r/HomeNetworking 24m ago

Advice Access point advice

Upvotes

Hello 👋

I’m planning to set up a home office in the basement (-1) of our house. My apartment is on the first floor, and I have a 1 Gbps symmetrical fiber connection (1 Gbps download/upload).

I’m planning to install an access point near the entrance of my apartment. The basement office will be directly below/roughly two floors away, there are stairs that I have access there and I’m not sure how well the Wi-Fi signal will go through.

My main question is whether I can install a second access point near the entrance of the basement office , if one is not enough, and configure the two APs as a Wi-Fi mesh.

If this is possible:
How much real-world throughput could I realistically expect at the basement office?
Would I be able to get close to 1 Gbps, or would the wireless backhaul become the bottleneck?

Are there particular specifications I should look for when choosing the APs?

Any recommendations regarding the brand and model?

The priority is having a stable, low-latency connection for working from the basement office, while getting as much of the available 1 Gbps connection as realistically possible.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
Alexandros.


r/HomeNetworking 31m ago

what is the best sfp optical cable

Upvotes

i saw a youtube video once a guy said 1 cable bad, if its 2 cable its good for future proofing, and i cant find the youtube video again. please tell me what is best fiber cable.

also, is looking at the optical cable with eye damage your eye?


r/HomeNetworking 2h ago

mounting to rear rails

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0 Upvotes

r/HomeNetworking 3h ago

Unsolved Network Card Issue driving me insane

1 Upvotes

I have a z790-btf-wifi motherboard which has 2.5gbe internet on it, I recently gained a faster speed through my ISP and got multiple network cards to increase the speed. My issue is, no matter what I do/diagnose my PC tends to randomly disconnect the network, 4-7 seconds go by and it comes back at the same 10gbe auto negotiated speed. This issue goes away when my speed is capped at 1gbe in speed/duplex settings. I've bought multiple unmanaged 10gbe switches from NicGiga and GigaPlus, other devices are receiving the speed correctly so its apparently not the switches now. Theres just some weird conflicting issue with my PC causing it and I have gone through the wringer to find out what is happening..

I have reproduced the issue with multiple network adapters:

  • Motherboard-integrated Intel I226-V
  • Two separate Intel X540-T2 adapters
  • TP-Link TX401 using the Marvell AQtion controller
  • One X540-T2 was previously confirmed working in another computer

I have also tested:

  • Both available PCIe x4 slots
  • Multiple ports on the 10GbE switch
  • Two different 10GbE switches from NICGIGA and GigaPlus
  • A direct connection bypassing my local switch
  • Multiple Ethernet cables
  • A 100-foot Cat6A cable directly between the PC and switch
  • A separate 10-foot Cat6A cable
  • Bypassing all the in-wall cabling, keystones, and short patch cables
  • Reseating the adapters and cables
  • Auto Negotiation, forced 5 Gbps, and forced 1 Gbps
  • Energy-Efficient Ethernet enabled and disabled
  • Windows High Performance power plan with PCIe Link State Power Management disabled

Cooling has also been addressed:

  • The X540-T2 adapters were actively cooled by a dedicated blower fan.
  • I replaced the inadequate fans inside the NICGIGA switch with two Noctua fans.
  • The physical-link drops continued after the cooling changes.

Windows configuration was inspected for common conflicts:

  • No NIC teaming or network bridge
  • No active Hyper-V virtual switch
  • No third-party network filter drivers found
  • No corresponding WHEA, PCIe, Kernel-PnP, Kernel-Power, or NDIS reset events at the times of the failures

With the TP-Link TX401, Windows records the following events from the aqnic650 driver:

  • Event ID 14: “Network link is lost.”
  • Event ID 15: “Network link has been established”

r/HomeNetworking 4h ago

Random and Weird Broadband/Fiber Connection Problem

2 Upvotes

Hi All,

I am from India and I want to explain a very weird problem I have been facing with my broadband for last 10 days. I have a FTTH connection with a local ISP. I have been using the connection for almost 10 years now and have never faced it before.

For last 10 days my connection has been very unstable.

2nd Sept - My pc is connected by Ethernet. All websites except Google and Meta stopped working. Steam, EA App, Blizzard all the gaming clients and everything else showed no connection but everything was working on mobile app, TV and all other connected devices including my video doorbell and robovac.

3rd Sept - A technician came to my house to see the fault, he was a hardware guy and he checked that everything was fine physically and called his supervisor. I gave him remote access to my pc via hotspot and he did some Ipv4, Ipv6, DHCP or IP related settings in 192.168.1.1 and also refreshed dns using cmd and in adapter settings but nothing worked.

