ᐅ LAN and Wi-Fi – Separate Devices per Floor?

rick2018 schrieb:

You don’t understand. I already mentioned that you could connect a switch to the outlet (with some power loss).
Using a double outlet is not an option.
A modern house already has more connections in the office and living room than you have in total. That should answer your question.
Wi-Fi only for mobile devices. Everything else should be wired via LAN.

My electrician (...) explained it to me like this: that I need this switch in the basement between the patch panel and the router. I didn’t know or know any more than that. Would that be “wrong” or “impractical,” etc.? I didn’t really want to have more than one access point in the individual rooms.

hanse987 schrieb:

Yes, for electrical installation it’s fine, but for network planning this is usually not a good idea! Was there at least a measurement report for the installed cables? For me, that would be the only reason to have the electrician do everything.

Since it sounds like you’re not very experienced on this topic, I’d recommend going with a Fritzbox. Where will the router be located? You’ll need good Wi-Fi coverage around the router’s position. The choice of model depends on that. You don’t necessarily need an access point in every room. Less is often more! You’ll have to test what you really need. If multiple LAN ports are required, then either use a switch with an AVM repeater (but operated as an access point) or consider using a Fritzbox from the 4 series and run it as an IP client.

I don’t think the situation is great, but believe me, there are still new builds without any network wiring where you can only use Wi-Fi, which is a disaster.

There was no measurement report. The electrician is not very proactive, and I lacked the knowledge.
The router will be in the basement in the utility room. Good Wi-Fi is not needed there.
The electrician routed the LAN cables to the patch panel and said that if I have 5 or more LAN cables, I need a switch, which on one hand must be connected to the patch panel cable by cable—7 cables in my case—and on the other hand, the switch must be connected to the router. All in the basement. Is this correct and sensible? And if yes, is there a recommended switch brand or model?

I thought that having 1 LAN cable per room provides basic coverage to get a good wired signal in the room, which then ensures sufficiently good Wi-Fi there or beyond, and if needed, I can connect the end device (laptop) directly via cable from the wall outlet to get full performance. And yes, maybe one access point per floor is enough, which I plan to try. But before testing, I wanted to ask with which device(s) I should start or try out first.

What you wrote is completely correct. The setup is [Router in the basement] --(one cable)-- [Switch in the basement] --(many cables)-- [Patch panel in the basement] --(many cables)-- [Room outlet]. You could technically omit the patch panel, as it doesn’t do much on its own. But it allows you to securely fasten the cables from the rooms and then connect the respective patch panel port to the switch. The switch then aggregates the data from the many rooms onto the single cable to the router.

Even a simple TP-Link TL-WR940N WiFi router costing about 20€ (roughly $22) covers everything you need in a room. The data rate is usually sufficient. The only reason for "faster" WiFi might be simultaneous use by multiple devices (e.g., six kids streaming Netflix on their phones at the same time). In that case, it’s worth investing a bit more, for example, a Linksys EA7500v3 for around 50€ (roughly $55).

All of these affordable access points / WiFi routers use their own power adapter, meaning you need a power outlet and the cable will be visible.

By contrast, with Power over Ethernet (PoE), power is supplied through the LAN cable, so you can save the power outlet. These devices tend to be more expensive, for example, a NETGEAR WAX214 for about 100€ (roughly $110), and usually have NO additional LAN port. This means LAN (from your router/switch/patch panel) goes in, but there is no port for a PC or TV.

So the suggestion is: in rooms where multiple devices need to be connected via cable (e.g., the living room), use a router WITHOUT PoE; then you get multiple ports and full power. In the other rooms, use a WiFi access point WITH PoE, eliminating the need for a visible power cable.

Router in the basement. Switch (not a router) in the living room and office.

rick2018 schrieb:

Router in the basement. Switch (not a router) in the living room and office.

This discussion can go on endlessly. The devices that probably make sense here are usually sold as "Wi-Fi routers"...

He planned the access point in the basement as well. And no, a "Wi-Fi router" is something different.
He only needs one router in the network.