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

[LOOOOOOL]

Base on support KB posted (a few post above).

Are both Beacon on bridge mode?

i manage to setup this. thanks.

but i would say the Nokia Beacon signal is not as good as expected. room next door still getting low wifi signal and speed.

 

[gregory_choo]

i manage to setup this. thanks.

but i would say the Nokia Beacon signal is not as good as expected. room next door still getting low wifi signal and speed.

don't put the router next to structural wall. if you do that, expect low wifi signal in the next room.

if you can't tell which is structural wall, look at the floor plan, those thick black lines are structural wall.

 

[zenify.me]

Hi guys, not a new BTO but hoping to get some feedback on how the placement of the 2 pairs of cat 6 points below can be further optimised to maximise coverage. The red number denotes the cat 6 points and the blue circle denotes the expected optimal connection performance range. The plan is to use the cat 6 points for wired backhaul for a 3-pack TP-Link Deco M4/M5 together with a Asus N56U configured as a switch in the living room.

Point #1 and #2 starts off from the living room since that is where the open net terminal and TV is expected to be located. Does it make more sense to shift the points in the living room to a more central location if there are no plans to have TV box services from Singtel/Starhub?

 

[Apex]

Hi guys, not a new BTO but hoping to get some feedback on how the placement of the 2 pairs of cat 6 points below can be further optimised to maximise coverage. The red number denotes the cat 6 points and the blue circle denotes the expected optimal connection performance range. The plan is to use the cat 6 points for wired backhaul for a 3-pack TP-Link Deco M4/M5 together with a Asus N56U configured as a switch in the living room.

Point #1 and #2 starts off from the living room since that is where the open net terminal and TV is expected to be located. Does it make more sense to shift the points in the living room to a more central location if there are no plans to have TV box services from Singtel/Starhub?

Look okey the setup. Since your mesh is running wired backhaul from the living room to Main and Bedroom3.

 

[loganrunning]

Hi guys, not a new BTO but hoping to get some feedback on how the placement of the 2 pairs of cat 6 points below can be further optimised to maximise coverage. The red number denotes the cat 6 points and the blue circle denotes the expected optimal connection performance range. The plan is to use the cat 6 points for wired backhaul for a 3-pack TP-Link Deco M4/M5 together with a Asus N56U configured as a switch in the living room.

Point #1 and #2 starts off from the living room since that is where the open net terminal and TV is expected to be located. Does it make more sense to shift the points in the living room to a more central location if there are no plans to have TV box services from Singtel/Starhub?

looks ok to me. for future plans (eg re-layout of living room furniture), you might want some spare points opposite (1, 2). since you are doing the reno, easier to lay extra points now, than later. Maybe it's just me, but i prefer to have spare and available ports, than needing to lay extra lines and ports later and disturb the nicely done works.

also, add spare LAN points in Bedroom2 if you foresee it could be used as a study or similar eg you decide to move your networked equipment there

 

[gregory_choo]

Hi guys, not a new BTO but hoping to get some feedback on how the placement of the 2 pairs of cat 6 points below can be further optimised to maximise coverage. The red number denotes the cat 6 points and the blue circle denotes the expected optimal connection performance range. The plan is to use the cat 6 points for wired backhaul for a 3-pack TP-Link Deco M4/M5 together with a Asus N56U configured as a switch in the living room.

Point #1 and #2 starts off from the living room since that is where the open net terminal and TV is expected to be located. Does it make more sense to shift the points in the living room to a more central location if there are no plans to have TV box services from Singtel/Starhub?

Ok, but better to spend $30 to buy a 1Gbps 5 port switch, instead of using N56U as a switch.

 

[Apex]

The switch can be found in IT store or online.

https://shopee.sg/search?keyword=tl-sg105&locations=Domestic&noCorrection=true&page=0
here is a sample of the TP-link TL-SG105

 

[loganrunning]

or use a gigabit router configured as a switch. $10 or less on carousell. re-use and save it from becoming e-waste

 

[Slavor]

Hi everyone, would like to seek your advice on the two set up I have in mind for my upcoming 5 room BTO, where my wife and I are likely to be working from home most of the time.

