The devices provided by ISPs such as Xfinity and Comcast typically do not have enough power to run a proper home networking solution. They also cost us around $10 per month in rent. We can reduce this cost and get better networking by managing our devices. To do this, we need to understand a bit about networking.

The device provided by your ISP does four actions primarily.

  1. Modem -> To encode & decode the data over the wire.
  2. Router -> To route traffic from your ISP network to the internal network.
  3. Switch -> If your device has multiple ethernet ports, you are also running a switch. (The lines are blurry, and I don’t have a full grasp on the differences between a switch and a router except that a switch is layer-2 technically)
  4. Access Point -> The device that provides you with wifi access.

I like buying small or medium business equipment as I think they provide the best value for our money. Given this, below is the list of devices I use.

  1. A netgear docsis modem -> I am not sure of the model number. Bought of craigslist ($10). You can get any router/modem and turn off its access point and routing capabilities.
  2. Router -> Edgerouter Lite 3-Port Router -> https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HXT8EKE/
  3. POE Injector -> TP-LINK 802.3af Gigabit PoE Injector https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PS9E5I/
  4. Switch -> Netgear 16 port Gigabit switch https://www.bestbuy.com/site/netgear-16-port-10-100-1000-mbps-gigabit-unmanaged-switch-blue/8363086.p?skuId=8363086
  5. Access Point -> UAP-AC-PRO-US -> https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B015PRO512/

Optional components

For a basic home networking setup, you can get away without a switch ass most of the devices will connect through the wireless access point.

A note on the access point

Ubiquity provides multiple access point models. The LR is for long-distance. But whatever access point you get, make sure it follows AC standards.

Important

Remember to change the default username and password of the router as soon as you set it up.

First time setup

During the first-time setup, you will need the modem from your ISP for configuring the service remotely. So rent the modem for a day and configure your service. Following that, connect the modem to the incoming network. Then connect ethernet from the modem to your router eth0. And then from the routers’ eth1 to the POE injector and then to the access point.

Footnote

I have been using this setup for more than three years now. I broke even in year 2! Also, I have a lower double-digit internet speed, but I can stream and work comfortably with this setup. So I believe, this provides some savings on the ISP plan as well !