Couple of questions as I am looking to run ethernet cable from my attic (where ISPs modem is located - 2nd floor) to two rooms - first is a gaming room on the same 2nd floor as the modem is right now and another to the office located on the floor below (1st floor).
After that I want two wifi access points for 1st floor and ground floor - so we have good wifi signal everywhere. I know it’s a bit of an overkill but we are going to stay in this house for next 10 years or more - so might as well run some cables now before we get all the furniture in etc.
So my initial idea was to connect the ISPs modem to a POE Switch Switch Flex 2.5G PoE - Ubiquiti Store and then run ethernet cables to a console / TV and PCs in the gaming room and the office and to the two access points Access Point U7 Pro Max - Ubiquiti Store. Also I will be installing ethernet socket in the office and 2 other rooms on the 1st floor if we ever need to use ethernet connection there.
However I’m not sure if I need to get the Gateway/Router Ubiquiti Store and then connect it to ISPs modem and connect all the other devices to that? I think I have seen some comment claiming I need to use my ISPs modem in order to use their internet - as it’s controlled/identified by the ISPs network in order to provide the internet (I’m not looking to go around this as it’s beyond my skill level at this point in time).
I think this set up will allow me to have some flexibility to connect maybe a 2nd gaming PC or a NAS. On top of that I will be installing a ring style doorbell (G4 Pro from Ubiquity most likely) and one or two outdoors security cameras later on. That’s why I opted for POE switch just to future proof it.
Having said all that the current modem I got from the ISP (Sagemcom) does everything I listed above already (although wifi on the ground floor especially on the phones sometimes drops) and I could just run 4 long cables to whichever rooms I need and maybe even slap some access point on the ground floor - so maybe I am overdoing this entire thing in my head… I love the idea though.
Do I also need to get UniFi Router for the camera ? For some reason I thought I can just take the doorbell and access it whenever I get notification onto my iphone whenever someone rings the doorbell or we get packages delivered. I think I’m overlapping a lot of gear. I understand I can have a hard drive to record the footage from camera but that would not be my priority at the moment.
The 2nd floor (attic) will be covered directly by the ISPs modem for wifi.
I’ve never done any kind of network before but thought I might give it a go. I have some cash to throw at it and now it’s time to do it. Any thoughts on this set up. Sorry if it all sounds bit silly but better ask experts before I spend my money
The red line is the cable connection, blue is wifi.
We have 3 ipads / 2 iphones / 1 laptop for personal use and 1 work iphone and laptop. These will move around each floor and in the diagram for the wifi access point I have wrote down “Up to X mobile devices” to indicate how many might be in use on particular floor. The idea being that these would connect for example to ground floor AP when users are in that zone.
As our needs grow I might be adding 2 desktops on 1st floor and at some point a media server (but that’s a distant project).
I think it simply might be an overkill for our house, on the ISPs modem that’s currently on the 2nd floor I am getting 1-2 bars wifi connection. But as I mentioned in previous post there will be some work done on 1st floor walls so I can run cables and put few sockets for future use if we need them.
I could get some signal boosters from the ISP but they charge fiver a month for that. Which probably will cost me around same amount as this set up over 10 year period.
If you’re fine with “locking” yourself in to a specific vendor I guess it’s fine but I’d personally try to avoid that for a home network and you more or less need to run a controller somewhere for configuration.
Does your ISP support bridge mode, if it’s really a modem at all (cable/DSL?) or are you stuck with double NAT?
As far networking I’d consider taking the following route to avoid vendor lock in and cloud…
The Mediatek Filogic hardware works very well overall and is well supported so updates are available, compiling the firmware isn’t hard if you want to do that. It takes less than 1h on a somewhat decent box.
Switch: Doesn’t need to be something special but I would recommend getting a managed one as you might at least need VLAN functionality later down the line. Since you’re getting a new 2.5G it might be worth investing into. Zyxel offers a good bang for the buck but you can also find Mikrotik in similar price range sometimes and a few other well established brands. You also want to have a look so they provide new firmware updates as there are bugs in the software at times…
1G Smart Switch PoE: Zyxel GS1900-10HP
Good “value” 1G switch, does what it’s supposed to do and fanless.
