Technical room / Router / Access Points / Switches

Hello everyone,

slowly but surely we are moving towards moving in.

In about 4-6 weeks we will almost certainly move into our new building.

For this reason, I am slowly starting to think about the technology in my house, so that I have all the information in time and the technology in the house also works.

We built with a basement - for this reason the technical room is in the basement.

--> Fiber optic connection from Telekom - 100mbit with Magenta Smart TV (watch exclusively via Internet TV - no satellite connection).
--> 7 double LAN sockets installed in the house (1x bedroom, 2x children's rooms, 1x living area, 1x office, 2x access points) --> thus 14 "individual cables"
--> The switch cabinet on the wall is attached (if this is important)

Now to my question:

1. I have considered buying the FritzBox 7590 router, as it is currently probably leading on the market and the tests for it are very good. Unfortunately, I have not had good experiences with Speedports in the past - however, I always remember FritzBox positively.
-- Does this make sense?

2. Is a router sufficient for this at all? I have too few ports on the router, so I definitely need a switch, correct?
I only know switches from LAN parties in the past and have no bigger contact points with them. Does the connection router <--> switch cause any loss of speed?
-- If a switch is needed, what should you pay attention to when buying? Are there models you have had good experiences with?

3. Access points - how does this work? I am currently a bit worried because I only had a LAN cable pre-installed in the wall for the access points on the ground floor and in the attic floor hallway area. Is this sufficient? How is the access point powered? Is it enough to plug this cable into the "switch" or the "router"? Is that even possible?

So: Which cables should go into the router and which cables should be in a switch?

I look forward to a layman’s explanation! I do not need a high-end version... We are currently and for the next few years two people in a huge house, without gaming offspring or the like... I just want proper WLAN in the house (because we only have concrete ceilings) and proper TV watching via my Internet TV.

Additionally:

Are there any enclosures for switches / routers? I currently do not see any space for this in my switch cabinet :D

There are already some posts in this direction here. Since you use Magenta, you have to consider a few things. The Fritz!Box is not bad. For laymen or your application absolutely sufficient. It can do everything but nothing perfectly. The number of ports a router has says nothing about its performance. The Fritz!Box easily manages to route your traffic. As you correctly recognized, you need a switch. This can only be connected to the Fritz!Box with 1 Gbit duplex. The Fritz!Box does not support bonding nor does it have 10 Gbit uplink ports. Get a 24-port switch. You already use 15 ports. That way you have reserve in case you want to install a NAS in the basement or something. The whole setup belongs in a small network cabinet. In the cabinet you can turn off the WiFi right away... You have to bring power, LAN cables, and Internet there. These come in 10" and 19" width. You can hang it on the wall. For space reasons, I would go straight for 19". With one access point per floor, you will probably have WiFi everywhere but not everywhere really fast. The Fritz!Box in the basement and in a building will not enable WiFi everywhere. Definitely install an access point in the garden or lay LAN cables. Do you have a garage? Then please also there. Since you only have one LAN cable, you have to power the APs via POE. That rules out the Fritz AVM access points. They need a power outlet and cannot do POE. But there are plenty of manufacturers who offer such devices. It just requires a bit more configuration. All APs should then create one WiFi (same name and password). The client then decides when to switch to which access point. That is, Fritz!Box in the basement, access point floor 1, and access point floor 2. Recommended also garden and if available garage. The APs should be located where the highest speed is required and the most usage occurs (office, living room...). Please do not hang them in the hallway. You currently plan only with two POE devices. There are two ways to supply power. Either a switch with POE or injectors that are placed between switch and device. Basically a power supply with a plug and two LAN connections. With multiple devices and space issues, better get a switch with POE. I would recommend that to you as well. I think you will probably end up with 3-5 APs. POE switch costs under 200€ at the big store. A POE access point (e.g. Zyxel WiFi6 AX1800) costs just over 80€. The injector would be included there too. Please do not take the very cheapest APs. Often old wireless standard. For outdoor you need an access point that is weatherproof. Are your access point outlets on the ceiling? Hopefully deep boxes were used. A keystone must go to the installation cable and then a patch cable to the access point.

