re: Home Networking Companies

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I don't want to do this. I want to pay someone to come into my house and do all of this. I want to pay them to come build the greatest home network that can possibly exist.

Are there companies that do this? Because there should be.

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Yeah, plenty of them. There is a lot of overlap in services with all the low-volt, AV, security, etc companies. Any of them can pull cable for you, but I don't have any recs for who might do a good job of actually designing a network for you.


Whoever does it is going to need some input from you though, so if you *really* want "the greatest home network that can possibly exist", take some notes. Tell them you want:

- At least one network drop in every room that may have devices. Bedrooms, living areas, office of course. There are in-wall WiFi access points that also provide wired network ports from the likes of Ubiquiti and others. This can be a cost-effective way to kill two birds with one ethernet drop.

- Ceiling-mounted access points where appropriate and possible. Most consumer wifi has to plug into a wall socket, which means your signal is offset in the space and half of it is immediately cut down by the wall. Put those things on the ceiling in the middle of large spaces where they belong.

- You want the ATT gear in "bypass" or "passthrough" mode so that it functions as a modem only. You want a 3rd party router that is a router only (no wi-fi built in), and a PoE switch in a rack or enclosure in a closet somewhere.

- Forget the "mesh" terminology because what it really is is a slower and less reliable substitute for running cables. You get all the benefits of smooth handoffs when roaming between APs (which people associate with "mesh") but better when you run cables.



And while you're at it, run cables for real cameras and trash those Nest cams. The best thing you can do to improve your WiFi is to not use it. Anything with a network port needs to be plugged in. Your TVs, the PS5, any desktop computers or laptops that spend most of their lives stationary should be plugged in. These devices will have snappier connections *and* this will free up the airwaves for everything else to work better.

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Whoever does it is going to need some input from you though, so if you *really* want "the greatest home network that can possibly exist", take some notes. Tell them you want:

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I don't know if this dude is ready to drop $10k on a full home network redesign

If I were the OP, I would just get some TP-LINK EAP610s, a cheap dummy POE switch, and two 100ft Cat6A cables. Would only cost like $200 and be infinitely better than what you have

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That's what I do.

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Only problem is my ceilings are close to 16'-17' tall in our main room and heights aren't my favorite thing...

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I don't know if this dude is ready to drop $10k on a full home network redesign

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I don't think so either, but if you ask for "the greatest"...

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If I were the OP, I would just get some TP-LINK EAP610s, a cheap dummy POE switch, and two 100ft Cat6A cables. Would only cost like $200 and be infinitely better than what you have

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Yeah that would be good but the install will cost a lot more than $200.

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Only problem is my ceilings are close to 16'-17' tall in our main room and heights aren't my favorite thing...

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In that case you could wall mount. Would be better than having something sitting on a shelf plugged into a wall outlet.

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Yeah that would be good but the install will cost a lot more than $200.

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I was talking DIY, but yea you're still looking at least ~$500 for someone to come out and run the cables and then configure the APs

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In all honesty my network has been really good and stable for the past 12-18 months. I'm not inclined to monkey with it.

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I've been wanting to upgrade my firewall to something a little newer/more powerful, but I'm in the same boat lol. My Dell R210ii is still purring away. I do want to get new switches that are quieter, but to get a quieter switch that has the features of my current ones are very expensive

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Well, that's a horse of a different color. Hummm.....

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Heat is a problem, but people exaggerate the conditions needed for hardware. You also will see very little, if any, interference compared to ceiling mounting.

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What about on the low end?

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I forget that some of you live in colder places.


Absolutely not a concern though, -22F (yes that's negative 22 degrees) is pretty typical. Unless you live in an igloo you should be good.

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Can I integrate the AP into my existing network and leave the existing routers in the system as well

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You can do that. Typically you would just set the same SSID/password (except for when there's reason to do differently). I will say though that it's much easier to make config changes when the system is matched.

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Does the vertical/horizontal orientation of the AP's matter? Are they pretty omnidirectional?

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Depends on the model and how it's designed. Ubiquiti publishes radiation patterns for their APs, others might too.

Ceiling-mount APs generally radiate (and receive) mostly to the "front" (which would be down if mounted upside-down on the ceiling). So if you put one on a wall coverage will be good on the face side but weak to its rear.

Ubiquiti has some cylinder-shaped APs (like the FlexHD and U6 Mesh) that can either hang from the ceiling or mount on a wall like a sconce, and it radiates all around but less so toward its bottom.

Pay this man.

Every "entertainment center" I've had always has at least one Cat5/6 drop, which I plug into a tiny, cheap switch. Then the Sonos, the XBox, the AP that sits neatly beside the TV (no ladder required), all get plugged into it. Cable is your friend. And don't forget that it's a nominal cost to run 2 cables from your home run to the endpoint, ya might as well, OP.