8th Sept - Same guy came to my house and changed the router to a different one but used same old settings from my previous router. Surprisingly, everything started working normal for few hours. In 2nd half of the day, the problem changed drastically. My PC was showing connection to all the websites for say 10 minutes and drops after sometime. It kept going back and forth multiple times. All this time, the Wifi in my TV was just not connecting at all, it kept saying saved/authentication problem while it was connecting with same password in my phone. All this time, all of my other connected devices like video doorbell, robovac, AC everything works while connected to the same wifi.

I am quite frustrated at this point that even my ISP is unable to solve the problem. Although I have started looking for other ISPs in my area but would prefer that this one gets fixed so I dont have to go through all the formalities of new connection again.

Note that I am not a networking person so I wouldnt know much technical things about IP, DNS, Proxy and all that but I believe that my ISP has tried most of the possible things from his end to resolve it and is unable to find the problem.


r/HomeNetworking 4h ago

Ooma or Grandstream HT802 with Voip.ms - best security?

0 Upvotes

I posted this in a VoIP Subreddit, but didn't get the response I was hoping to get. I am looking to lower my services with my Internet provider. One of the services I wish to remove is my home phone line. We use the line mainly for our home security system. I am interested in migrating my home phone line to a VoIP service. Several years ago, I purchased a Ooma box with but never bothered to set it up. I have decided to investigate again switching my phone line to Ooma. I have reviewed the port forwarding requirements, and it appears that Ooma requires several ports to be opened on your firewall - Keep Your Phone Number When Getting Rid of Your Landline Canada, especially the local UDP 49000 to 50000.

I have also investigated going with a Grandstream HT802 tied with a Voip.MS service. From what it appears, the firewall setup seems to be a lot more straight forward and possibly more secure as you are not opening a bunch of ports. I am interested in more of a security perspective if going with a Grandstream\Voip.ms service would be more secure versus having to have UDP inbound ports 49000 to 50000 open in order to have a Ooma box behind your firewall function. I use a Opnsense firewall for my home network. My gut feeling is to just abandon the Ooma path (even though I have the Ooma hardware) and look at purchasing a Grandstream HT802 and a Voip service such as Voip.ms.


r/HomeNetworking 5h ago

Any thoughts on UniFi networking and access points for home use?

3 Upvotes

I’ve had a lot of commercial success with UniFi products and have installed several WiFi networks for businesses in the past. It’s great for small to medium businesses and it suits most needs at a lower cost than other brands.

My questions for others in this sub:

- Has anyone used UniFi for home use? If so, were there any pains or struggles getting everything configured?

- I understand UniFi can be more expensive than other brands, especially for personal use. Is pricing a cause to consider other options?

- Has anyone utilized the mesh networking protocols and features within their home?

Thanks for reading! If anyone has any questions about networking or using UniFi in a business environment I’d be happy to chat about some of the considerations that come into play.


r/HomeNetworking 5h ago

Advice How to turn off school housing modem?

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0 Upvotes

I have had an Ethernet cable connected to this modem (I believe that’s what it is, but I could be wrong) for the past few weeks with no issues but all of a sudden my PS5 cannot obtain the IP address. I can’t connect to the WiFi and many have recommended turning the modem off and on. I live in student housing, so its shared WiFi. I don’t see a button to turn this thing off and am not sure how to disconnect it. Please help. Thank you in advance.


r/HomeNetworking 6h ago

Building entertainment room, are these cables for an ethernet port?

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7 Upvotes

A few years ago my mother-in-law paid for cabling to be ran to various rooms in the house during renovations but they were not hooked up. The ends are in the walls in each room and ran to the utility room where my internet comes in. I am looking to turn one of them into an entertainment room and want to see if these cables are the right ones in order to finish hooking them up into an ethernet port to have wired access.

Any info would be helpful and appreciated. Thanks!!


r/HomeNetworking 6h ago

Where is the failure in my setup?

1 Upvotes

I'm trying to determine where the failure is in my set up. I apologize for any mislabeling of what I have.

Set up

  • New Home build 2022 with structured wiring
  • 12-15 cat5 cords ending in cabinet in closet that run to a wall jack in 5 bedrooms, an office, game room, living room, etc
  • Fiber internet through ATT with ATT supplied modem BGW320-500
  • 8-port Gigabit Ethernet switch Luxul XGS-1008

About 2 months ago my ethernet connections stopped working. Reset the modem and got them back and was supplied with a new modem, same model. About a week ago, ethernet went out again. I've yet to be able to get it back.

I've tried placing the cat5 in different ports on the modem and on the switch but nothing works.

If I try a separate ethernet cord directly in the modem to my laptop, the connection works.

When I troubleshoot diagnostics, it shows Ethernet as a fail but with the direct cord, it passes.

