Hi all,

I am currently on a 50/20 HFC plan and my networking setup consists of:

• The ISP modem/router/switch that is connected to the NTD at the front of the house near where NBN installed the HFC connection.
• From this router, we have a wired ethernet connection to the living room PC. Additionally, I have connected ethernet cable from the ISP modem to the two wall ports near the front of the house, one of which runs to the back of the house and the other to the granny flat. The wall port in granny flat has a separate TP-Link VR600v connected to it in AP mode to provide Wifi to the flat.
• The ISP modem is also connected via ethernet to a nearby desktop PC and has a home phone connection.

The current issue with this setup is that whilst Wi-Fi in the front of the house and granny flat is great, Wi-Fi in the bedrooms at the back of the house is spotty and unreliable. The bedrooms are technically nearer to the AP in the granny flat, but since two walls separate them, the signal from the router at the front of the house works better.

Additionally, since the AP in the granny flat has a different SSID and effectively acts as a separate network, I’ve had problems with my laptop or mobile devices connecting to it if I move from the main house to the granny flat. It seems them devices want to remain connected to the router in the house and even when connected to the Granny flat AP, has problems accessing the internet until I restart the device.

I am also annoyed with having to doing diagnostics and customising my network settings since the ISP modem is locked down.

Therefore, to fix this, I am considering getting a Deco M5 system with three routers and a switch. I plan to turn the ISP modem into a network bridge so that the home phone connection is retained, then hardwire that modem to one of the Deco Routers which will be in the same spot as the ISP modem now. Then, using the other port in the Deco, I will hardwire it to switch which will then connect to the living room PC, and the two wall ports. Finally, I will connect the other two Decos with the ethernet wall ports at the back of the house and granny flat in order to provide Wi-Fi Access to the entire home on a single network with Ethernet backhaul.

• Will this plan work and do you think it is the most cost-effective way to get consistent Wi-Fi throughout the entire home?
• Also, do you think the M5 is the best value mesh system for this case or should I consider Wi-Fi 6 Mesh systems? The only device that uses Wi-Fi 6 in our home would be the Fire Stick, but that seems to stream smoothly at the moment with Wi-Fi 5, so not sure how much difference 6 will make. I’ve looked at the S4 as well, but that wasn’t too much cheaper and had smaller coverage. The M9 Plus provides an extra channel for wireless backhaul, but since I have ethernet already, I'm not sure if it is worth paying for

Thanks for your help.