Google wifi
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@Hooroo Sure, but I'm just following Crucial's advice, he's the expert.
I've had my eye on the mesh network solution for a while to get rid of the deadspots. Kids are getting to the age that I want more options for parental controls as well to automate downtime, particuarly at night.
And I spend a lot of time on VOIP calls, so that has to be rock solid regardless of what the kids are doing. And in the current circumstance I don't want to take anything away from them, and in some cases it's necessary anyway (eg my daughter had a music lesson online today)
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@Kirwan the VOIP calls is what pushed me to get it. I set myself up a nice quiet corner of the house for working but kept getting the robotic voice whenever I was on calls so had to keep running closer to the router.
I only got it for the increased coverage, the speed boost was an unexpected (big) bonus. Couldn't guarantee that would happen for everyone though.
Are you on fibre?
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@No-Quarter yeah on 1GB with Orcon, so should have plenty of bandwidth!
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Sorry to spam you, but about to upgrade with parental controls and wanted some feedback from people with these.
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How do the parental controls work - are they per device, or do people have a login to get onto WiFi and then limit it that way?
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What's the drill with Fibre connectivity and VOIP. We've got 1GB from Slingshot, and a VOIP phone -- can this replace our Slingshot modem, or do we wind up with the Slingshot modem hard wired to both the VOIP phone and the Deco?
Finally, would yo ulook at anything else or is this the good oil to buy. I'm particularly keen on the parental controls, but a better network futureproofs the house for when video gets streamed all over the place
cheers
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@nzzp said in Google wifi:
Sorry to spam you, but about to upgrade with parental controls and wanted some feedback from people with these.
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How do the parental controls work - are they per device, or do people have a login to get onto WiFi and then limit it that way?
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What's the drill with Fibre connectivity and VOIP. We've got 1GB from Slingshot, and a VOIP phone -- can this replace our Slingshot modem, or do we wind up with the Slingshot modem hard wired to both the VOIP phone and the Deco?
Finally, would yo ulook at anything else or is this the good oil to buy. I'm particularly keen on the parental controls, but a better network futureproofs the house for when video gets streamed all over the place
cheers
Best to check with ISP on how they manage VOIP phones. Usual install for Fibre has a separate 'phone' connection to the ONT. That should be a direct VOIP line.
I haven't used the parental controls but I believe that you set up various profiles in the network and assign them to devices e.g. one kids device could be on an under 8 profile and another on an under 16. You control what the profiles can access. You can also block certain sites individually.
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@nzzp said in Google wifi:
Sorry to spam you, but about to upgrade with parental controls and wanted some feedback from people with these.
-
How do the parental controls work - are they per device, or do people have a login to get onto WiFi and then limit it that way?
-
What's the drill with Fibre connectivity and VOIP. We've got 1GB from Slingshot, and a VOIP phone -- can this replace our Slingshot modem, or do we wind up with the Slingshot modem hard wired to both the VOIP phone and the Deco?
Finally, would yo ulook at anything else or is this the good oil to buy. I'm particularly keen on the parental controls, but a better network futureproofs the house for when video gets streamed all over the place
cheers
For the parental controls, you set up a profile that includes general filters, as well as the ability to block specific sites. You can also set times they are allowed internet access, and can pause it whenever you want. Then you add the devices they use to that profile. It's easy to add/remove devices so if they logged onto your laptop you could quickly add it to their profile while they are on.
I would 100% recommend getting a mesh network. I had an extender before and we had no end of problems with it - extenders create a 2nd SSID that your devices are meant to switch between but it is not seamless at all, I found my phone regularly losing internet access etc.
The mesh network has been seamless so far, no internet drops and we can all now stream without any issues at any part of the house, including the back of the yard. It's solved all of our internet woes.
Whether this product is better than others, I don't know as I haven't tested others. But it's great value and has really positive reviews online so I don't think you can go too wrong with it.
Regarding the VOIP phone, I'm not sure sorry. When I mentioned VOIP I meant making calls from my work Laptop which has been way better since getting this.
