Fibre use in the house

[WilsonCS]

OK - this may be a very basic and stupid question. If I go to FTTP and get a lovely fast broadband service to the house, surely the only benefit will be to the equipment linked by ethernet to the router? If I use wifi to other parts of the house and equipment eg TV, audio, tablets, phones etc - will they see any benefit? Surely only those with direct connection to the router via cable will see any benefit? So at the end of the day, is it worth it?

[iniltous]

There are different standards of WiFi , the latest EE router has a better WiFi spec , that some devices may be able to utilise,( so 400-500Mb to a compatible mobile phone for example) but the bandwidth offered by FTTP isn’t necessarily about the speed a device can use , but the total number of devices consuming bandwidth simultaneously…..a UHD video is around 25Mb , if someone had 60Mb on FTTC , two UHD streams is getting towards the limit of the capacity available , so if anyone is doing something else at the same time , the lack of bandwidth may be a noticeable …or if a gamer had a multi Gb game download , it may take minutes on a 900Mb connection but hours on a much slower connection…..it is true though , that for many ( maybe most ) currently there isn’t really a killer application that warrants Gb speed , but have a read of some other forums , often the speeds available on Openreach are ‘rubbished’ by some posters , stating that they can’t do without anything less than the 10Gb connectivity offered by some Alt Nets using XGSPON.

[WilsonCS]

As I thought - thanks iniltous. So a further question. That being the case, can the fibre providers split the incoming cable to go to two different parts of the house?

[licquorice · Accepted solution]

No.

[WilsonCS]

Many thanks for the prompt reply!

[iniltous]

No , but why would that be needed ? , if extra wired Ethernet is needed , an Ethernet switch would do ( Ethernet cabled from the switch to the location it’s needed ) or some sort of wireless AP ( mesh system ) or even a WiFi repeater would extend WiFi around a house, splitting a fibre into two fibres ( technically possible  ) but serves no purpose, the incoming fibre plugs into an ONT , if it’s split into two what happens to the other half of the  fibre , it needs to be plugged into its own ONT , so that’s two separate services ( so twice the monthly fee ) .

[WilsonCS]

If you don't ask 🙂 ...I have my work PC at one end of the house and the family streaming TV at the other end and I use Asus's mesh wifi throughout the house. I have no real desire to run a cable all that distance from the router across multiple rooms for the better speed access for HD streaming.... Hence my question. I'm simply looking at alternatives and seeing what is feasible, that's all.

[pippincp]

Asus mesh with FTTP should give you better speeds if that is what you want plus the bandwidth for more intensive users.

[Crimliar]

If you want to get the best from your AiMesh then you might want to take a look at SNBForums.  Any kind of mesh is going to slow things down somewhat, but using just enough and in the right locations can be faster than using more equipment in poor locations!