Equipment:
I’m likely to go with M1 1GBPS plan, and I see that they offer the Asus RT-AX55 at no extra cost, or if I want to top up I can get the Asus zenwifi XD6 2 pack for $11 a month. However for future proofing I also don’t mind getting the Asus XT8 2 pack separately via Amazon.

Proposal 1 (more expensive):
Go with the M1 Asus RT-AX55 and Asus XT8. I will place the AX-55 at the TP/Modem and turn off wifi. I will place the XT8 at LAN port 1 and 2 to maximise coverage, and both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $590 for the XT8.

Proposal 2 (more affordable):
Go with Zenwifi XD 6. I will place one at the TP/Modem and the other at LAN port 2 for maximum coverage, and as a result both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $264 for the Zenwifi.

Questions:
- Do you think proposal 1 is overkill for my usage? My biggest concern is proposal 2 not being able to cover areas like the living room, kitchen, bedroom 3 and toilet 2 as there being several walls between the XD6 inside the DB closet.
- Just to confirm, a router must be placed at the modem with the TP and turn off wifi to utilise ethernet backhaul correct? Cannot just connect modem to the LAN ports inside the DB?

Thank you!

 

[loganrunning]

Hi everyone, would like to seek your advice on the two set up I have in mind for my upcoming 5 room BTO, where my wife and I are likely to be working from home most of the time.

Equipment:
I’m likely to go with M1 1GBPS plan, and I see that they offer the Asus RT-AX55 at no extra cost, or if I want to top up I can get the Asus zenwifi XD6 2 pack for $11 a month. However for future proofing I also don’t mind getting the Asus XT8 2 pack separately via Amazon.

Proposal 1 (more expensive):
Go with the M1 Asus RT-AX55 and Asus XT8. I will place the AX-55 at the TP/Modem and turn off wifi. I will place the XT8 at LAN port 1 and 2 to maximise coverage, and both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $590 for the XT8.

Proposal 2 (more affordable):
Go with Zenwifi XD 6. I will place one at the TP/Modem and the other at LAN port 2 for maximum coverage, and as a result both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $264 for the Zenwifi.

Questions:
- Do you think proposal 1 is overkill for my usage? My biggest concern is proposal 2 not being able to cover areas like the living room, kitchen, bedroom 3 and toilet 2 as there being several walls between the XD6 inside the DB closet.
- Just to confirm, a router must be placed at the modem with the TP and turn off wifi to utilise ethernet backhaul correct? Cannot just connect modem to the LAN ports inside the DB?

Thank you!

it all depends on what your use is, and whether you want an all wifi system. Since you will be mainly WFH, I assume BR2 and/or BR3 will be the main places of work. I also assume that the LAN points shown in the diagram are pre-built-in.

if you have lots of file transfers - both within home and upload/download to external servers, or need low latency like gaming, then both are sub-optimal and will be better with wired connections to the PCs and wifi as supplementary for devices that are wireless-only. If each room has LAN points, better to connect the PCs to those LAN points -- these will be connected to the router in the DB. if the router has insufficient ports, just add an unmanaged switch (about $30 for new, or less than $10 for a used router to be repurposed as a switch)


proposal 1 placement has structural walls (solid black lines) severely reducing signal to BR2 and BR3. might be better to move it to the corridor outside BR2. you could use proposal 2 but using XT8 instead. then sell the AX-55U to recoup some costs ($100-120 on carousell). that will bring the equipment cost down to $470-490.

proposal 2 will give adequate coverage to the living and BR3, while BR2 may see poor-to-adquate coverage. For MBR, the lan point can remain, just use a longer cable so you can position the node so that there is no black wall between MBR and BR2.


some comparison of features: https://list23.com/240146-the-asus-zenwifi-xd6-is-a-middle-child-among-mesh-routers/

 

[Apex]

Hi everyone, would like to seek your advice on the two set up I have in mind for my upcoming 5 room BTO, where my wife and I are likely to be working from home most of the time.