As I said I ditched my 2 Degrees router altogether. On the Deco I just had to change the encapsulation to PPPoE, the VLAN ID to 10 (NZ Spark option on the menu), and enter my username/password. That's probably the same for all Fibre connections but your ISP would hopefully have some instructions on their website.
Maybe the VOIP phone could be connected to the Deco? It has an extra Ethernet port on the back, but probably worth checking with the ISP as @Crucial says.
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@Kirwan said in Google wifi:
So far so good, very happy with the iOS app and the setup was a doddle.
Is there anywhere where it tells you if the slave is too far away? Or any diagram of what sort of coverage you can get?
I just used an app I had that gives continuous signal readings. Could see where the drop off started then picked a spot and tested the next range. Depending on house layout you may have to try a couple of places.
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What I find "amusing" with the Deco app is what I'm doing now. I'm in the office (work) log in and see the traffic by device.
Who's that cheating bitch Alexa talking to when I'm not home?
The only issue I've had with it is one Chrome cast which will not upgrade to the Deco network. I have two Chromecast the other nah. I delete the old network and then go and try to load Deco and it has "remembered" the old one. Frustrating as I have to remember to switch my casting device to the old network, but in the bigger scheme of things I get 500 mps drinking beer out in the back garden. Great product
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Told you all it was a game changer.
If you are like me you will wonder why you tolerated the crap you had before.
At the price it is brilliant, especially when you compare to those expensive high end routers with multiple adjustable aerials. I was even looking at attaching an outdoor aerial at one point until I 'discovered' these.
My only problem was reconfiguring the Sonos setup to work from them (which I described in another thread). Basically to do with the Deco creating its own subnet so you need to ensure that the Sonos system is also onboard completely
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@Crucial said in Google wifi:
My only problem was reconfiguring the Sonos setup to work from them (which I described in another thread). Basically to do with the Deco creating its own subnet so you need to ensure that the Sonos system is also onboard completely
Hard wire one of the Sonos. Never worry about the wifi again.
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I run my firewall and VPN off a Raspberry Pi, and my UniFi setup is hardwired into the same POE managed switch. Works a treat.
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@NTA said in Google wifi:
@Crucial said in Google wifi:
My only problem was reconfiguring the Sonos setup to work from them (which I described in another thread). Basically to do with the Deco creating its own subnet so you need to ensure that the Sonos system is also onboard completely
Hard wire one of the Sonos. Never worry about the wifi again.
Yep that was the solution. The problem was that the controllers were on one subnet (the mesh) and the Speakers on another (Sonos creates their own) even though they were both signed in to the “new” network.
The Sonos help pages were no help but eventually I worked out just what you suggested. The speakers and the mesh needed a physical connection.
In my case I connected both by cable back to the router. I could have connected the master mesh unit directly to the ONT and one of the Sonos units to that as well.
It was just a bit of a head scratcher at the time because it all worked except I couldn’t control from the phone or iPad -
@Crucial said in Google wifi:
It was just a bit of a head scratcher at the time because it all worked except I couldn’t control from the phone or iPad
I understand why they run their own subnet but it would be a royal pain in the arse if you didn't have a stable WiFi network capable of reaching all devices.
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So fuck it: I bought the Google Wifi 3 pack. I already had a bunch of shit automated around the house, and figured I'd like to replace a couple of the older Google Minis that are a bit shit (Gen 2 has much better sound). Also the fact I don't need a new app helps, because I just had to get another one for the garage door (which - shittily - doesn't connect with Google Home)
Setup pretty breezy but I'm not expecting great things in terms of control - the TPLink parental stuff looks pretty good.
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First 24 hours are, well pretty fucking awesome.
Stability issues from the old setup - though they were few (unless you ask my wife) - are gone. Had a couple of issues early on with NAT on the guest network. Seems to have sorted itself out - the Google is routing all wifi devices and the modem is routing everything physically connected.
Mesh is the balls.