Hello Prager,

last week we had a similar thread here...
https://www.hausbau-forum.de/threads/welches-internet-wlan-mesh-system.42681/

Now to my question:

1. I am thinking of buying the router Fritzbox 7590, as it is certainly currently market-leading and the tests are very good. Unfortunately, in the past I have not had good experiences with Speedports – however, the Fritzbox has always stayed positively in my memory.
-- Does this make sense?

Basically, you can't go wrong with Fritzbox. But keep in mind that, as far as I know, the 7590 does not have an integrated fiber optic modem and an additional one is needed. A Speedport (e.g., smart 4 plus) does have one and can be connected directly. I have used Fritzboxes well for 20 years and have avoided Speedports as much as possible. Currently, with the same connection, I actually have the Speedport connected and am positively surprised.

2. Is one router enough for this? I have too few ports on the router, so I necessarily need a switch, right? Unfortunately, I only know switches from LAN parties long ago and have no greater contact with them. When connecting router <--> switch, do I lose speed? -- If a switch is needed, what should one pay attention to when buying? Are there models you have had good experiences with?

No, speed is not lost. You should preferably look for a POE-capable switch.

3. Access points – how does that work? I am currently a bit concerned because for the access points I only had LAN cables pre-installed in the wall on the ground floor and in the attic floor area. Is that enough? How is the access point powered? Is it enough to plug this cable into the switch or the router? Is that even possible?

There are POE-capable access points that you can power directly via LAN. For other APs, you additionally need a power supply/outlet nearby.

The suitable FritzBox for fiber optic would be the FritzBox 5530 Fiber. Alternatively, a standalone modem (e.g. Vigor) and any router behind it. However, I do not recommend this for laypersons. The above-mentioned thread is not quite accurate. There have already been threads that have examined this topic in much more detail.

Wow... thank you very much for the detailed explanation!

I think I have understood most of it!

Can I finally imagine it like this:

Deutsche Telekom, as well as my electrician, will completely connect internet, LAN, and power in my electrical control cabinet.

Then I practically have to run all 14 LAN cables, as well as the internet cable and power cable, from the control cabinet to my (hopefully one day existing) network cabinet and plug them into the switch there (POE switch with at least 16 ports).

So: which cable then stays in the Fritzbox? Don’t I need to plug the normal internet cable from Telekom into the router and then run a normal LAN cable from the router to the switch, so that the switch has the connection from the router?

At the beginning, I will certainly place everything once under the control cabinet on a table and see how it looks, or which network cabinet I will mount where. I will do that myself on the construction site – at the beginning, that doesn’t bother me. I just want everything to run first :D

Regarding Accesspoint:

Here I have in the hallway on the ground floor and also in the hallway on the upper floor each a small hole (box) with a LAN connection set in the wall. I think the connection or the data rate is totally sufficient for my purposes. This is "only" about WLAN. I have a LAN connection in all the important areas.

Garage as well as garden I did not have LAN cables installed in the walls, so now I’m also "too late." Whether I let it retrofit now or sometime in the future if needed probably makes no difference, right?

From what I hear, a POE switch makes the most sense, right? Meaning: the LAN cable is then routed directly from the access point down to the switch and plugged in, correct? This way it is powered at the switch? So I then need which access point? The ones without injectors, correct? Wouldn't the Netgear WAX214 be the "typical" access point that would fit here?

I will definitely work with these 2 access points for the next few years – no more! And yes – unfortunately they hang in the hallway. However, I can’t imagine that I don’t have WiFi reception 3 meters further in my living room, or am I mistaken?

And regarding all the devices:

Access point, switch, and router cost quite a bit – I really want to keep it as low as possible.

Is the Fritzbox 7590 really necessary then? It quickly costs €239. If I need a switch anyway, couldn’t one take a cheaper router that fulfills the same purpose? What alternatives are there here?

A 16 or 18 port switch should be enough from what I can see? I found a pretty decent PoE switch from YuanLey for €140 according to reviews – something like that should fit, right?

Everything should of course be kept as simple as possible, as said – for “standard applications” without any high-end processes.

One more question regarding the patch panel:

The electrician says there will also be an 18-port patch panel included. All LAN cables are connected there and then inside the electrical cabinet.

What does that mean for me?? Do I have to unplug everything and then connect each cable individually to the switch?