Which router for wireless

[mda99das]

My setup is a bit complicated, due to having a central hub in the loft where the coax is.

I am an ex sky customer, and the DSL line was in another room.

Here is my setup:

The issue is that the Hub 5 is in the loft which is great for the boxes and wired ethernet, but not great for wifi.

I have another router, draytek 2865 which has LTE sim card as a backup, which I got just incase there was a delay between switching from Sky to VM.

There are 2 ways to do this

1) Run the Draytek as a switch and turn off hub 5 wireless. The draytek is a fairly advanced bit of kit, and I do not have the in depth knowledge to take advantage of its functions. I am aware that for something to act as a switch you need to turn of DHCP, and ensure that you dont use the WAN port, unless this kit can handle it. There is thing that are beyond me like vlan. Any one here that knows how to do this, or post me to another forum on FB or Reddit?

2) Run the amphenol RG6 cable down into the other room, and then just have the same setup that I with sky and do away with the draytek. My only concern is that this pathway to the other room (aka room A on the diagram) would be rather long and involve 20-25 m worth of cable. would this length impact the signal strength and quality and thus my speed and stability?

3) Which is the better router hub 5 or draytek vigor  2865? I know that if I would have to have the hub 5 in modem mode, and connect to WAN on the draytek.

Any help much appreciated.

Thank you 

[Adduxi · Accepted solution]

Absolutely put the Hub in modem mode and use the Draytek as the main router.  You have the newer model of the one I'm using and it's a great piece of kit. You can leave the Hub in the attic and run an ethernet cable to the Draytek up to 100 metres for Cat 6a cable.

The downside is your TV boxes etc will need the ethernet cables to come from the Draytek connected switch, as only one ethernet port from the Hub is used in modem mode.

[legacy1]

Go modem mode.

[mda99das]

Thanks for your comments,

I wasn't aware that modem mode disables the other RJ45 sockets. With the suggested setup, I would have to plug the Hub 5 direct to draytek. I have 2 switches at the moment, but the cable that connects them is the cable that goes direct to the loft. I will need to find another way to run another Cat 6 cable to the loft that will then connect the 2 switches.

The draytek has so many settings, is there a guide for complete novices? I turned off DHCP on the draytek, but it was too laggy. I then tried to connect to it, but on the hub 5 it would not reveal it's IP address.

[Adduxi]

Can't think of a novice setup guide, but there are only a couple of things initially to get you up and running on the Draytek.

The WAN General Setup page and the LAN General Setup and Internet Access pages.  All the other esoteric stuff can wait until your are more comfortable using the Draytek router.

The Hub 5 WAN IP will  show on the main admin Dashboard page on the Draytek btw.

[jpeg1]

The Draytek is going to be a vast improvement on the Hub5 as a router. Apart from being a complete, tested and supported device unlike the Hub5, it is far more flexible if you need any unusual settings.

I use the Draytek with fail over to EE, next to a Hub4 in modem mode, followed by the usual networking and WiFi mesh.

The Draytek also has a free and very reliable DDNS service if you want to be sure of constant remote access regardless of WAN IP changes.

[jpeg1]

Just remembered another facility on the Draytek. You can plug a USB stick into one of the USB sockets, and it will record on the USB the full router settings in a new file every time you make a change. So you can be confident in trying different settings, knowing that you can go back to any previous settings that worked. 

[Roger_Gooner]

If you don't need WiFi in the loft then put the hub into modem mode. The Draytek must be connected directly by Ethernet cable to its WAN port and you need the WAN2 Ethernet access mode to be Static or Dynamic IP and WAN IP Network Settings to be Obtain an IP address automatically (which will obtain its WAN IP address using DHCP via the CMTS). Any switch must be connected behind the Draytek, not in front of it.

[mda99das]

I just posted on the Draytek forums, and the nomenclature of the Draytek is a tad confusing.

Anyway the 2865 LAC does NOT have Wifi 6.  The AX version does.

This would explain why I was getting worse speeds than the Hub 5.

I did the whole modem mode caboodle and on wired it was the same, no noticeable difference but on wireless worse. 

Back to the drawing board

[jpeg1]

You can still use the Draytek as the router and 4g fail over, with a mesh to give you full WiFi coverage. That works very well for me. I don't have WiFi 6 on the mesh, but on a 350Mbps connection it's quite adequate.