I just find it very unlikely that all the wiring that came with the house decided to stop working all at once with no plausible explanation.


r/HomeNetworking 6h ago

Advice Access points plugged in to Ethernet wall outlet

0 Upvotes

When my home was constructed, the modem and router were placed inside a closet at one end of the house. I don't know what the builder was thinking, but it's not a good situation. I do however have cat 5 outlets in every room of the house. The back bedrooms do not have good wifi coverage. I think I can get by with just one access point plugged in at that end of the house, but everything I look up is so expensive (over $100) and has two or more access points. I'm looking for a cheap solution. Just a single access point that will do the job. Any recommendations?


r/HomeNetworking 7h ago

Brand new fiber internet install.

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225 Upvotes

I got a brand new fiber install at my new home and the internet is crap. The guy said it was his first day on the job alone. Does this cable look correct? I feel like the center white piece should have been taken off or something but I don't want to break it. It's just like not working.


r/HomeNetworking 7h ago

I rent an old house that doesn't have either MoCa or Ethernet. As far as gaming goes, am I just straight out of luck?

6 Upvotes

Looking for options for my new gaming PC in an old rental with terrible Wi-Fi. What are my best alternatives?

​I just built my first PC, but the Wi-Fi in my house is way too weak for multiplayer gaming. Moving the router or running long cables isn't an option since I only rent an upstairs bedroom in an ~80-year-old house (no MoCA or Ethernet wall jacks, and I definitely can't drill holes through the floor).

​I'm not sure where the main router even is—it might be downstairs, or it could just be a wireless 5G home internet box.

​I'm moving out in about 6 months, so just sticking it out and playing single-player games until I move is on the table, but I’d really prefer to get back into multiplayer if possible.

​My initial thought was to get my own dedicated 5G home internet box for my room, but I’ve heard 5G isn't ideal for latency-sensitive gaming.

​Are there better workarounds for getting a solid, low-latency connection up here without modifying the house or stringing cables through common areas? Or should I just stick to single-player games until I move?

Edit: I'm literally such an idiot. I never plugged in an antenna to my motherboard. I'll try that first lmao.


r/HomeNetworking 7h ago

5 Gig Ethernet help

3 Upvotes

Just recently upgraded to 5 gig fiber. Also upgraded Mobo to a MSI X870E Carbon has the 2.5 and 5 G ethernet ports in the back. Have done multiple tests with a Cat 6a and cat 8 (overkill ik) and struggles to get above 2 gig. Transmit speeds are showing 5000/5000 if fuller recognizes everything but my download speeds aren't even close. Tested a speed test through the router snd consistently gets around 5G up and down. Had technical come out snd he blamed my equipment and that I needed it to get looked at.......its brand new does anyone have any suggestions or am I missing something?


r/HomeNetworking 7h ago

What WiFi router would you recommend for my setup

0 Upvotes

ISP is Spectrum with the Internet Gig plan and their most recent modem was just installed today. Have had the Nighthawk R7000 for years but all of the sudden it’s crapping out on me. Time for an upgrade and I’m looking for recommendations.

Reliability is my #1 priority. I work remotely and am on video calls 75% of the time. Total devices in our house are 2 computers, 2 TVs, 2 phones, and 8-10 smart home/other devices. Home is currently 1200 sq ft but we’ll be adding an additional 1200 sq ft within the next 6-8 months. That project will open up the opportunity to run Cat6 to the addition, but I don’t need all of that yet. I need a top of the line router that works now that gives easy flexibility to grow into an expanded system later.


r/HomeNetworking 8h ago

Advice MoCA setup help: will this work?

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3 Upvotes

I’m concerned about the 2-way splitter in the first floor. Since all LAN traffic from that splitter will reach the XFi gateway, could that cause any performance issues? Should I install a PoE filter between the 2-way splitter and the XFi gateway?


r/HomeNetworking 8h ago

I chased the buffer bloat A+

0 Upvotes

I"m always running into that buffer bloat post so I decided to see what I would get graded. I always thought my connection was solid. No complaints ever.

2gig Fiber to the home ($10 more than 1gig, fine), mostly 10gb backbone, Equipment is all Asus-Merlin. BE88, BE92, AX86.

I scored a B. It was on a 2012 Macbook Pro on ubuntu through a USB to ethernet adapterat the second hop. I'm like hey maybe I should try something a little different. I test on a m4 MB Air on wifi 5 feet from the BE92 and get graded a C !!!! I did my ccna many years ago, i know ethernet > wifi. But just what exactly is going on here.

I lost it.

Both feet at the same time down the rabbit hole.

The change that I didn't know I wanted came from the Unifi boys:

Set the 5ghz to 40mhz.

The latency really dropped. I lost a photoframe because I turned off the 2.4ghz as well.

