OT: Update on my Router/Mesh setup from last year

[Andy Hewitt]

Don't know if anyone remembers me having trouble setting up a Double
Nat'd Mesh setup last year, where I was adding a Mercusys (TP-Link) Mesh
system to a PlusNet Hub One router.

Well, it has worked reasonably OK with the Double NAT, but recently I
decided to finally do something about it, having had one or two things
complain about it (can't remember what it was now).

After looking through the PlusNet forums, it seems that the BT Business
Smart Hub 6 is recommended as a replacement for the PlusNet Hub One. It
can be set up into Bridge mode, and can be got fairly cheaply.

So I got one off the usual auction place for under £30. I set it up
directly with my iMac before plugging it into the network for real, then
setup the Mercusys Mesh into PPPoE mode, entered the ISP details, and
bingo, all works a treat.

I've even got a little extra speed (since my last test anyway), and now
get a solid 70/19 Mbps (it was generally 67/18 on the Hub One) on a
80/20 service.

So to summarise, for anyone interested, the setup I have now is as follows:

• BT Business Hub 6(eBay £30) in Bridge mode. 70meg download on a Fibre+
service.
• Mercusys Halo S12 3 pack (eBuyer £46 - I paid £60 last year) in PPPoE
mode. Connects at 867Mbps at my iMac on the No.3 transmitter.
• TP-Link Ethernet switcher (eBuyer £8)in the lounge. Just to feed the
media devices that I can with Ethernet. This just plugs into the first
Mesh box (they each have two Ethernet ports).

That's just in case anyone was interested in a suggestion for a
reasonable cost broadband and Mesh system that seems stable and fast.

For further reference, we do have a growing number of devices using this
now, even with only two of us in the house, the amount of networked
stuff is astonishing:

The old iMac (2013 model)
iPad Pro (2020)
iPad 6
iPhone SE
iPhone 8
iPhone 6S (only feeding audio from a turntable)
2x HomePod Minis
1x Apple TV HD
1x Apple TV 4K
2x YouView boxes
Samsung Smart TV
Samsung Soundbar
Amazon 4K Fire stick

I think that's it ;-).

Obviously not all of this is used at once, but there's usually a few of
them running at once.

--
Andy H