I got 99 problems but my WiFi ain't one

Either that or it's a phased array, in which case only one needs to be connected if you don't have the option of two.

I treated to see they claim 10db+ of gain on the label. That's, er, quite remarkable for an Omni antenna.

I want to run some shielded cat6 from my switch out of a wall on one floor and back in on another. I have a long cat6 cable that’s terminated and the holes in the wall already exist from some old cabling, but the holes are too small to feed the terminated ends through.
I’m considering cutting the ends and then re terminating the cables, but wanted to ask if people have experience with that and how hard it is. I’m also slightly put off by spending money on the kit that I’ll probably only ever use once.

Or is there a better way of achieving this I’ve not considered?

It's pretty easy to terminate to either an Rj45plug or a keystone jack.

You need either a crimping or a punch-down tool. I believe terminating to a key-stone (wall plate/euro module or surface mount box) and then taking a pre-terminated path cable from there is better practice and probably much easier if your existing cable is stranded cores not solid. If you do use an Rj45 plug then get the pass-through type and either a crimping tool with trimming function or just use a pair of nail clippers to trim the cores flush.

It's not too tricky. Having done both I'd recommend terminating to a socket rather than a plug. Plugs are really fiddly and require a more expensive tool to do.

As others have said it isn't that tricky. How long do you need this to last and is your cable external grade? I'd buy some external gel filled cable and terminate on sockets as it should last a lot longer that way.

I'd recommend terminating to a socket rather than a plug

^ this
It's fairly straightforward and the kit doesn't cost much.

Thanks all.

Really I just need this to be a stop gap until we have a rewire done next year and want to avoid snaking cable along skirting between floors. I’ve purchased a 50m cat6 cable that says it’s suitable to external use, so hopefully that’s ok? It doesn’t mention being gel filled though.

I’ll have a read up about installing and terminating to a socket.

Bit of advice needed:

I've recently had BT FttP installed and it came with the BT 'Smart Hub 2'. I've run a cat 6 from near the ONT to my current router (Draytek wifi 5 thing) sits and was planning on using that for everything as it plays nicely with the Draytek switches/APs I have and seems reliable.

But it occurred to me maybe I should keep the BT router in play somehow, I imagine it's the first things they'll ask about if I have to phone customer services.

Any more informed opinions welcome.

If what you are using works well and has no performance loss. Then stick with it.

Keep the BT in reserve and if you ever suspect you have an issue then you can drop that in as a control for fault finding and then ring customer service if inconclusive.

The control you get from your own equipment is worth it.

Yeah I think this was my general conclusion. I was a bit worried as to whether the Draytek would even work but I think it has a Gb WAN port that should work plugged in to the ONT. We don't even own any wifi 6 devices so I'm not going to be losing anything in terms of speed for now.

@Stonehedge

I spoke with poynting who were very helpful. The guy suggested I try a different simcard and network. So moved to Movistar and a lot better signal. He looked up antenna locations and apparently there is a Movistar one in direct line (I can't see it) but getting 90mbps now and quote satisfied.

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Really glad it worked out in the end.

Was wondering how you were getting on with this yesterday actually.

Impressive that Poynting gave a toss and helped!

Our wif coverage at home is pretty poor, connections are slow upstairs and the signal doesn’t reach the garage. I’m guessing a Mesh system will help fix it.

Knowing nothing about these things, I’m looking for something easy to set up.

Is the Google Wi-Fi kit any good? It’s n offer for Black Friday so thought it was worth a look.

I’ve currently got BT broadband with their home hub. With the Google stuff would I just need to add one or two of these?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B096KYKF23?aaxitk=018a27155abd8f6a2826206e9a4c4b45&pd_rd_plhdr=t&smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&ref=dacx_dp_582957979190416077_582954280181278403

Or would need one of these as well?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Google-GA00595-GB-Nest-Router/dp/B07YSXZ7QD/?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=hzgYD&content-id=amzn1.sym.9987c01f-79a1-401b-8cc0-4469362e1651&pf_rd_p=9987c01f-79a1-401b-8cc0-4469362e1651&pf_rd_r=WSSWN4F70WKV10T3ZG5P&pd_rd_wg=gcdf8&pd_rd_r=61f327e6-9625-42b9-a580-0bb2e745e1da&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_atf_m

Short answer: Yes, it's very good.

Long answer: it's super simple to set up but you don't have many settings to tinker with. It's designed to just work...for people who don't have the time or inclination to tinker. It does have some drawbacks in terms of depending on Google's cloud to be managed but I've never had an issue in over five years of using various models.

That said, my older Google WiFi pucks are starting to get a bit glitchy...needing a reboot every few months. They are coming up to six years old though.

Thanks, that sounds perfect for me.

So from your experience, would I just add one or two of the routers to my current BT home hub and it’ll all work? No need to get any other bits and bobs?

That's exactly how I used them initially. No other bits required.

Annoyingly you do have to retain the homehub as the pucks don't have a modem. The app will walk you through the setup.

Fantastic, thanks for that.
I’ll get a couple ordered.

Got up this morning to discover I had no internet. Turns out it was actually one of the switches that had died.

Any suggestions for a reliable and not too expensive 8 (or maybe 16 if not too bulky/expensive) port switch? Doesn't need any smart features but PoE for at least a few of the ports would be a bonus.

I have a spare 5 port toughswitch - They go for 80ish on ebay, so say 40 + a forum donation?

Cheers but I really need 8 ports minimum (the knackered switch actually then has a 5 port toughswitch plugged into it for powering APs)..

Pricey for 2.4 ghz only. To get the best out of mesh you should use ethernet backhaul. How hard would it be for you to run cat cable from source to a mesh device upstairs?
Tp link do good mesh stuff thats cheaper than the google offering

This might be a stupid question, but if I'm putting a switch in between my modem and routers and later need/want to change the cables, will I have to do anything?

Ie is it just swapping one cable for another like hi-fi interconnectors?

Cheers.

Also tidying up in the loft I realised I still have a load of netgear prosafe GS110TP switches in case anyone wants one.

No power supply.

8 port from memory.

Think they'd cost a fiver to post, so £15 posted? Or a tenner pick up from Canary Wharf once transport is functioning again.

Switches learn by watching the traffic being sent by connected devices so don't need any configuration for a basic setup. Swap cables at will, just don't create a loop.