Mesh Internet Systems

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ianoconnor

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Another nest user. Currently using a 2nd router as a wireless point.

Considering having cables run to connect the points upstairs & in basement... any recommendations (& ballpark cost) on a company that would run CAT cables in the metro? I don't believe the electrician I normally use does networking stuff.
 

blizzisu

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I do have coax throughout our house that doesn’t get used since we stream TV. Can you explain how these work? Seems like you’re just using the existing cables to run internet from the router? Is it as simple as it seems?

Correct. You put a MoCA adapter at each end of the coax. Then connect your PC or wifi router / AP to the ethernet port on the MoCA adapter. You can get up to 2.5 Gbps with MoCA I believe.
 
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reignofthetiger

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Apr 24, 2010
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Another nest user. Currently using a 2nd router as a wireless point.

Considering having cables run to connect the points upstairs & in basement... any recommendations (& ballpark cost) on a company that would run CAT cables in the metro? I don't believe the electrician I normally use does networking stuff.

Caveating this with the fact I'm not a technology specialist or anything, but I'm so confused why people are considering running cables for the mesh network nodes - we've had a Google Wifi mesh network for 4 years with only hardwiring to the main node with zero issues.

4500 sq foot, three story house, currently running 897 mbps anywhere in the house. Main node is set up at the modem in a corner of the house on the main floor, then we have three other nodes: one upstairs, one in the basement (because we have zero cell signal there and use wifi calling exclusively), and one in our office (purely to provide a required hardline output for our desktop that is situated on an island).

Full signal everywhere without hard wiring - isn't that one of the benefits of the mesh network to begin with? We got the network originally so that the office node could function as essentially a "wireless hardline". If anyone is having signal strength issues I'd suggest getting an additional node or two, that's it.
 

Gunnerclone

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Jul 16, 2010
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Caveating this with the fact I'm not a technology specialist or anything, but I'm so confused why people are considering running cables for the mesh network nodes - we've had a Google Wifi mesh network for 4 years with only hardwiring to the main node with zero issues.

4500 sq foot, three story house, currently running 897 mbps anywhere in the house. Main node is set up at the modem in a corner of the house on the main floor, then we have three other nodes: one upstairs, one in the basement (because we have zero cell signal there and use wifi calling exclusively), and one in our office (purely to provide a required hardline output for our desktop that is situated on an island).

Full signal everywhere without hard wiring - isn't that one of the benefits of the mesh network to begin with? We got the network originally so that the office node could function as essentially a "wireless hardline". If anyone is having signal strength issues I'd suggest getting an additional node or two, that's it.

Yes, but used mini-van driving, pay for everything in cash, CF Dave Ramsey disciple must suck every MB out of their internet provider because well, they’re paying for it.
 
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throwittoblythe

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Caveating this with the fact I'm not a technology specialist or anything, but I'm so confused why people are considering running cables for the mesh network nodes - we've had a Google Wifi mesh network for 4 years with only hardwiring to the main node with zero issues.

4500 sq foot, three story house, currently running 897 mbps anywhere in the house. Main node is set up at the modem in a corner of the house on the main floor, then we have three other nodes: one upstairs, one in the basement (because we have zero cell signal there and use wifi calling exclusively), and one in our office (purely to provide a required hardline output for our desktop that is situated on an island).

Full signal everywhere without hard wiring - isn't that one of the benefits of the mesh network to begin with? We got the network originally so that the office node could function as essentially a "wireless hardline". If anyone is having signal strength issues I'd suggest getting an additional node or two, that's it.

Good to know! This is what I was wondering and where I started. I was thinking of doing the mesh system but wirelessly because running new lines is a huge pain in an old house but I’ve heard from others that hard wiring is the best way to go. I’m glad to hear you can still get suitable speeds with the wireless system.
 

blizzisu

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Nov 4, 2009
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Polk City, IA
Caveating this with the fact I'm not a technology specialist or anything, but I'm so confused why people are considering running cables for the mesh network nodes - we've had a Google Wifi mesh network for 4 years with only hardwiring to the main node with zero issues.