2.5G dumb PoE: Zyxel XMG-108HP
Just a switch, no management at all
2.5G “Smart” PoE: Zyxel XMG-1915-10E (Cloud is optional, you don’t need to use it)
Fanless 2.5G, nothing fancy but does what it’s supposed to do.
I agree, you’re going to need to run a controller by self hosting it, getting a cloud key (a literal dongle that serves as the controller), or getting one of their gateways (their routers). Conversely you can have them in standalone mode, but you lose the convenience of Ubiquiti and might as well use something else at that point.
Since you’re looking into getting their cameras as well - I would get a cheap computer that can do the duties of running their controller / storage for the camera in a separate box, and getting two access points, one for the ground floor and another one for the first floor - you’d want to have roaming across the house and hopping in and out of the network by relying on the ISP wifi will not be a nice experience.
Conversely, for the network only portion of what you want to do, you have alternatives like Engenius and Mikrotik.
However, there’s the last path of DIY with components from multiple sources and flashing custom open source firmware as suggested by @diizzy. I used to do this a long time back but it takes time - will require manual tinkering on initial setup and maintenance on top of the house work. Once you figure the effort you want to invest, that’ll guide you into what components need to be used.
Ps: you may need a gateway that can support NVR if you’re going to get the cameras down the line.
Thanks for your reply. I did some quick search and it seems I will not be able to turn my ISP router into modem only mode (my provider is Virgin Media Ireland). I’m not exactly sure what it means to my network plans or why it matters, so forgive me. But my guess is that ISP box might be in conflict with another gateway device if they are both set as router ?
I don’t really mind locking into one ecosystem as for our household we tend to lock into one ecosystem. So even this home network is more of a once off buy/install and forget and expand if there is a need to do so in the future. We are on apple devices except for gaming pc and ps5.
I can already see that some of my choices for the equipment were most likely wrong. As I will need Could Gateway or Dream Machine since I will have the security cameras as part of the network.
Dump AP mode takes minutes to setup, the only other settings you need to play around with is channels but that’s not something new which also doesn’t take more than like 10 minutes so it really doesn’t take more than anything else to setup.
@pcFred
I asked because most users wants to user their own router for better integration and control over their network. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-OA2Bwz9QI and various posts suggests that it’s possible.
If you don’t mind locking yourself in and hosting a controller I guess Ubnt is an option.
Seems that Ubiquiti killed the DIY NVR with the introduction of Protect, so if you are looking at their cameras, you may need either a Gateway that supports NVR or a Cloud Key Gen2+
I have no option in admin panel of my Virgin Media box to turn on Modem Only mode. And will that be an issue ?
Maybe easier way would be to get PoE switch that will connect to VM Box and simply distribute the signal via say Cat7 cables to UB AP on 1st and ground floors. I would ditch the cameras or have a separate “network” for UB that would just connect to VM for the internet connection ?
I’m getting a little bit confused with all this - if I can’t figure this out I might just run all the cables to the sockets in the rooms that I need them to be and for now just connect what’s in use to VM box and perhaps add more gear once I gain bit more knowledge. I thought it might simply work with least amount of admin required (I don’t have any experience in this - so any Linux / coding etc. my brain just doesn’t compute - I’m just interested in this)
You’ll run into double NAT-ing, if you’re not interested in publishing things to the Internet or latency for gaming, it probably won’t affect you at all (if you use their NVR gateways)
As I see it, @pcFred has two choices if he wants to avoid a Double Nat situation. @pcFred can contact his IPS and see if he can replace the current-provided IPS equipment with a modem instead of a router or forget about using Ubiquity gateways and cameras. Also, I would forget about renting extenders from his IPS. I tried to improve my Home WiFi signal by renting extenders from my ISP. The extenders didn’t improve the WIfi coverage area; several dead regions existed. The only way I could enhance WiFI coverage for my home was to add a few Access Points spread across both upstairs and down. You don’t need to run the Ubiquity controllers software constantly; it only needs to be running to configure their equipment; once the equipment is configured, there is no real need for the controller software unless you want to see what the non Unifi gateway equipment is doing. I use a Unifi Dream Machine SE for my Computer Lab, which gets Internet access from another router. Yes, I have a Double Nat situation, but I am not a gamer, and having the Computer Lab (two connected rooms) internet set up as I do doesn’t prevent me from doing anything I want.
I posted the video @diizzy suggested in case you didn’t want to go to YouTube to watch it.
