WiFi help/ county broadband.

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Joe Shmoe

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I have BT Smarthub2 in the house, and a garden office some 30-odd meters away. Too far for WiFi.

So I run a 30m cat5e cable from my Smarthub2 to the garden office where it plugs into one of BTs black WiFi extender discs. Having a cable allows me to have WiFi in the office.

Now, I'm thinking of signing upto CountyBroadband which offer full fibre and much higher speeds. They don't specify what router they provide, but I know they don't have WiFi extender discs, like I currently have. And from what I've read, the black BT WiFi discs won't work with anything other than a BT Smarthub2.

I'm not very technically minded with technology/routers etc. Can anyone tell me how i could make this work?

Do I have to buy my own 3rd party WiFi discs? Will they still work using a cable?

And moreover, does anyone have any personal experience with CountyBroadband and their routers etc?


I have IP CCTV and the garden office as mentioned above (which is my priority), so while I'd like faster speeds, I'm wary of doing anything that I'll regret.

Thanks.
 
Considering that you have run a 5e cable anyway.

Why not just buy a splitter and run cables to whatever devices you use and save microwaving yourself.
 
I'm not familiar with BT gear but you essentially just need a Wi-Fi access point that will plug into your cat5e cable in your office; this will allow you to create a new Wi-Fi network and depending on the model you may have additional ethernet connectors for wired connections.
 
This is the kind of thing that is supposed to be easy, the WiFi standard was designed with this kind of thing in mind, but various things have since clouded the issue.

I am a Cisco CCNA (network engineer) from a former life and to be honest there are so many variables if I enumerated them all this answer would be several thousand words.

So let's break this down. I agree the HomeHub and its discs are scrap due their proprietary, locked down nature. Do you have another router (e.g. from a previous ISP) you would like to reuse? A new router for the office would probably run around £30 but if this is purely for sharing the Internet and possibly a printer you're unlikely to see much benefit from new kit.

Talk to your new ISP (sorry I have no experience of them) and ask what they need in terms of a WAN side interface - they will know what that means. I ask this because if you are buying new kit there's often little or no price difference between an access point (what you need) and a router (which can be configured as an access point). A suitable router would have the benefit that if you have connection issues to the ISP it could be reconfigured as the the router in the house either for fault diagnosis or a temporary fix.

Finally in this initial batch of questions (sorry, not even scratched the surface yet), where is that cable to the office running and how is it protected? You can't really protect against a lightning strike but electrical storms can cause issues even in the absence of a direct strike. You would probably want at least surge arrestors at each each of the cable between the house and office.
 
I access the internet in my workshop via a TP-Link powerline adapter that uses the workshop power cable, then other end plugs into my home router. It was very easy to setup and performs very well.
Seconded

The one in my study is a ethernet to my PC and the one in the garage is Wifi which also has a ethernet socket if required.
 
I access the internet in my workshop via a TP-Link powerline adapter that uses the workshop power cable, then other end plugs into my home router. It was very easy to setup and performs very well.
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/powerline/

I do similar - I did it at our old house between that and the workshop. In our new place, where the walls are really old and thick, an ethernet back haul won't cut it but powerline does - decent broadband throughout most of the house.
 
Not familiar with your new provider and gear they provide but what works in your favour is the fact that you have a run of cat5e in the garden office. You can then use any router as an access point which will then give you not only Wi-Fi but a wired connection for any other devices. You will have to set this up by disabling the DHCP server function on that router in the garden office to avoid any conflicts and changing the IP address of this router so that it is within your LAN (Local Area Network)
The minimum gear you will get from the new provider is a modem or you might get a modem/router. Should it be just a modem then you’ll need to get a router. I can give you more detailed info when we know what equipment you are provided with.
Creating an access point is easier than you might think and the best and cheapest way forward.
Good move with the cat 5e cable and in future it’s best advice to always run two cables as they are cheap. If one fails which believe you me does happen you will appreciate having trust second cable in place especially if it’s buried.
 