4500 sq foot, three story house, currently running 897 mbps anywhere in the house. Main node is set up at the modem in a corner of the house on the main floor, then we have three other nodes: one upstairs, one in the basement (because we have zero cell signal there and use wifi calling exclusively), and one in our office (purely to provide a required hardline output for our desktop that is situated on an island).

Full signal everywhere without hard wiring - isn't that one of the benefits of the mesh network to begin with? We got the network originally so that the office node could function as essentially a "wireless hardline". If anyone is having signal strength issues I'd suggest getting an additional node or two, that's it.

Hardwiring the nodes together gets you higher throughput as you aren't using a portion of the WiFi bandwidth to connect the nodes together. For most people it doesn't matter, but if you want to see 500 mbps throughput at every device then hardwiring the nodes is the way to go.
 

dmclone

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I run 4 Google units in my house. One next to my modem on the 2nd level, which I then hardwire to a network switch, which powers my PC, work laptop, and hue hub. I then have another one on the main level, another in the basement, and another in the garage. The garage one I bought separately to make sure I had enough coverage to handle my outdoors Nest camera.

On the wired units on the 2nd floor that go through the network switch, I get about 550 Mbps. Throughout the rest of the house(wifi) I get about 350-400 Mbps.
 

ianoconnor

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Caveating this with the fact I'm not a technology specialist or anything, but I'm so confused why people are considering running cables for the mesh network nodes - we've had a Google Wifi mesh network for 4 years with only hardwiring to the main node with zero issues.

4500 sq foot, three story house, currently running 897 mbps anywhere in the house. Main node is set up at the modem in a corner of the house on the main floor, then we have three other nodes: one upstairs, one in the basement (because we have zero cell signal there and use wifi calling exclusively), and one in our office (purely to provide a required hardline output for our desktop that is situated on an island).

Full signal everywhere without hard wiring - isn't that one of the benefits of the mesh network to begin with? We got the network originally so that the office node could function as essentially a "wireless hardline". If anyone is having signal strength issues I'd suggest getting an additional node or two, that's it.
Yea this is a great point and maybe I simply don't need to hardwire the nodes outside of the main one connected to the modem. I know in an ideal world it's best to have the wired backhaul (as I believe it's called) but it is potentially overkill for most home use cases.
 
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reignofthetiger

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Yea this is a great point and maybe I simply don't need to hardwire the nodes outside of the main one connected to the modem. I know in an ideal world it's best to have the wired backhaul (as I believe it's called) but it is potentially overkill for most home use cases.

Agreed. If someone is running something that absolutely requires the maximum available bandwidth, I question why they're messing around with wifi instead of just hardwiring in the first place. For 99.99999% of households, I doubt there's a need to spend even more money hardwiring on top of the mesh network itself just to save a few, unnoticeable mbps.
 

agrabes

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Oct 25, 2006
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The other reason to hardwire is for latency/ping. If you're doing something that requires low latency, then hardwired is the way to go. So, in other words, if you play online multiplayer video games, you want to hardwire to any device that you'll be gaming on. If you're only looking at streaming video, file transfer on your home network, etc wifi is fine and you have no need to hardwire.
 

khardbored

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If you have coax running to the rooms, look into MoCA adapters.
I do have coax throughout our house that doesn’t get used since we stream TV. Can you explain how these work? Seems like you’re just using the existing cables to run internet from the router? Is it as simple as it seems?

Sorry for rookie question ...

So I have Mediacom via cable internet. The internet come into the house via the Coaxial on the wall. Can I have both the modem hooked up to that (to "get the signal") and then ALSO hook up MoCA adapters to run stuff into other rooms? Like if I want to hook up a nest point in another floor?

Sorry if this is way low level lingo, not my speciality.

