Can I hardwire all my EE Wi-Fi discs?

[Aukeylux]

I’ve had to wire one of my EE discs due to the distance of it which has immediately fixed my issue. However, I wondered if there was any issue with wiring all 3 of my discs via Ethernet? My plan would be to use one port on my router with a small switch which connects to each disc over rj45 sockets and trucking (we’ve got an extension being build so this could be wired in the walls). Are there any limitations to using all 3 over Ethernet? I saw a comment recently that it halves the bandwidth on each disc, and only one port on the router can be used? Just need some clarification thanks 

[JimM11]

@Aukeylux Your intentions are GOOD, one switch with all 3 connected and one back to the router is fine, wired backhaul as it is known is 100% best way to do it, The half is wireless wi-fi as you can only do one thing at a time, device sends to extender then extender sends to router, back on forth so speed theoretically is halve the speed. The wired backhaul will be at 1gb/s full duplex, send/receive at the same time.... HTH and it all works fine switch may halve an uplink use that one to connect to the router and remember to get a Gigabyte switch. If you take all three cables back it may be a little quicker, but doubt you would see any realtime difference... What package are you on? That is your slowest point down the BB path.

[Brugie58 · Accepted solution]

Ideally taking each disc to a separate port on the router would be the best way. But yes you could utilise a switch to do the  the same job. make sure its a Gb switch though not 100Mb

As far as reducing the bandwidth to each disc, so this is sort of true. If you have say a 500Mb connection, then you could in theory download that on one of the discs, but if try to do the same on another disc at the same time, then the 500Mb will have to be shared between the 2 discs or by 3 in your case. However in practice it would not be likely that 2/3 people would be trying to download  at the maximum rate  each

[JimM11]

@Brugie58 There are to many variables on Wireless wi-fi, even with the best MESH system's to get theoretical max speed from many/any extender or booster device, not to even mention multiple connections on wi-fi at the same time. That is one of the reason's wi-fi 6 (AX) was created to improve the bandwidth which is does fairly good, but not everyone gets it right OOB never mention all the other problems, and all devices have to be similar spec to even help.

[Brugie58]

@JimM11 . My explanation and yours are basically the same. My example is just for illustrative purposes if you like, you wont actually get 500Mb from one disc, probably 350/400 maximum if your lucky.

I don't think personally  using a MESH system gives any better speed, it just means you can move around the house staying on the same network with out interruption moving from one access point to another 

Then there are swings and roundabouts  with the Wi-Fi standards, the newer faster versions don't penetrate walls/ceilings so well, so you may not gain a lot unless your in site of it 

Wi-Fi can be a minefield to get right 

[Aukeylux]

@JimM11 @Brugie58

Thanks for your replies. Im on the BT full fibre 900 complete WiFi, recently upgraded all equipment to EE.

I would prefer to wire each disc separately, installing a 4-way rj45 plate behind the router which leads to each disc in the house, but that leaves me with one port left which is being used for the hybrid 4G backup device.

The whole house will utilise WiFi including tablets and smart tvs etc. but my office is the only location which will use Ethernet as I work remotely as an IT engineer and stream/game a lot. Suppose I could utilise a switch in the office instead but I’d have to get rid of the hybrid device.

[JimM11]

@Aukeylux You need to plan you wiring correctly, your solution does not solve what you posted in the first post, there are only 4 lan connections on the rear of the router, how you use them and were you put the switch is up to you, At 5 connections already, and you want to get your hybrid tested asap, and you cannot be on BT FF900 if you have already upgraded! Link below if you need it for Hybrid.

https://ee.co.uk/help/broadband/getting-started/hybrid-connect-set-up

[Aukeylux]

This is just what EE provided me. I got all my equipment upgraded recently and gave me this hybrid device for the router. Showing 2 bars currently but not tested the functionality myself yet. 

I’ll play around with the placement of devices, I just needed to know the design config of the EE router. 

[JimM11]

@Aukeylux You need to post the Model number's of your EE Router, Smart Wi-Fi, and Hybrid Devices. While you are getting the details, you will see the rear of your router, lan ports/ wan port/ usb etc. You say that you are an IT engineer so cannot work out what is confusing you. Help link below, i think you will need it.

https://ee.co.uk/help/broadband/getting-started
  

[Aukeylux]

Apologies @jimjim but my question has already been answered. I just needed to know how the manufacturer router was pre-configured to handle network traffic for my WiFi discs. Yes I’m an IT engineer and understand the basics of computer networking, but it doesn’t mean I’m an expert on EE’s hardware. My broadband package has not changed, I’m still receiving gigabit speeds, and I most likely won’t use the hybrid device anyway as my broadband has been fine all these years without it so it frees me up an Ethernet port.