re: Home Networking Companies

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So after doing some research, AV companies tend to be pretty expensive to pull wire and set up home networks. I guess they think anyone who doesn’t do this themselves must have frick you money.

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There is something amiss. Cables are fished and run (no offense) by guys that make $12ish an hour (as least the guy looking for the fish that isn't in the attic.) $5k is explosive, and probably based on what their Zillow estimate of your house was.

You don't need an A/V company. Cat 5/6 is the same (to pull) as Cat 3, which is phone cable. Any electrician can run it.

Remember, better doesn't mean best. Get your network better, soon, for what makes financial sense, don't wait five years for the "perfect" architected solution. Wires are your salvation. It's cheap to have guys pull wires.

Alright. There's a lot to unpack here. Before you do anything, Make a plan!! It sounds like you've already started, but I can't stress this enough.

So starting with the basics. The first part is figuring out were you are going to need access points and "drops". You are also going to have to decide where you want your network to terminate. From the sound of it, it sounds like the master bedroom is the spot. I assume this is where the ATT signal enters the house? If you really want to take it to the next level, they make inwall network/AV enclosures that hides everything pretty neatly. My house already had one in the basement when we moved in, so I don't have alot of experience there.

Once you know where you want the network to terminate, you mee to figure out where you'd like your wired and wireless access points. If you're going to be mucking around in your roof, you might as well run a couple of wired access points while you're at it. I'd do the main TV location and the home office at a minimum. You don't have to utilize them right away, but it's nice to have them. There are tons of videos on youtube about how to do this. Mounting the wireless access points should be fairly easy. As mentioned before you can mount them in ceiling or in the attic. With a Power of Ethernet (POE) switch, the physical installation is easy. They are plug and play. Plug in the network cable and they have signal and power. Done (minus network setup, which isn't that hard).

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Where do I plug the cables in? Where do I put the switch?

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They say a pic is worth 1000 words so here goes:



So here is the basics of what your shooting for. You have the router/modem from your ISP. The cable from ATT plugs into the port labeled SFP (just like it is now). The main change you're going to have to make is to go into the router settings at the "website" listed on the back. Http://192.168.1.254 There will be a login page there. If you haven't changed the username and pass word on the router (not the network). What you want to do is disable the wifi on the router. This website explains how to do that.

Once you get the existing network disabled on the ATT router, you have to turn on the new network. To save yourself a bunch of headaches reconnecting all your existing devices to the new network, I'd keep the network name and password the same. You just have to configure it in the menu of the access point. I'm not specifically sure how to configure the network on the various access points but it's should be too difficult thru the TPlink app. The access points you've selected support TP link's Omada network system. They make Omada integrated POE switches and a controller (Oc200) so you'll have to do some research to see if that's something you need. It sounds like the controller allows you to more easily control all of the access points from one spot. I don't know much about that, but you might want to explore it. Regardless of that decision, I'd upgrade from the 4 port to an 8 port POE switch.

Again, this is the very basics to help you with the planning process. Good luck, you can do it!

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If you have three thermostats, you probably have a big two story house. It's going to be difficult and expensive to wire that place. Before you do anything, try the TP-Link Deco AXE5400. Get it from some place that will let you return it if it doesn't work out for you.

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You bring up an interesting idea here. So... I have some components of an old Google mesh system that we eventually just gave up on but I'm curious about newer mesh systems. I know that Lonnie said mesh systems aren't really solving the problem but this wire-pulling stuff is pretty major for someone who has like - zero idea about this.

This TP-Link mesh system you talk about looks interesting. And yes, as you mentioned, we do have 2 bedrooms upstairs. Also, I have to try to make this signal extend from the master bedroom to the entire house... even outside.

I may give these a whirl first just to see if it works. If not, I could just return them.

Lonnie, Corky, bluebarracuda, broadhead, Lemmy, mchias1... what do y'all think of advanced mesh systems from someone like TP-Link?

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I guess they think anyone who doesn’t do this themselves must have frick you money

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God forbid people trained and with years of experience charge for their time and work

TP Link Deco Mesh Router system.
1. Open box.
2. Scan QR code with phone.
3. Do what it says do on phone.
4. Repeat.

Also practice tip and I didn’t do this at first and could not ever keep my cameras on. Don’t plug this into your already existing modem. Plug it into the gateway coming from your outside. Usually an adapter that takes the fiber line and converts it to a cat5/6 connector. Don’t use the router from the internet company. And throw away the extenders.

The Deco app on your phone allows you to see every connected device and you can give greater priority for certain devices. Ie your TV or camera and less priority for say VR headsets. It’s notifies you every single time something attempts to connect.

Easy Peasy. My 80 year old parents even have this.