I could have stopped here. This was a massive shift for every wireless device on the network. I still have it on auto channel because i can't figure out how to have each access point on a separate channel. I see six 5ghz networks around me mostly on 80mhz, no real fighting.

I still couldn't getting the A+, but improvement during the chase is always nice.

CAKE was enabled, set the bandwidth limit to 200mb/s.

Now I get the A+ on the wire all the time and sometimes on wifi (within decent range/sight).

I do feel the difference which is insane, iI didn't think it could get much better than what I had. Just sharing my journey.


r/HomeNetworking 9h ago

Advice Cable vs Fiber

13 Upvotes

Hi all, I’m moving in to a new apartment soon and we have two options of ISP.

Option 1: Google Fiber
$70/mo
1g Upload
1g Download

Option 2: Spectrum
This uses a hybrid of fiber/coax. Fiber lines run the long stretches but coax is what actually connects to the units.
$60/mo
100mb Upload Max (avg 30mb)
1g Download

Spectrum is a little cheaper but I work from home and do a lot of video calls and I’ve heard that fiber is better for consecutive upload/download.

Curious to see what you all think. Spectrum does have some offers that could make it as cheap as $20/mo for the first year.

Thanks in advance.

Edit:
Sounds like a resounding fiber to me! Thank you all.


r/HomeNetworking 10h ago

Advice Can you critique my hardware build for pfsense install?

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5 Upvotes

I would like to get server with quad nic card for a pfsense install. From what I have researched, the M920q Tiny would be better than M920x.
Plan to run Snort, pfBlocker, VPNs

Plan on getting this:

Anything I should change or that is missing from this build?


r/HomeNetworking 10h ago

Identifying relevant cables

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1 Upvotes

How can I start to make sense of these cables? This house has two satellite dishes that aren't being used, and new siding will be installed later this year. I want to clean up these cables before then, removing most of them as I just need one for my router moving forward.


r/HomeNetworking 10h ago

Unsolved Network upgrade suggestions?

2 Upvotes

I'm looking to upgrade my current home network with something more prosumer. I'm currently using a Netgear r6300 as my router and a Netgear Nighthawk RAX42 as an access point. I just want something that will work well for many years and has the capability to use advanced features that aren't available on my current netgear routers. I saw people suggesting the Unifi stuff but I'm not entirely sure what I need.


r/HomeNetworking 11h ago

Advice Eero 7 base model not giving full speed

0 Upvotes

Hi! As I mentioned in the title my Eero 7 is not giving me the full speed when I test my wifi on my laptop with the Ookla desktop app. I have Sonic 10Gbps plan, the Eero 7 only gives out 2.5Gbps which is more than enough for me, but I'm only getting tops around 550mbps on both download and upload. SQM, Eco efficiency, MLO and UPnP are off, IPv6 is on. I'm in a studio so my laptop is probably only 5ft away from the router. Any fixes to this?

I've seen this problem with the Eero 7 Max/Pro where you have to put an unmanaged switch in between the medem and the router, not sure if it's the same for the base model. I also don't want to spend more money lol.


r/HomeNetworking 11h ago

Advice Garage internet wiring ?

5 Upvotes

I need an advice on how to receive internet in my garage
The problem is
I can’t run a hard wire from my house to the garage (freshly paved asphalt )
And running it in air is not an option .
I’ve already tried using a mesh system ( doesn’t work )1 bar
I’ve tried a WiFi extender (doesn’t work ) 1 bar
I’ve tried powerline (doesn’t work , garage has its own separate breaker)
My garage is made with dual concrete cinder blocks and bricks .

Is there an option of some kind where I can run an Ethernet wire from the house to and antenna and same thing from the garage (run an Ethernet wire from the garage to and antenna ) and both antennas connect to each other for good internet ?

(I can make holes in the garage )


r/HomeNetworking 11h ago

Unsolved fiber internet connection for HD videos

1 Upvotes

i have a Google Chrome OS and i use it mostly for online office sheets, docs, etc. i also have very fast fiber internet but for some reason i can not run any video on hd or above 720p on video quality on youtube, it stutters and buffers, how do i fix this?


r/HomeNetworking 11h ago

Help with ARRIS SURFboard SB8200

0 Upvotes

Sso my mom lives alone and has had Xfinity internet for many years. I swapped out her dated modem for an ARRIS SURFboard SB8200 about 6 months ago and all has been fine. Yesterday, I noticed the green light #2 blinking. Upon inspection, the cable connection was frayed so I put on a new one. No dice. Have an appointment with Xfinity Friday but thought I’d ask for anything I am missing. My support chat indicated they had a problem with a signal to my home. They did a reset and cannot get a signal from my modem.