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I'm with BT but have signed up to full fibre which is currently being installed in the village and should be live in the next few weeks, ( I'll run it alongside BT until my contract runs out in a few months as it's cheaper to pay the contract than cancellation charges o_O dumping the landline as well ). I did ask the provider Alncom which modem/router they use and recognised the brand but have forgotten, they also said that they would provide an extender foc if I needed it to access wifi in the garden - I do.
So worth taking it up with your provider as they will just buy in recognised brand equipment and if they won't give one foc you will be able to buy off the shelf. As you're a prospective customer you have strong basis for negotiation as they want your business.
 
I have BT Smarthub2 in the house, and a garden office some 30-odd meters away. Too far for WiFi.

So I run a 30m cat5e cable from my Smarthub2 to the garden office where it plugs into one of BTs black WiFi extender discs. Having a cable allows me to have WiFi in the office.

Now, I'm thinking of signing upto CountyBroadband which offer full fibre and much higher speeds. They don't specify what router they provide, but I know they don't have WiFi extender discs, like I currently have. And from what I've read, the black BT WiFi discs won't work with anything other than a BT Smarthub2.

I'm not very technically minded with technology/routers etc. Can anyone tell me how i could make this work?

Do I have to buy my own 3rd party WiFi discs? Will they still work using a cable?

And moreover, does anyone have any personal experience with CountyBroadband and their routers etc?


I have IP CCTV and the garden office as mentioned above (which is my priority), so while I'd like faster speeds, I'm wary of doing anything that I'll regret.

Thanks.
Ask CountyBroadband what they can provide, tell them about the 30 meters and if it sounds OK let them get on with it. They'll have the solution.
 
I access the internet in my workshop via a TP-Link powerline adapter that uses the workshop power cable, then other end plugs into my home router. It was very easy to setup and performs very well.
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/home-networking/powerline/
I have similar on order, due tomorrow so that swmbo can have a connection at her work station,

It's good to hear that some of you are having success with them.
 
I'm with BT but have signed up to full fibre which is currently being installed in the village and should be live in the next few weeks, ( I'll run it alongside BT until my contract runs out in a few months as it's cheaper to pay the contract than cancellation charges o_O dumping the landline as well ). I did ask the provider Alncom which modem/router they use and recognised the brand but have forgotten, they also said that they would provide an extender foc if I needed it to access wifi in the garden - I do.
So worth taking it up with your provider as they will just buy in recognised brand equipment and if they won't give one foc you will be able to buy off the shelf. As you're a prospective customer you have strong basis for negotiation as they want your business.
Fibre broadband is still a "landline" so you don't have to dump your old phone number etc.
It only goes WIFI (or cable) from the router in the house, to your computer
 
Just to reinforce what others have said, you don't have a real problem. What most people call a router is a modem/router, the modem bit scrambles and unscrambles data to send it outside the house, the router bit distributes within the house either by wifi, ethernet or both. You only want one bit of kit acting as a modem.

As far as I know, the BT kit only works if it can see BT at the other end, its locked down much as a mobile phone is often locked to a provider. County Broadband (CB to stop me having to type it out too often) have come to our village (more on this later) and they do provide a modem/router presumably with ethernet ports so you can just plug your house end cable into it. At the other end you will need something, either a cabled solution or a second router. You can often reconfigure old modem/routers and tell them to be just a router but there are lots of generic solutions. By putting the cable in you have done the hard work as long as the new CB installation is close to where it is.

I am with Zen and use their supplied Fritzbox modem router, the house is L shaped and the garage was out of range so I bought (outright, not added to contract) a Fritz mesh repeater. The main unit is downstairs at the back of the house, the mesh repeater upstairs at the front, and between them I get good wifi throughout including workshop/garage and garden. One plus is that I can sit in the car and put destinations into google maps while still on wifi - mobile signal is rubbish here. I could have got any generic repeater, I went with the same brand as the main unit because its a seameless transition - phone etc connects to the one it wanst with no need to do anything - and things like configuration changes I make or firmware updates all mirror on both boxes at once.