@Shadowbane - thanks - I did watch the video @diizzy suggested in which the presenter said it’s not possible to change DHCP or have it in Modem Mode which was bit confusing as @diizzy suggested I could do whatever it is needed.
My modem looks the same but is called Hub 6, perhaps just a change of name or maybe different functions.
I did however find this thread on the Hub 6
Most of the jargon used in there I still don’t understand, but I’m slowly working on it.
I might need to revise my idea at the end. VM is the only provider that can connect me with 1Gig internet so I cannot use any other provider in my area.
P.S. for some reason I cannot insert links in my replies but if you search boards dot ie virgin media hub 6 there is a thread by user named ie2023 - if anyone wants to have a look at it.
@pcFred, is this the thread you were talking about? The solution to what you want is to contact Virgin Media and ask if you can replace your current router with a modem. If replacing the router with a modem is possible, you won’t have to configure modem-only mode (bridge mode). Whoever you speak to from Virgin Media, tell them you are considering using a Unifi gateway (router) and ask what modem-only equipment is approved to run on their network. When I had Spectrum Internet, I could avoid being Double-Nated because I could get a modem-only device that worked on their network.
So if my ISP modem can work in bridge mode will my network plan work ?
In the diagram I have included the Unifi Gateway under presumption that it will be fed “pure” internet signal but it would take up all the other functions that the ISP box currently provides. What if I keep the VM as the main Gateway and connect it to the PoE switch that will then connect by cat7 cable to UB Access Points and I either don’t get the Unify Gateway for the cameras - or set them up as a separate circut that has nothing to do with the internet network for the house ?
Or am I sacrificing some other functions that Unify gateway offers if it’s used as intended.
I can use VM box on the 2nd floor as a wifi AP for any mobile devices we use. It will probably still be good enough on the 1st floor as well. Ground floor is bit worse but still can use internet as of today.
It’s getting more complicated the more I dig into this - I might run the cables, I think I have 4 ports on VM box and just slap 1 AP on the ground floor. Have cable prepped for AP on the 1st floor and connect by cat the gaming PC and work laptop.
You’re correct - you’d probably want to put your Virgin Media Hub 6 in bridge mode (check here on why) so you can get a Unifi device to act as the router/controller for your network, and use a PoE Switch to connect the rest of devices.
One other thing to consider is the wattage of the devices you want to add, and buy a switch that will fullfill those needs. (i.e. cameras have a set wattage consumption as well)
IF - and only IF - you decide on going full Ubiquiti, I would get: Routers - Pick one of these
Note: If you pick the router with wifi, you will need one less Access Point.
But beware, you’d be locking yourself into this ecosystem for a long time - make sure this is the amount of money you want to spend on this project of yours.
If bridge mode is not possible can I skip Ubiquiti routers and go VM box → Ubiquity PoE switch → Ubiquiti WiFi AP - just to distribute the internet across all the floors of the house
Then either get different brand of cameras/doorbell or have them set up with Ubiquity NVR but on a separate loop from the rest of the home network ? Or will that VM box + Dream Router still cause problems with double routing even if used for doorbell / cameras alone ?
@pcFred, @teltersat Hey Telersat, I was in the middle of answering @pcFred’s last question, but your answer was so much better I canceled my post. @pcFred Teltersat is correct about what should happen if the Virgin Media-provided device can be put into bridge mode. Most ISP-provided equipment is a device that has several different functions. Those functions are to route internet traffic, connect the router in your home to the router inside the ISP network, be a level 2 switch, act as your DHCP server and DNS server, and act as a firewall. The last function acts as an Access Point (AP), Where a modem’s function is to connect the router in your home to the ISP network router. This explanation is oversimplified since you were confused. I didn’t want to confuse you more. You may need to add more Access Points than you originally planned to get the WIFI coverage you want.
Yes, using your Virgin Media-provided router and Unifi Access Points is possible, and you can skip purchasing a Unifi router. Still, You will need to either temporarily host the Unifi controller software, create a virtual machine to host the Unifi controller, or buy a cloud key to configure the Unifi switch and Access Points.
You can, but you’d be losing the NVR capabilities for Ubiquiti. There are other NVR solutions for sure: You may want to get a Cloud Key Gen 2 if you don’t want to have double NAT and stay with Ubiquiti, or look into Frigate for NVR capabilities.