Connecting Fibre Router to pc

[#1]

I have a couple more questions regarding fibre broadband.

My current ADSL broadband is connected through a phone extension - i.e. NOT at the master socket.

But am I correct in thinking, if I switch to the Fibre broadband, that I will have to connect at the master socket OR fit some high speed extension cable to use the router at another location away from the master ?

Alternatively, can I simply plug the router into the master and use a wireless dongle plugged into my pc without losing too much speed?

Thanks for any advice

[#2]

If your ADSL is running reliably, then it would be worth trying the same wiring as everything should already be filtered appropriately. It would, however, be sensible to try a connection with the modem/router plugged into the master if only for comparison purposes.

If you use 2.4GHz wireless, the results can be variable, depending on the channel used, near-by routers and (lack of) compatibility between dongle and router. 11n devices can usually match line speeds (comfortably if 11n300). Currently, 5GHz is better due to lower "take-up" and reduced interference due to its shorter range capability - the shorter range may be a downside as well.

Phil

[#3]

Thank you PeeGee, yes my ADSL runs with very little loss between master and extension, so I'm pleased to hear that might be useable and I will try that first. I'll definitely do as you suggest and compare it at the master socket.

Hopefully then, I'll avoid using wireless-only, but I assume I could add a high speed extension cable later if really necessary.

Many thanks

[#4]

When you get your new router, you can try various arrangements and see which is best.

If you are upgrading to the Unlimited Fibre package and you have good telephone line quality, then you can afford some internal degradation and still get the full 40/2Mbps line speed you expect. On the other hand, if you are upgrading to Unlimited Fibre Extra and your telephone line will be struggling to deliver 80/20 at all, you don't want to make things worse by having extension sockets and whatnot getting in the way.

WiFi can be very good - for example the laptop I'm using right now is connecting at 142Mbps and I'm one floor up plus two walls away from the router. If I move two rooms further away, it drops to 103Mbps. But that's plenty, seeing as the router is only connecting to the internet at 39.95/1.995 Mbps anyway. But if I had a bigger house and had the 80/20 package (my telephone line is capable of 78/26 so I could benefit from it) and WiFi speed was below about 80 in some rooms, I might think that WiFi wasn't good enough and think of some other solution.

As I said, it depends but you don't need to decide until you get fibre installed and try things out.

[#5]

How many extension sockets are there?

Extension wiring that's not filtered off by a centralised filter is generally a problem for FTTC (VDSL2) services, even though it may not have had much impact on ADSL. Connecting the modem to the master socket does not solve that problem, if you don't have a filtered faceplate on the master socket.

If you only have one extension socket, then it would be OK (strangely, actually better) to connect the modem to that, provided the extension wiring is of suitable quality, in that case, it would essentially be the same as having a single DSL extension coming off the master socket.

[#6]

That's interesting ejs,

I'm no expert but I don't think it is a filtered faceplate on the master socket. It is an almost new faceplate, fitted by a BT engineer about 6 months ago, but just a standard one which I assume is not filtered.

I assume I could easily swap it for a filtered one.

I do only have one extension now - I am not exactly sure of the quality of the wiring but I can say that a few years ago the upstairs extension was completely disconnected and my only remaining extension (for my pc) only has wires 2 & 5 connected - I saw big gains when that was done - little to no difference in speeds between master and extension.

[#7]

Since you have ADSL working at the extension socket, then no, it's not filtered at the master socket.

With only one extension socket, the best place for the modem will be at the extension socket. Getting a filtered faceplate would only be useful if you wanted to connect the modem at the master socket, and wanted to use the extension socket for a telephone (rather than just disconnect the extension wiring at the master socket).

[#8]

That's very helpful info, thanks, that might just work out perfectly with no changes needed then.