Until 2 years ago I got phone from BT and broadband from Zen. I bundled it all with Zen, considerable overall savings, keeping the same number. That was seamless, as long as you are out of any contract lock-in with BT. The new provider does it all and tells BT for you, BT send you an 'are you sure' email to stop anyone simply taking your number without your knowldge, but it was much easier than I expected.

I also have an old but still fine TP link, ethernet to modem/router, data over power lines to the other end which is cable into TV. Its in an odd corner and even with the repeater upstairs the connection could be flakey - the TP works and I never have to think about it.

CB have a mixed reputation here, they came and did a pretty hard sell and sign up early incentives but were well over 12 months late delivering anything. People with straightforward connections seem happy enough but there have been lots of problems. They said they would use (and have licence for) existing BT/Openreach conduits and poles but often didn't. I found a guy looking at the sky in my garden, asked and he said they would be putting a pole on the track behind the houseand running a cable above to access the houses behind. I asked him why, as they had dug up the track and put cables in 3 montsh before. He grunted and went off, left hand/right hand. A nearby neighbour can home from a week away to find a pole in the middle of his lawn, after much fuss they took it away and did the job underground as promised. Another neighbour had an install, hole in front of house, old copper cable was through side. CB will only put in 3m of their cable inside the house, so he is now runnning his modem on the floor in the hall using an extension lead unitl he sorts it properly. It probably depends on who turns up on the day and how grumpy or helpful they are - looks to me like they use subcontractors a fair bit. We know people still waiting for promised connections, trees in way and suchlike. I think an underlying problem is that the people who sell (and are doubtless incentivised) have a quick look and say yes we can connect you, when the trench diggers, pole hangers and actual install engineers come (not all at once) they find difficulties and it seems never talk to each other. The house attached to the local pub signed up, domestic not business, but now long after the 'sell' they want c £3k connection fee for some reason. So probably an equal balance of happy and unhappy but reputation is clouded. Once its settled down hopefully their reputation will improve.

I stayed with Zen, FTTC and I get a real 70+mbps because I am close to the green box. That lets me stream 4k TV and do lots of other things with no issues so its all I need. So why not CB? I wanted to see how others got on first, I stlll do some self employed work from home so a bit risk averse. Their introductory offers are just that - the headline numbers are what you pay for 6 months so any saving is trivial over the likely life of the service. With Zen I am paying £42 ish a month including line and phone, CB full price basic speed including phone would be c.£54, not much different but I don't need it - maybe one day. Zen have email servers which is convenient, I can authenticate and use them for my business emails (I don't have ISP dependent addresses), CB don't - its just connectivity is I would have to find another solution, all possibe but why? I don't much like CB terms - minimum 2 years then rolls over into 12 month contracts unless you cancel: with Zen I signed up for 12 months (long gone) and it then becomes a rolling monthly notice period. Other things I buy into, like mobile phone, have an increase formula (rpi+) which we might not like but is understandable, CB can put prices up at will. They are the only provider who can use their network (as with lots of others I know) so as soon as you go to them BT can reallocate your copper wire slot and you are stuck with CB forever. They are a new, smallish, company with a lot of investment funding from Aviva and who get big Government grants for rural broadband roll out (they put a connection box at the edge of our property, unasked, I bet they get paid for that) and didn'y or couldn't answer questions I asked at a presentation about their 'back end' - what 24/7 support do they have. It may be fine, if it is why not tell your sales team. So too much uncertainty for me at this stage. But admittedly that's just me: something of a pessimist and wanting to keep optiosn open until the heralded great copper turn off whenever it happens.

So - sum up you don't have a difficult problem with phone or on the 'inward' side. For CB I suggets you dig deep in their website, see of your install would be within their connection specification, length of trench etc., and if you are happy with their T&C. If the answer is yes, you should be fine. If there is anything unusual about your location, suggest you get answers by email and keep them.
 