(also sorry to resurrect a dead thread)
 

dmclone

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Sorry for rookie question ...

So I have Mediacom via cable internet. The internet come into the house via the Coaxial on the wall. Can I have both the modem hooked up to that (to "get the signal") and then ALSO hook up MoCA adapters to run stuff into other rooms? Like if I want to hook up a nest point in another floor?

Sorry if this is way low level lingo, not my speciality.

(also sorry to resurrect a dead thread)
The coax coming into the house will need to hit a Modem first and then you could do whatever you want. Your modem may only have one out and if that's the case, just buy a cheap switch like this and you can do whatever you want.

Network Switch

So in your case, assuming the modem doesn't have built in wifi it could look like this.
The modem would be an approved mediacom modem, the router would be a nest wifi unit, then the dummy switch, and then whatever you want plugged into that switch. It could be another nest puck, Moca, TV, pc, whatever you want.

Home-Network-Diagram-With-Switch-and-Router-1024x728.jpeg
 
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khardbored

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The coax coming into the house will need to hit a Modem first and then you could do whatever you want. Your modem may only have one out and if that's the case, just buy a cheap switch like this and you can do whatever you want.

Network Switch

So in your case, assuming the modem doesn't have built in wifi it could look like this.
The modem would be an approved mediacom modem, the router would be a nest wifi unit, then the dummy switch, and then whatever you want plugged into that switch. It could be another nest puck, Moca, TV, pc, whatever you want.

Home-Network-Diagram-With-Switch-and-Router-1024x728.jpeg
Thanks!

I guess what I mean is how do I make a MoCA adapter work when there is only one cable "hole" in the wall in the room? (with the goal of using the coaxial in the wall in lieu of Ethernet cables in the wall)
 

dmclone

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Thanks!

I guess what I mean is how do I make a MoCA adapter work when there is only one cable "hole" in the wall in the room? (with the goal of using the coaxial in the wall in lieu of Ethernet cables in the wall)
Oh sorry, I was confused on what you meant by moca adapter. Not sure on this one.
 

keepngoal

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Thanks!

I guess what I mean is how do I make a MoCA adapter work when there is only one cable "hole" in the wall in the room? (with the goal of using the coaxial in the wall in lieu of Ethernet cables in the wall)
Why do you need a wired connection there?

mesh units have a Ethernet port you can use, so you can wire something to the mesh just place one near your need. Or add a switch to the mesh port and attach multiple items.
 
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Tri4Cy

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Thanks!

I guess what I mean is how do I make a MoCA adapter work when there is only one cable "hole" in the wall in the room? (with the goal of using the coaxial in the wall in lieu of Ethernet cables in the wall)

So you're trying to set up wireless AP's but have them hardlined in back to the router but using coax vs CAT5/6 is the question right?

As others have mentioned, the mesh system allows you to have your main router (hooked up to the coax modem) and then every WAP in the system would communicate to each other via wireless. The pro is you only need one physical connection. The bad, you don't get MAXIMUM speed since some of your bandwidth is used by the WAP's to communicate with each other.

My understanding of the MoCA system is you still have your modem hooked up to one coax connection but you also plug in the LAN from the modem/router back to the MoCA. Then that system uses the coax in your house to transfer that signal to other MoCA devices plugged in around the house. From there you could potentially plug in WAP's to give you that dedicated back channel and increase your speeds.

Kind of like this:
MoCA_Diagram_with-wifi-routers_1B.jpg


That is how I essentially have my home mesh network set up except I have Cat6 ran throughout the house. Same concept accept I don't have to use MoCA adapters.
 
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khardbored

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So you're trying to set up wireless AP's but have them hardlined in back to the router but using coax vs CAT5/6 is the question right?

As others have mentioned, the mesh system allows you to have your main router (hooked up to the coax modem) and then every WAP in the system would communicate to each other via wireless. The pro is you only need one physical connection. The bad, you don't get MAXIMUM speed since some of your bandwidth is used by the WAP's to communicate with each other.