Equipment:
I’m likely to go with M1 1GBPS plan, and I see that they offer the Asus RT-AX55 at no extra cost, or if I want to top up I can get the Asus zenwifi XD6 2 pack for $11 a month. However for future proofing I also don’t mind getting the Asus XT8 2 pack separately via Amazon.

Proposal 1 (more expensive):
Go with the M1 Asus RT-AX55 and Asus XT8. I will place the AX-55 at the TP/Modem and turn off wifi. I will place the XT8 at LAN port 1 and 2 to maximise coverage, and both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $590 for the XT8.

Proposal 2 (more affordable):
Go with Zenwifi XD 6. I will place one at the TP/Modem and the other at LAN port 2 for maximum coverage, and as a result both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $264 for the Zenwifi.

Questions:
- Do you think proposal 1 is overkill for my usage? My biggest concern is proposal 2 not being able to cover areas like the living room, kitchen, bedroom 3 and toilet 2 as there being several walls between the XD6 inside the DB closet.

I will go for proposal 2. If you have an old router you can use the old router and fall back to your Old router in DB + XD6.

For my I place my 1st mesh node inside the DB and I get good enough signal for online zoom and video (YouTube and Netflix) in your bedroom 3 (our layout about the same).

- Just to confirm, a router must be placed at the modem with the TP and turn off wifi to utilise ethernet backhaul correct? Cannot just connect modem to the LAN ports inside the DB?

If you are going for Free router (RT-AX55) is support ASUS AiMesh WiFi.

Maybe can consider RT-AX55 + another Asus aimesh router as 2nd node for LAN port 2. (There are many way that this can be done)

AX55 + ax82/86
Ax55 + XD4/6
Ax86 + AX82
XD6 + XD6 + XD4 (XD 4 single pack)

 

[TopGun]

Hi everyone, would like to seek your advice on the two set up I have in mind for my upcoming 5 room BTO, where my wife and I are likely to be working from home most of the time.

Equipment:
I’m likely to go with M1 1GBPS plan, and I see that they offer the Asus RT-AX55 at no extra cost, or if I want to top up I can get the Asus zenwifi XD6 2 pack for $11 a month. However for future proofing I also don’t mind getting the Asus XT8 2 pack separately via Amazon.

Proposal 1 (more expensive):
Go with the M1 Asus RT-AX55 and Asus XT8. I will place the AX-55 at the TP/Modem and turn off wifi. I will place the XT8 at LAN port 1 and 2 to maximise coverage, and both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $590 for the XT8.

Proposal 2 (more affordable):
Go with Zenwifi XD 6. I will place one at the TP/Modem and the other at LAN port 2 for maximum coverage, and as a result both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $264 for the Zenwifi.

Questions:
- Do you think proposal 1 is overkill for my usage? My biggest concern is proposal 2 not being able to cover areas like the living room, kitchen, bedroom 3 and toilet 2 as there being several walls between the XD6 inside the DB closet.
- Just to confirm, a router must be placed at the modem with the TP and turn off wifi to utilise ethernet backhaul correct? Cannot just connect modem to the LAN ports inside the DB?

Thank you!

I would mount access points on the ceiling of the living room, and outside the door of bath 1.

Or install in-wall units at LAN port 1, bedroom 2 and LAN port 2. These dedicated APs gives you solid performance.

https://sg.store.ui.com/collections/unifi-network-wireless

 

[gregory_choo]

Hi everyone, would like to seek your advice on the two set up I have in mind for my upcoming 5 room BTO, where my wife and I are likely to be working from home most of the time.

Equipment:
I’m likely to go with M1 1GBPS plan, and I see that they offer the Asus RT-AX55 at no extra cost, or if I want to top up I can get the Asus zenwifi XD6 2 pack for $11 a month. However for future proofing I also don’t mind getting the Asus XT8 2 pack separately via Amazon.

Proposal 1 (more expensive):
Go with the M1 Asus RT-AX55 and Asus XT8. I will place the AX-55 at the TP/Modem and turn off wifi. I will place the XT8 at LAN port 1 and 2 to maximise coverage, and both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $590 for the XT8.

