15h ago

FTTH upgrade - getting my LAN multi gig ready

It was recently announced that FTTH will soon (finally) be available in my market. The provider coming to town offers rates up to 8g.

I'm upgrading from DSL at <100mbps - really exciting! However I will then face a bit of an issue.

I self host many services over my DSL, and use custom firmware on my router. My DSL modem is in a transparent bridging mode. I like the flexibility and customizability this setup provides.

The new service includes a WiFi 7 router, but that means I'll also potentially be subject to all the weird things providers like to do, like adding backdoors, opening shared WiFi networks, force deploying different firmware, etc. Plus I won't be running any kind of service on the router itself, which I do have today (transparent proxy etc). The router I have today is not going to enable me to touch the peak bandwidth available.

What're the best options to upgrade LAN components so that I can support multi gig internal networking speeds, ensure my self hosted services all function normally, and I take advantage of the bandwidth the ISP upgrade offers? In your personal opinion, is it worth it to invest in upgraded lan components?

Anyone have experience converting from 1G LAN to 2.5 or even 10?

Do I really need 8G FTTH, of course not, but if I ever wanted to get the max out of it, what does that take?

14 comments

The new service includes a WiFi 7 router
I don't recommend it.
I would shoot for a 4 port 2.5Gbe unmanaged switch with 2 SFP+ ports (6 total ports) for 10G networking. 2.5Gbe is going to be more than enough for any WiFi solution you choose with room to upgrade 10G to WiFi if you wanted to spend a bit more on a higher tier WiFi router still leaving a single SFP+ port for 10G networking from your PC.
Biggest hit for your buck. Gonna set you back $40-50.
but if I ever wanted to get the max out of it, what does that take?
Kind of a lot. At least a top to bottom upgrade, from modem (PON), to 10G networking, to new Ethernet cables, to new 10G network drivers. Looking at a few hundred if you do it right. I also had Optimum's 8Gbps internet and was never able to even get anywhere near advertised speeds due to network saturation. IMO, the upgrade right now is too expensive to justify the expense for what you get. If you were confident you would be able to max out the connection, that would be a different story. But ultimately it's gonna be up to you. If you don't mind dropping a few hundred on upgrades, then go nuts.