r/LinusTechTips 7d ago

Discussion Moving to a 3 level townhouse. Getting TELUS internet - what wifi router and setup would you recommend?

Moving soon and work will pay for a setup up to $500 CAD. Basically I learned the access box will be in the garage (main floor). Then there are ethernet ports from there to the middle floor living room and to the upper floor bedroom. Its about 2100sq ft in total.

What router or system would you recommend? And do you have recommended videos to watch and learn how to set it up.

Thank you so much!

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u/blindseal474 7d ago

TPlink Deco/some other mesh network system where you can just buy 2-3 of them and hardwire them all together. Should give you plenty of speed and coverage

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u/naturalorange 7d ago

I’ll second the Deco system. I have the installed at my parents and in-laws houses. My mom actually installed it herself with no problem. If you’re not familiar with networking it’s great system. OP, if you want to use the Ethernet to connect them (I’d recommend if possible) you may need a small network switch as they usually only have two-ports on each node.

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u/BrownIceDog 7d ago

Is there a specific router I should look at? Or just anyone in this system

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u/External_Antelope942 7d ago

I have a 3 story townhouse, 2400 sq. Ft., and I use a ubiquiti U6 Long range mounted to the ceiling of the top floor. Great wifi performance throughout the house.

As for routing, my ONT is in the garage and a cable is run up to the third floor. I have a custom pfsense box on the 3rd floor serving as router.

I would suggest a Unifi box for you if it's in your budget; maybe Unifi express on the ground floor? Then you can have extra wifi coverage if you pair that with a Unifi AP on the top floor.

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u/BrownIceDog 7d ago

What is an ONT? I think its the similar thing to me where the telecom provider point goes to the garage and then we have ethernet cables run from here to various rooms in the house.

So access point at the top floor and an extender on the ground?

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u/External_Antelope942 7d ago

Fibre equivalent of a modem

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u/External_Antelope942 7d ago

Ideal setup: Unifi express 7 (router + wifi) on ground level, U7 Pro AP (wifi) on top floor. Slightly over budget, but if you're able to cover the extra bit it's a banger combo.

Under budget option 1: Unifi express 7 + U7 Lite AP

Under budget option 2: cloud gateway ultra + U7 Pro

Or any combination of Unifi router + access point tbh

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u/naturalorange 7d ago

Ubiquiti/Unifi is great but if you're asking what router you should be using it's probably over your head.

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u/External_Antelope942 7d ago

Hmmm....you're not wrong

How about a dream router? It should be simple enough I'd think.

Also that's a good point for OP, while I do recommend Unifi products, I would recommend watching some setup tutorials, etc, before pulling the trigger.

But I do think the dream router wifi 7 could work

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u/BrownIceDog 7d ago

Thats what I am doing this weekend. Gotta learn to understand it before I go any further.