How Can I Extend Fibre ?

HaroldWhistler

loobylou066 said:

hi there, many thanks for coming back to me so quickly. it is all the same structure, sort of, it is two barns, at right angles to each other, joined together by a conservatory. The office being in one barn, & the rest of the house, the other. We did think about cables but I suppose ruled it out as it would involve quite a distance, up some stairs & through into the conservatory , it would have to go through a door as the walls are granite, & would also be rather in your face. It may be our only option. Will give it some thought, thank you.

Firstly, I would stick to just having the ONE single Broadband service of Full Fibre (FTTP/FTTH) to the home and retire (cancel) the Copper FTTC product. The money saved from not having a second service can be put to work getting the benefit of the Full Fibre service to the whole of the property. 

From what I understand the walls are the possibly the issue with getting the full speed across the home. Typically wires will get you the best speeds versus wireless though wireless systems are of course getting better and better. The former involve a little bit more initial work and disruption to set up like with any home renovation, but will give you a wired home network that gives you the most flexibility over a longer term and lower running costs when it comes to Wireless access points. It also would mean you have more choice of wireless access points/mesh systems that can use the wires as the link/backhaul between each node/satellite point rather than needing to go for mesh systems that have a wireless link between each node (which are more expensive). Basically you should be able to move up to 10Gbps of speed between two nodes using a wired network.

The other thing is if you want to explore wireless solutions is to try is a Triband Wifi 6 Mesh system, or Quadband Wifi 6E or Quadband Wifi 7 Mesh system and see if such a setup works wirelessly. These mesh systems have a dedicated backhaul band to communicate between each node and perhaps more powerful radios/better antenna arrays than other systems. An example might be the Asus Zen XT12 or Orbi RBK960 or the TP Link Deco X95. If they still cannot punch that signal wirelessly through the walls, then wired is the way to go. 

If you wire your home, then a Dual Band Wifi 6 system or Triband Wifi 6E or Triband Wifi 7 system for wireless access would be fine since the backhaul will all be done by your own wired network. An example might be the Amplifi Alien, the Asus AX82U, the Asus Zen ET12, the TP Link Deco BE85, or the TP Link Deco X55.

With the wired network option, you can connect your computers, smart TVs or other devices directly into the new Ethernet wall sockets, or else into the Wireless Access points (that themselves are connected to your main wired network). Think of it a bit like having another set of infrastructure just like your home electrical network and water pipes. 

As for the wires, you can opt for either Cat 6A cables (which can carry speeds of up to 10Gbps over 100m) or Plastic Optical Fibre (POF) which can do the same speed at the same distance. The former are perhaps easier to install in terms of the way they curve and directly form an Ethernet connection without any convertors, though need to be kept at a certain distance from electrical cables (about a foot apart if parallel and an inch if perpendicular), whilst the latter have zero interference from electrical cables (so can even be run alongside pre-existing cables) though are more delicate and require a "Convertor" on either end to reconvert the signal from Fibre to Ethernet.

You can also run these cables outside the property if it is easier than drilling though multiple walls internally. As an example, if you look at online shops like FS Cables, they sell External Cat 6A cables (which have thicker external covering) in reels which can be run on the outside of the property. Or you can just buy internal Cat 6A U/UTP cables and run them in separately purchased conduits (which can be tailored to suit the property) to protect them from the elements (probably the best and simplest option). Inside of course, if the cables don't match the decor, you can also run the cables in aesthetically pleasing conduits (similar to conduits you can buy for hiding TV cables) whether near the ceiling or skirting board.

Basically you'd connect your FTTP router to your ONT just like now. But then connect your Router with an Ethernet cable to a Network Switch (this doesn't necessarily have to be right next to the Router). This can have as many ports as you require. Then just run Ethernet cables from your switch to each point of the home (internally or externally) where you want a direct wired connection (which will give you the exact same speed you have in the Office at the ONT) or wherever you want to place a Wireless Mesh node. You need to have one cable for each wired connection you need. It doesn't split at the other end like an Extension socket does with electricity. Once it's all set up, you don't need to ever change the wires again, only the equipment at either end should you upgrade anything. 10Gbps capability should be relevant in Britain for at least a decade (the Broadband providers would have to offer faster speeds than that before your wires couldn't keep up). If you go with Ethernet, then I'd say go with Cat 6A over Cat 6.  

Example:

Connect end A of a Cat 6A cable to your Router in the Office. Drill a hole in the wall of the Office to outside and run that single Cat 6A cable through a Conduit attached to the external wall of the House to get you to a central point of the property. Then the cable enters the home and connect end B to a Network Switch with x number of ports. You can then connect (x-1) short cables between this Network Switch and a fixed patch panel to tidy things up and make management easier. You can then run (x-1) number of Cat 6A cables internally (or externally again if you wish) from the back of that patch panel to other points in the home and connect them to Ethernet wall jacks fitted to the walls just like your plug points. You can then plug in any device to the wall jacks to get direct wired access to the full speed of your Full Fibre connection as if you were in your Office room. Or alternatively, plug in a Wireless access point into the network to give it wired backhaul and the same incoming speed as what you pay for. 

Note that a "Network Switch" can also be a Mesh node as well in that example. So you can place a node with the full incoming Fibre speed in the centre of the house.

The cost of wiring might be a lot less than an expensive Mesh system. However, it might be worth checking out the Dedicated backhaul wireless systems to see if they work first, and if not, then go wired and buy the appropriate Mesh system for wired backhaul. 

400ixl

junglist_matty said:

Don't bother with powerline adapters, unless they are on the same circuit (which is usually not the case) they never work reliably.

Not at all, if they are on the same consumer board and phase they will work absolutely fine and reliably. I have had a couple going for over 10 years now (used to have more of them but replaced them with a mesh). Apart from having to switch off and on the socket they are plugged into every so often if the connection is lost (and we are talking maybe half a dozen times in 10 years) they have been more reliable than the mesh devices.

You can now get them at speeds up to 1000Mbps so more than enough for most FTTP services at full speed.

A mesh or ethernet wired are obviously better, but if they aren't possible it is worth giving Powerline at try.

Raxiel

The suggestions on running ethernet if possible are good ones, one variation I've not seen mentioned though is, if you were to move the router/access point to a more central location in the home, would it have good enough coverage everywhere?

You can then just run Ethernet between the new location and the ONT. Just run the cable through the hallways temporarily for testing purposes, then route it neatly if it works.

On a smaller scale, Our fibre set up came with a 1m cable to link the router to the ONT, but I swapped it for a 5m length so I could place the router in a different corner of the room to the one the fibre enters through.