews, you may get cheaper second hand units from Carousell. But personally I do not recommend second hand units (especially out of warranty units).

For Asus the cheapest is Asus ZenWiFi XT8 (or ROG GT6). There are often offers for XT8. And you get cheaper second hand units from Carousell. But again personally I do not recommend second hand units (especially out of warranty units).

For Netgear the cheapest is RBK752.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From my post here (first posted in Nov 2021 but updated later).
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...flats-without-lan-ports-in-the-rooms.6646066/

Summary
1) All in all, the best is still to lay out Ethernet cables to the rooms (living room and the bed rooms). It may not be necessary to have LAN ports in every room, rather selected location may be good enough. Some people may even want to lay Fibre cable along with Ethernet cables at the same time to be more futute proof.

2) For some older flats, the ONT is in a relatively central location and they may be served by just one powerful wireless router if the expectation is not too high. This is especially true with powerful wireless router like Asus RT-AX86U Pro, GT-AX6000, GT-AX11000 Pro, etc.

A ceiling mount PoE AP can also be considered to place in a central location.

You can also try to be creative and then hang a consumer wireless router in a central location even if the ONT is not in a central location.

3) Using Moca adapters are another good option if Cable infrastructure is available at home.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/moca-network-setup-ethernet-over-tv-cable.5675388/

4) If the above two are not an option, then triband mesh solution can be a good one. Usually two pack or three pack will be good enough for the flat. Triband AX routers are still pretty expensive too, eg, Netgear Orbi RBK752/753, RBK852/853, Asus Zenwifi XT8 and Linksys Velop MX4200. Cheap option includes TP-Link Deco X68 and X75.

Dual band mesh solution may be used if the placement of the second node (and/or the 3rd node) can be accommodated.

No matter it is triband or dual band mesh solution, the mesh node needs to have good connection to the main node. The best is to have line of sight. If not, at most one wall in between.

5) Power line adapters can be used as well if the requirement is lower (usually 100Mbps to 300 Mbps).

6) Wireless Media bridge or repeater can also be used if it is applicable.

7) Singtel FTTR is a new solution if you are willing to pay for it.

More info about mesh router selection.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/threads/how-to-choose-a-mesh-router.6452151/

 

[Apparatus]

XT2 is scary expensive... $800+ for one. $1.6k for 2...
can buy a good laptop liao..

What? XT12

S$1099 for a 2-pack

https://shopee.sg/ASUS-ZenWiFi-Pro-...cb&xptdk=6dce53d1-86f4-4217-9cac-6312731238cb

For a single piece. It's S$490. Buy 2 separate pieces cost S$980.........even cheaper but need to configure yourself

https://shopee.sg/Asus-ZenWiFi-Pro-...6c&xptdk=b1e7a86b-c8ae-441c-9d48-12b47b01856c

 

[laksa2003]

What? XT12

S$1099 for a 2-pack

https://shopee.sg/ASUS-ZenWiFi-Pro-...cb&xptdk=6dce53d1-86f4-4217-9cac-6312731238cb

For a single piece. It's S$490. Buy 2 separate pieces cost S$980.........even cheaper but need to configure yourself

https://shopee.sg/Asus-ZenWiFi-Pro-...6c&xptdk=b1e7a86b-c8ae-441c-9d48-12b47b01856c

nice.. thats cheaper