My understanding of the MoCA system is you still have your modem hooked up to one coax connection but you also plug in the LAN from the modem/router back to the MoCA. Then that system uses the coax in your house to transfer that signal to other MoCA devices plugged in around the house. From there you could potentially plug in WAP's to give you that dedicated back channel and increase your speeds.

Kind of like this:
MoCA_Diagram_with-wifi-routers_1B.jpg


That is how I essentially have my home mesh network set up except I have Cat6 ran throughout the house. Same concept accept I don't have to use MoCA adapters.

Perfect! Yes. I may want to have wireless AP's (such as a "Nest Point") but have them hardlined in back to the router. The key is what this picture calls "splitter 1." I wasn't sure if "two-way traffic" on the Coaxial cable would be an issue or not. Picture makes it seem like it's not an issue.

The debate is that within this old thread:
  • some users suggest a high need to have your remote points hardwired
  • some others say "nah, just relying on wireless for the remote points is FINE."

I suppose it makes the most sense for me to try out wireless only and see how that goes.

My work computer is on the 2nd floor where Mediacom comes in, and it's plugged in to the modem.

The most advanced wireless use is probably my kids occasionally downloading Mario Maker levels, but we're not hardcore gamers. Stream movies & live sports at times, etc. Right now we have a single, generic router/modem combo which is a bit iffy and buffers at times.
 

Tri4Cy

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Perfect! Yes. I may want to have wireless AP's (such as a "Nest Point") but have them hardlined in back to the router. The key is what this picture calls "splitter 1." I wasn't sure if "two-way traffic" on the Coaxial cable would be an issue or not. Picture makes it seem like it's not an issue.

The debate is that within this old thread:
  • some users suggest a high need to have your remote points hardwired
  • some others say "nah, just relying on wireless for the remote points is FINE."

I suppose it makes the most sense for me to try out wireless only and see how that goes.

My work computer is on the 2nd floor where Mediacom comes in, and it's plugged in to the modem.

The most advanced wireless use is probably my kids occasionally downloading Mario Maker levels, but we're not hardcore gamers. Stream movies & live sports at times, etc. Right now we have a single, generic router/modem combo which is a bit iffy and buffers at times.

Here are my thoughts on that (lets pretend you asked!):

If you don't have a dedicated backhaul line in your WAP then each WAP is connecting to each other via WiFi. In order to maximize your speed, each WAP needs to be in at least one other WAPs "strong" signal ranges. Let's say I have the main router on one side of my house with 1Gb speed. Next to that router I get about 750Mb WiFi. If I move to the other side of the house, I may only get a week signal and intermittent 50Mb speed. If I put a WAP in that spot, I don't believe it can magically create bandwidth and bump that spot to 750Mb like if I was standing next to the main router.

That was the situation I found myself in my new house. Because of that, I put in a dedicated backhaul line and WAP on the opposite side of the house. Next to either point I'll get 750Mb easily and drop to about 500Mb at the worst spot on the main floor and about 200 in the basement.

We are 100% streaming in the household (only two of us) but it's not uncommon for one of us to be streaming TV or music while the other is streaming TV and using our smart trainer on Zwift. We often find ourselves streaming 2-3 things at any given time and I can't recall a single time we've had issues with buffering since we installed the mesh system.

I had looked into MoCA once since coax was ran in the house but since we are new construction and an unfinished basement, running new Cat6 was super easy so that was the route I went. Good luck!
 
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enisthemenace

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Soooo…dropping by because I know I had some similar questions a while back.

I just ran new cat6 wires in my house, dropped in a few cheap switches and now have a ton of options for hardwiring. I’m not completely hardwired now (still using WiFi on some locations), but I am hardwired in my dead zones (and beyond).

I have 2 TVs wired for streaming in the basement and could hook up 5 more if I wanted. It’s awesome.
 
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