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Just to reinforce what others have said, you don't have a real problem. What most people call a router is a modem/router, the modem bit scrambles and unscrambles data to send it outside the house, the router bit distributes within the house either by wifi, ethernet or both. You only want one bit of kit acting as a modem.

As far as I know, the BT kit only works if it can see BT at the other end, its locked down much as a mobile phone is often locked to a provider. County Broadband (CB to stop me having to type it out too often) have come to our village (more on this later) and they do provide a modem/router presumably with ethernet ports so you can just plug your house end cable into it. At the other end you will need something, either a cabled solution or a second router. You can often reconfigure old modem/routers and tell them to be just a router but there are lots of generic solutions. By putting the cable in you have done the hard work as long as the new CB installation is close to where it is.

I am with Zen and use their supplied Fritzbox modem router, the house is L shaped and the garage was out of range so I bought (outright, not added to contract) a Fritz mesh repeater. The main unit is downstairs at the back of the house, the mesh repeater upstairs at the front, and between them I get good wifi throughout including workshop/garage and garden. One plus is that I can sit in the car and put destinations into google maps while still on wifi - mobile signal is rubbish here. I could have got any generic repeater, I went with the same brand as the main unit because its a seameless transition - phone etc connects to the one it wanst with no need to do anything - and things like configuration changes I make or firmware updates all mirror on both boxes at once.

Until 2 years ago I got phone from BT and broadband from Zen. I bundled it all with Zen, considerable overall savings, keeping the same number. That was seamless, as long as you are out of any contract lock-in with BT. The new provider does it all and tells BT for you, BT send you an 'are you sure' email to stop anyone simply taking your number without your knowldge, but it was much easier than I expected.

I also have an old but still fine TP link, ethernet to modem/router, data over power lines to the other end which is cable into TV. Its in an odd corner and even with the repeater upstairs the connection could be flakey - the TP works and I never have to think about it.

CB have a mixed reputation here, they came and did a pretty hard sell and sign up early incentives but were well over 12 months late delivering anything. People with straightforward connections seem happy enough but there have been lots of problems. They said they would use (and have licence for) existing BT/Openreach conduits and poles but often didn't. I found a guy looking at the sky in my garden, asked and he said they would be putting a pole on the track behind the houseand running a cable above to access the houses behind. I asked him why, as they had dug up the track and put cables in 3 montsh before. He grunted and went off, left hand/right hand. A nearby neighbour can home from a week away to find a pole in the middle of his lawn, after much fuss they took it away and did the job underground as promised. Another neighbour had an install, hole in front of house, old copper cable was through side. CB will only put in 3m of their cable inside the house, so he is now runnning his modem on the floor in the hall using an extension lead unitl he sorts it properly. It probably depends on who turns up on the day and how grumpy or helpful they are - looks to me like they use subcontractors a fair bit. We know people still waiting for promised connections, trees in way and suchlike. I think an underlying problem is that the people who sell (and are doubtless incentivised) have a quick look and say yes we can connect you, when the trench diggers, pole hangers and actual install engineers come (not all at once) they find difficulties and it seems never talk to each other. The house attached to the local pub signed up, domestic not business, but now long after the 'sell' they want c £3k connection fee for some reason. So probably an equal balance of happy and unhappy but reputation is clouded. Once its settled down hopefully their reputation will improve.

