Fibre hardware alternatives

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janplank

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So I am considering fibre to the home. With a router bought on ADSL , LTE and now fibre, my home is already setup with WiFi etc.
I am considering Axxess on Vumatel (only fibre in my area). I believe they provide a Tenda AC10 router. I am not familiar with all the hardware but can I use an existing router using the WAN port or must the router support the fibre connection properties? By 'connection properties' I mean the info you setup on the web page of the router to connect to you ISP.

Is it perhaps better to spend a little more and buy a proper router than the one the ISP provide? What about POE instead of powering from the plug? Power is off more than it is on in our area. What significance does the ONT have on the setup?

Amy I wasting my time and money to use my own existing hardware? I'll have to buy an ONT though.
 
janplank said:
So I am considering fibre to the home. With a router bought on ADSL , LTE and now fibre, my home is already setup with WiFi etc.
I am considering Axxess on Vumatel (only fibre in my area). I believe they provide a Tenda AC10 router. I am not familiar with all the hardware but can I use an existing router using the WAN port or must the router support the fibre connection properties? By 'connection properties' I mean the info you setup on the web page of the router to connect to you ISP.

Is it perhaps better to spend a little more and buy a proper router than the one the ISP provide? What about POE instead of powering from the plug? Power is off more than it is on in our area. What significance does the ONT have on the setup?

Amy I wasting my time and money to use my own existing hardware? I'll have to buy an ONT though.
Click to expand...
The ONT is the property of Vumatel which they will install at your premises. You are not supposed to take it with you when you leave.

Any router with an Ethernet WAN port will work. At least a router with 1Gbps ports even if you only get 50Mbps fibre for example. Otherwise, once you upgrade to anything over 100Mbps you will have to get a new router (assuming you have a device or two that are wired instead of only using WIFI).

The rest is up to you. Got a Wifi 6 capable device? Get a Wifi 6 capable router.

That AC10 router looks like it should do a fine job. You can always use it and buy another one later. No need to go rush for a R6000 router when the one you receive from the ISP is perfectly OK for your use case.
 
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The ONT also requires power I guess? I got all my goodies connected together that require power in the event of a power failure. Can I dictate where the ONT must be installed?

I don't have a wifi 6 capable router yet. Most of my devices in the house that require speed are wired with 1Gbps ports.
 
janplank said:
The ONT also requires power I guess? I got all my goodies connected together that require power in the event of a power failure. Can I dictate where the ONT must be installed?

I don't have a wifi 6 capable router yet. Most of my devices in the house that require speed are wired with 1Gbps ports.
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Usually they're quite accommodating in terms of where you want the ONT to be installed so be nice I guess..
They are also given a certain fibre length allocation per site (I think 25m) so if the fibre run to your chosen ONT installation point is longer than this, this could be a problem.

Worst case- they install the ONT and you run an ethernet cable from the ONT to your router.
 
Ok, so any router will do. How do the isp get you on the network? Mac, IP? Is the client a DHCP ip recipient?
 
If for instance I have the neighbours
Jaseyyxx said:
If its vuma trenched its DHCP, aerial is PPPoE I believe
Click to expand...
Do you provide the ISP with your router mac address in order to get an IP? What happens if I spoof the neighbours MAC address who is at the same ISP?
 
The Fibre ONT is a given and supplied by the FNO. No getting around that. Besides converting fibre to Ethernet- it provides monitoring of the line to your home. Any 220V AC or 12VDC supply will make sure that stays up.

With regards to router- you’re good using any router of your choice. ISPs that use PPPoE will provide credentials you can use if you ask. ISPs who use DHCP will have some sort of MAC/Radius authentication mechanism that’s linked to your account- so no need to supply MAC information. Simply plug in your router, navigate through the authentication process and your router’s MAC is linked.

It’s always good to invest in your own network. If you have APs, separate routing, switching and wireless is always the ideal scenario. Obviously the cost of hardware has an influence here for some. But better hardware is always a worthwhile investment if you intend to maximise your monthly spend on internet connectivity.
 
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Can I use a pi4 with additional USB to LAN port to handle the router functionality? I would like to start playing with pihole or adguard. Would be great to have all functionality in one box.
 
dj_jyno said:
Both are DHCP. We had Vuma aerial at our previous house.
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Depends on the ISP.

We have Vuma aerial here, two lines. One with Afrihost the other with CISP. Afrihost is DHCP and CISP is PPPOE.
 
janplank said:
Can I use a pi4 with additional USB to LAN port to handle the router functionality? I would like to start playing with pihole or adguard. Would be great to have all functionality in one box.
Click to expand...
For router/firewall I would rather use something like this.

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You can install pretty much any firewall/router software on there and configure it as you please such as pfSense, OpnSense, OpenWRT, IPFire etc.

You can then supplement it with Pihole on a Pi if you wish.
 
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