ᐅ Which Router Is Best for Our New Home?

Hello,

we are planning our new build with a developer and have an appointment with the electrician soon.

I am working on the LAN planning.

I will plan enough LAN connections for every room and also in the garage.

Should we use a mesh Wi-Fi router system, for example Netgear Orbi, Amazon Eero (one unit on each floor or in the most important rooms, which can be expanded as needed if there are coverage gaps) or something similar, or does it have to be an expensive PoE access point network?

I would say we are users with a higher-than-average standard.

I want to have good Wi-Fi coverage throughout the house so that I always have enough Wi-Fi on my phone for browsing.

A speed of 50–100 Mbps on the phone would be sufficient, but it should be stable (we will have a 500 Mbps or maybe only a 250 Mbps connection).

Do the access points have to be PoE devices mounted on the ceiling, or is that maybe a bit too much for us?

Or is a regular mesh router system (e.g., Netgear Orbi) enough for us?

Running the PoE cables will most likely be very expensive with the electrician (typical for developer projects :/ ).

Manatarms123 schrieb:

Hello,

we are planning our new build with the developer and have an appointment with the electrician soon.

I’m working on the LAN planning.

I will plan enough LAN outlets for every room and also in the garage.

Should we go for a mesh network router system like Netgear Orbi, Amazon Eero (one unit on each floor or in the main rooms, which can be expanded as needed if there are gaps) or something similar, or does it have to be an expensive PoE access point network?

I would say we are mid-to-high standard users.

I want to have good Wi-Fi reception everywhere in the house so I always have enough Wi-Fi on my phone for surfing.

A speed of 50-100 Mbps on the phone would be enough for me but it should be stable (we will get a 500 Mbps or maybe only a 250 Mbps connection).

Do the access points have to be PoE ceiling-mounted, or is that a bit too much for us?

Or is a basic mesh router system (like Netgear Orbi) enough for us?

The electrician will probably charge a lot to run PoE cables (typical for developer projects :/ )

That really depends on what you are building.

Do you have a basement? Should the technology be separated from everything else (a dedicated technical room on a separate floor)?

For example, we have a basement and placed the router in our basement (technical room). Of course, the signal doesn't reach well upstairs from there.

So we installed a LAN outlet on each floor, which I have now equipped with access points.

Reception/coverage: --> Perfect! I am very satisfied with the network.

Otherwise, you can just get a FritzBox with mesh or something similar and see if that meets your needs. It also depends on your building construction. For us, the reinforced concrete ceiling practically blocks the signal, so I need access points on each floor.

I had additional costs of:

1x PoE-capable switch: about €100 (approx. $110) more than a non-PoE switch?
2x access points for ceiling/wall mounting: about €160 (approx. $175) → around €80 (approx. $88) each
2x LAN outlets for the access points: depends on how much your electrician charges per LAN outlet – varies...

That’s basically it. For everything else like router, LAN cables etc. for your equipment, you’ll need those anyway.

I think the access point setup is really great... amazing Wi-Fi coverage throughout the whole house – in my opinion not comparable if you just have the router somewhere and try to extend coverage on other floors with repeaters or similar… forget it.

By the way, we mounted the access points on the walls – well hidden in corners. Mounting on the ceiling is supposed to be better for the signal, but I get full coverage everywhere.

Manatarms123 schrieb:

The electrician will very likely charge a lot of money to install the POE cable (typical for developer projects :/)

Why should a "POE cable" or its installation be more expensive than for a "regular" connection?

There is no POE cable. POE is simply the feature that allows the end device to receive its power supply through the existing RJ45 network cable. Therefore, no separate cable needs to be installed.

Manatarms123 schrieb:


Do the access points have to be PoE and ceiling-mounted, or is that a bit too much for us?

Not necessarily, but they can be optimally positioned that way compared to being connected in a room and hidden behind a cabinet.

Manatarms123 schrieb:

Or would a basic router mesh system (e.g., Netgear Orbi) be enough for us?

Most likely yes.
If you get a FritzBox as your router, you could also use its repeaters, some of which can also operate as access points.
Especially if you’re not very experienced technically and don’t want to invest much time, that’s ideal because they can be set up in a few minutes and then just work.

Manatarms123 schrieb:

The electrician will probably charge a lot to install the PoE cable (typical for developer projects :/ )

As mentioned before, there are no PoE-specific cables. However, ceiling outlets will likely be charged separately.

Just as an idea, here’s how I did it in a 120m² (1300 sq ft) home:
* FritzBox is located in the utility room
* 1 Fritz Repeater 1200 AX in the living room, so that the terrace and a large part of the garden are also covered
* 1 Fritz Repeater 1200 AX directly above the utility room in the bedroom
* 1 small 5-port switch in the attic (cable routed through an existing shaft), where another access point (Fritz Repeater 3000) is connected.

Connection speed to the router is around 300 - 500 Mbit/s almost everywhere in the house. That is absolutely sufficient, especially since we hope to get a fiber connection next year. I found a few spots with poor reception here and there. However, it currently doesn’t really matter if the farthest corner of the kids’ room only gets 50 Mbit/s, and even the bathroom is limited to about 100 Mbit/s.

If needed, I could also connect the repeater in the living room via cable in case throughput becomes an issue later.

I work in IT and have a basic understanding of networking. However, I don’t want to “tinker” in my free time; things just need to work and offer good value for the price.

Manatarms123 schrieb:

I will plan enough LAN outlets for every room and also in the garage.

Is a LAN outlet necessary in every room? Laptops and mobile devices connect via Wi-Fi, and printers can also be connected wirelessly. I would install a LAN outlet on each floor for the Wi-Fi access point, as well as in the office/living room TV/basement/utility room/garage.

Manatarms123 schrieb:

Do the APs have to be PoE and ceiling-mounted, or could that be a bit too much for us?

The advantage of PoE is that the access point does not require a separate power supply. As mentioned, it runs over a standard Ethernet LAN cable.