Proposal 2 (more affordable):
Go with Zenwifi XD 6. I will place one at the TP/Modem and the other at LAN port 2 for maximum coverage, and as a result both will have ethernet backhaul. Equipment cost should be about $264 for the Zenwifi.

Questions:
- Do you think proposal 1 is overkill for my usage? My biggest concern is proposal 2 not being able to cover areas like the living room, kitchen, bedroom 3 and toilet 2 as there being several walls between the XD6 inside the DB closet.
- Just to confirm, a router must be placed at the modem with the TP and turn off wifi to utilise ethernet backhaul correct? Cannot just connect modem to the LAN ports inside the DB?

Thank you!

I suggest another option:

basically similar to option 1, but use XD6 instead of XT8.

DO NOT turn off wifi for AX55 (because you are using mesh wifi with ethernet backhaul).

if the coverage in BR2/BR3 is not good enough, shift the node in MBR to the wall near the toilet.

 

[Slavor]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

The main workspace will be in BR2 and MBR, and at our current place we also use wifi mesh and are quite happy with it so no need to directly connect to ethernet via lan ports.
Right now I’m inclined to going with proposal 1 even though it’s pricier because of Asus AI mesh, so at least I don’t have to worry so much about set up.

 

[Slavor]

I suggest another option:

basically similar to option 1, but use XD6 instead of XT8.

DO NOT turn off wifi for AX55 (because you are using mesh wifi with ethernet backhaul).

if the coverage in BR2/BR3 is not good enough, shift the node in MBR to the wall near the toilet.

? That’s interesting because I thought I’ve read some posts here saying that the router in the DB should have the wifi turned off for ethernet backhaul to work.

 

[loganrunning]

? That’s interesting because I thought I’ve read some posts here saying that the router in the DB should have the wifi turned off for ethernet backhaul to work.

not necessary to turn off, in this case, as the AX-55U can be part of the mesh (AiMesh). if not, then you get 2 "nets" which may conflict, and may end up with too much wifi.

 

[Slavor]

not necessary to turn off, in this case, as the AX-55U can be part of the mesh (AiMesh). if not, then you get 2 "nets" which may conflict, and may end up with too much wifi.

okay, so if it’s a compatible Asus router like the AX-55, just leave it on as part of the AI mesh. But if I’m using an old router (e.g. some free TP link one) to connect to the modem at the TP, turn off wifi to enable ethernet backhaul for the 2 XT8 yet still ensuring the old router doesn’t generate a wireless network that will interfere.

 

[loganrunning]

Thanks for the advice everyone!

The main workspace will be in BR2 and MBR, and at our current place we also use wifi mesh and are quite happy with it so no need to directly connect to ethernet via lan ports.

If you are moving house, why not just bring your existing mesh system over?

Right now I’m inclined to going with proposal 1 even though it’s pricier because of Asus AI mesh, so at least I don’t have to worry so much about set up.

XD6 also supports AiMesh...

 

[loganrunning]

okay, so if it’s a compatible Asus router like the AX-55, just leave it on as part of the AI mesh. But if I’m using an old router (e.g. some free TP link one) to connect to the modem at the TP, turn off wifi to enable ethernet backhaul for the 2 XT8 yet still ensuring the old router doesn’t generate a wireless network that will interfere.

yup. since that non-AiMesh router can't participate in the mesh, turn it off and use it as a wired router.


But, since you mention old free, TP-Link router, you may have considered a more cost effective alternative.

you can do it by flashing OpenWRT on older routers (available for below $20 each on carousell). search for keywords like OpenWRT, mesh, in this forum.

 

[Slavor]

If you are moving house, why not just bring your existing mesh system over?



XD6 also supports AiMesh...

Finally getting my own place so need to get my own wifi

M1 is offering XD6 at $13 a month for 24 months = $264. The cheapest XD6 I can find outside of M1 is $476, totally not worth it.

If I’m going to do proposal 1 I might as well top up a $100 to get the XT8.