ᐅ Is a single router sufficient to cover an entire house?

Created on: 22 Aug 2021 12:37
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Heidi1965
In our new build, we have a completely separate granny flat upstairs for our son.

Now the question arises whether one router downstairs is enough for our son to use Wi-Fi upstairs as well; if necessary with a repeater. Our installer says it will be difficult because so much concrete and steel is used in new houses. It would be better to have a separate router upstairs.

Other "experts" in the family say that this is all nonsense. The new good routers can handle this easily, even without a repeater. How can you tell if a router is good?

Does anyone have experience in this area?
rick201822 Aug 2021 15:09
One router is definitely enough. I suspect that the original poster actually means something else or doesn’t really know what a router is.
Run LAN cabling to all the rooms and, if needed, install an access point on it.
Separate the networks using VLANs.
If you don’t have a clear plan, the solution with two connections and an all-in-one device in each is more convenient.
Anything else doesn’t make sense in a new build, especially not repeaters.
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konibar
22 Aug 2021 16:18
Basically, you should always use only one (NAT) router for internet access (including the firewall). Internally, you would generally use only L2 switches.

If needed, for security reasons, the in-house Wi-Fi network can be separated from the internal LAN using a second router.
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RotorMotor
22 Aug 2021 16:29
The answer was already given in the first post.
The discussion about the term router, VLANs, L2 switches, etc., does not help the original poster at all.
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hampshire
22 Aug 2021 19:10
Our low-end solution works as follows:
The FritzBox connects to the internet and sets up a Wi-Fi network in our living area, which would be the ground floor in your case.
At least two LAN cables are installed in every room (except bathrooms). A central patch panel and sufficiently sized switches are located at the entrance of our house section, flush-mounted directly under the electrical distribution board. The guys each have a small TP-Link Nano Wi-Fi router, giving them their own Wi-Fi network. In the utility room, there is another TP-Link Nano that supplies internet to two of the terraces.
Advantage: Wi-Fi is available where it is needed, installation effort is minimal, and when the guys have guests, they connect to their own network, not ours — but of course, they all share the same internet connection.
Disadvantage: When moving between zones in the house, you need to log in to a different Wi-Fi network. This does not affect us; the worst that can happen is that a streaming session might be interrupted when moving to one of the terraces, which is not a disaster for us.
Costs:
LAN cabling with patch panel and outlets throughout the house (I don’t remember the exact cost)
FritzBox, 3x TP-Link Nano, 2x TP-Link 8-port switch under 250€.
rick201822 Aug 2021 19:30
However, this does not separate the networks. Pure access points would be more appropriate for these guys.
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hanse987
22 Aug 2021 20:35
Because I just saw another post with photos from Heidi, I assume it is almost finished. If there is no LAN cable to the granny flat, the only option is to test whether the Wi-Fi signal reaches there, with or without a repeater. As part of the network separation, having a dedicated connection would be the better solution.