Hub One network expansion

[#1]

I'm looking at expanding my home network, but keeping the Hub One as the VDSL router in place so I get full support from PlusNet.

My idea is to get an 8 port switch that supports PoE and port mirroring, and get a wireless access point powered from a PoE switch port that has packet capture functionality.

I'm looking for any recommendations on which switch and access point to buy, so any feedback is really appreciated.

[#2]

Can't speak for the Access point - I use a cheap and cheerful two band repeater for the expansion I need.

As for switches I have both TP-Link (SG108E) and Netgear (GS308E) managed switches (neither provides POE, but I suspect their more expensive cousins can). Both work very well and have proved reliable over several years (the TP-Link is older V1.0). Both do IGMP snooping so multicast TV does not saturate the network. Both offer port mirroring  (useful for packet capture).

The only difference between them (and the reason I switched from the TP-Link to the Netgear unit) is that the TP-Link stops all unknown multicast packets while the Netgear allows this function to be disabled. With unknown multicast packets blocked, a scanner discovery program (I think it uses Bonjour) fails to work through the switch.

Other than that both offer an enormous range of options - none of which I use. Both just work.

I also have an even older Pluscom unmanaged switch - and again - it just works.

I would look at the specs and see what functionality you need. I suspect they all use the same switch chips.

[#3]

I think I'll go for the NetGear GS108PEv3 with PoE as that will allow for other add ons like a security camera. I'm now in 2 minds whether an AP is worth it. Although, I work in IT and just started getting into networking so I like to dable a bit

Thanks a lot for replying @wisty , always good to get another opinion.

[#4]

If you want to "dabble" and have an old router lying about, try setting it up as an access point to see if it helps. Even better from a dabbling perspective is an old router that can be flashed with the Open WRT firmware. That has endless  dabbling  capabilities!

[#5]

I had looked at the Open WRT website but never had a router to try it out with. I'll get a hold one and see how it goes.

👍