I stayed with Zen, FTTC and I get a real 70+mbps because I am close to the green box. That lets me stream 4k TV and do lots of other things with no issues so its all I need. So why not CB? I wanted to see how others got on first, I stlll do some self employed work from home so a bit risk averse. Their introductory offers are just that - the headline numbers are what you pay for 6 months so any saving is trivial over the likely life of the service. With Zen I am paying £42 ish a month including line and phone, CB full price basic speed including phone would be c.£54, not much different but I don't need it - maybe one day. Zen have email servers which is convenient, I can authenticate and use them for my business emails (I don't have ISP dependent addresses), CB don't - its just connectivity is I would have to find another solution, all possibe but why? I don't much like CB terms - minimum 2 years then rolls over into 12 month contracts unless you cancel: with Zen I signed up for 12 months (long gone) and it then becomes a rolling monthly notice period. Other things I buy into, like mobile phone, have an increase formula (rpi+) which we might not like but is understandable, CB can put prices up at will. They are the only provider who can use their network (as with lots of others I know) so as soon as you go to them BT can reallocate your copper wire slot and you are stuck with CB forever. They are a new, smallish, company with a lot of investment funding from L&G and who get big Government grants for rural broadband roll out (they put a connection box at the edge of our property, unasked, I bet they get paid for that) and didn'y or couldn't answer questions I asked at a presentation about their 'back end' - what 24/7 support do they have. It may be fine, if it is why not tell your sales team. So too much uncertainty for me at this stage. But admittedly that's just me: something of a pessimist and wanting to keep optiosn open until the heralded great copper turn off whenever it happens.

So - sum up you don't have a difficult problem with phone or on the 'inward' side. For CB I suggets you dig deep in their website, see of your install would be within their connection specification, length of trench etc., and if you are happy with their T&C. If the answer is yes, you should be fine. If there is anything unusual about your location, suggest you get answers by email and keep them.
Me too with Zen. No prob.
 
Perhaps I should have mentioned "symmetry" - depends on what work you do whether it matters. Most ADSL and FTTC connections are assymetrical - example I get 76 down, 20 up. Not an issue for me. Most full fibre connections are symmetrical, say 300 down 300 up. (do ask though if it matters, they do vary). If you are working with large graphic files, music or video and are remote collaborating in real time, CB might be a real advantage.
 
Fibre broadband is still a "landline" so you don't have to dump your old phone number etc.
It only goes WIFI (or cable) from the router in the house, to your computer
I could well be wrong but I don't think you can get a landline without paying line rental and for example the BT cost for that is £240 pa or £20 discount for annual payment,
I looked at the number of times it's used both ingoing and outgoing and it's very rare these days as we both have an iphone with unlimited minutes. My broadband cost is low but if you add on BT line rental, and a basic call package the cost is more than I will pay for broadband that will be 4 times the speed. A no brainer in my case and I'd have done it even if I still had my business as most calls were via mobile in any case.

Not suitable for everyone I'd agree but the days of people not wanting to ring a mobile number because it was expensive are long gone and BT have said they will be dumping landline in the near future which will cause some issues for those without a mobile or in poor signal areas.

Anyone want to buy a set of 4 cordless 'phones? :D

EDIT
Just had a quick look and it seems you can't get a landline in the true sense with full fibre, what you can get is VOIP which is an internet call service so if your internet goes down so does that,
 
I could well be wrong but I don't think you can get a landline without paying line rental and for example the BT cost for that is £240 pa or £20 discount for annual payment,
I looked at the number of times it's used both ingoing and outgoing and it's very rare these days as we both have an iphone with unlimited minutes. My broadband cost is low but if you add on BT line rental, and a basic call package the cost is more than I will pay for broadband that will be 4 times the speed. A no brainer in my case and I'd have done it even if I still had my business as most calls were via mobile in any case.

Not suitable for everyone I'd agree but the days of people not wanting to ring a mobile number because it was expensive are long gone and BT have said they will be dumping landline in the near future which will cause some issues for those without a mobile or in poor signal areas.

Anyone want to buy a set of 4 cordless 'phones? :D
I'm a bit vague about technicalities but as I understand it my monthly bill from Zen includes about £14.50 for the BT line and phone number and about £10 for unlimited fibre Broadband. "Fibre" broadband is delivered by a line by definition. It's glass fibre up to a box just down the road and copper from there to the village. Further away from the box the slower the speed.
 

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