I got 99 problems but my WiFi ain't one

think im going to get amplifi instant or HD, not decided yet.

how bad of an idea is it to go..

modem->powerline adapter->amplifi

my modem is in a terrible place (inside a mirrored cupboard) and already have powerline adapters, i get 65-70 down from ethernet on my modem and 60-65 from ethernet out the powerline adapters so i dont lose much/any speed.

I would add that although it's a bit annoying having the two separate controllers for the router and the wi-fi it is by far the cheapest option. An Edgerouter and a wireless AP can be bought for about £120 (and a decent amount cheaper if second hand) compared to £300 or so for the dream machine.

On a separate note, the place I'm hopefully buying has been wired with ethernet cable. I'd quite like to put some stuff in the cupboard under the stairs but there's no ethernet socket there. However, the wires do run through there so I assume it would be possible to snip into one of those and connect a couple of plugs and add a switch?

Also, when I've previously wired up an ethernet plug I remember it being a real fiddly bastard of a job which I wouldn't really fancy doing in a cupboard with a limited length of wire. Any suggestions on how to make it a bit easier?

Identify a socket that runs through the cupboard.
Disconnect the cable from the socket and tape on a length of new cable.
Pull the old cable back into the cupboard, dragging the new cable there.
Terminate old cable for the switch.
Connect new cable to the switch and socket

Genius!

These sound promising. They support wi-fi 6 and seem surprisingly cheap. https://www.cnet.com/news/asus-releases-a-3-piece-mesh-router-with-wi-fi-6-support-for-300/

I'm thinking it might be a good solution for the home networks of my relatives that I have to support.

Hadn't thought of that. May be worth a try but I suspect they are tied in a bundle out of sight (they're bundled quite neatly in the cupboard where I can see them).

people with unifi APs, can you ceiling mount with the cable running along the ceiling, rather than 'through' the ceiling? is there enough space in the mount for it to come into the unit that way?

Yes, there's a little cutout for the cable to run sideways (at least there is in mine).

yep, I wall mount in that manner

Keeping the questions coming, do people use their provider supplied boxes as modems? I'm tempted to also get a BT openreach modem as thyre ~£10 on ebay, and then network setup is plug and play with any ISP switch/house move as long as you have the PPoE details...

I use my Virgin Superhub 3 as a modem only box.

Not sure there is any benefit in using a 3rd party cable modem, or even if it is possible. I don't want my internet to totally die if VM change some settings and remotely manage their modems.

I also use my Virgin hub as a modem. Although I think that's a bit different as it's a coax cable coming in.

I know that they can do various troubleshooting using that modem (and update settings as necessary) so I don't see any reason to change.

Finally took the plunge.. got totally sucked in and probably gone way overboard but hey.. room for years of expansion.

AP AC Lite
USG
Switch 8 POE
Cloud Key

Quick question. I’m switching over to a new provider (plusnet > talk talk). New router is here. Switch over date is ‘around 29th June’. Should I just wait until everything stops working before swapping the router in, or just do it now?

wait til it stops working

Only for my own interest, As the swap is between 2 providers that both use a BT line what would make it stop working? Couldn't the old router just carry on?

I usually swap between BT and Virgin each time so I have never thought about it.

the authentication to the isp is loaded into their branded routers

Ah I see. So if you were using a third party router would that carry on or still need a new setup after a switch over?

this hasn’t worked for me on vodafone, it seems there isnt a bridge mode on my model

So my foray into setting up my Unifi network was:

1. Setup USG->USW->AC-AP-Lite with no WAN connection, all looks good, can see and connect to the AP.

2. Turn off firewall, WiFi, DHCP and change gateway address on the Vodafone box away from 192.168.1.1 to some like .100

3. Connect vodafone LAN1 to USG WAN.

I kind of assumed this would just work. I was wrong.
My best guess now is that I need my PPOE details from Vodafone to plug into the USG network settings? any other ideas?

That's close to what I'm running.
Vodafone have > Edgemax Router >AP-AC-LITE.
You need to move the router off the subnet, so change its IP to 192.168.2.1. 192.168.1.100 won't work because you'll have two gateways on the same subnet (ie 192.16.8.1.XXX if you haven't changed the subnet mask from default).

Assuming VDSL/FTTC:

Openreach provide a logical connection from the port in the DSLAM in the green cabinet next to the PCP back to the an Ethernet switch in the exchange. Your ISP backhaul then picks up the traffic there. Many ISPs use BT Wholesale backhaul and then the switchover can happen whenever your new ISP has provisioned your account. TalkTalk usually use their own backhaul so Openreach will switch your logical connection to a different port which will cut off your old ISP.

It's slightly different for ADSL or FTTP. In the case of ADSL many providers have their own DSLAM in the exchange so the cut over happens when your line is rejumpered on the MDF in the exchange. I think FTTP is similar to FTTC with an Openreach Ethernet switch terminating the service at the exchange.

oh interesting, good to know, which vodafone device have you got?

THG3000 I think