Cityfibre question

I understand that Cityfibre convert the fibre connection to a network connection which then plugs into the modem/router.

Can I plug the network connection from Cityfibre into a switch, and from the switch into my modem/router?

TIA

Yes, but why?

It's not my house but my friends. He's got all his rooms wired with cat6. The cat 6 cables all feed into a patch panel in the cellar, which is where he wants Cityfibre to install the connection. He will also have a switch in the cellar (cables from patch panel into switch).

He wants to put the modem/router in the living room. Easiest way would be for the Cityfibre connection to go directly into the switch from where the modem/router can get a connection.

In general the router WAN port needs direct network access to the ethernet port on the Cityfibre ONT to correctly function and route traffic between 'your' network and the provider network.

There are ways around this using VLANs - but your switch needs to be a fully managed switch that supports such. Not all switches that folks will use in a domestic setting necessarily are managed.

I guess the bigger question (as noted above) is why you would want to do this, as there may be another approach?

Its much easier (and neater) to have the router adjacent to the switch in this scenario. Any specific reason he would want it in the living room?

Otherwise if the switch isn't managed / doesn't support VLANs - then 2 x Cat6 cables are needed between the router location and the patch panel location for the necessary connectivity between ONT and router WAN port and router LAN port and switch.

That makes sense. He just wanted a better WiFi signal. Easy enough to run another cable. Thanks for your help.

You can do this with a managed switch and VLANs (as Pheasant observes), you can't really just put the ONT Ethernet connection on the same switch as your house LAN.

I assume that the router is also a wireless AP which is why he wants that in the living room, not the cellar in which case, as the fibre is going to come into the cellar where the switch already lives the logical solution is a router/firewall in the cellar with its WAN port connected to the incomming Fibre connection (via Ethernet to the ONT) and its LAN interface connected to the switch with a separate wireless AP in the living room (or anywhere that is convenient).

I'd split the router/firewall and AP into two separate boxes personally.

In reply to a post by mr_bean:

... the logical solution is a router/firewall in the cellar with its WAN port connected to the incomming Fibre connection (via Ethernet to the ONT) and its LAN interface connected to the switch with a separate wireless AP in the living room (or anywhere that is convenient).

Agreed.

He can make use of all that lovely Cat6 cabling to get a decent WiFi signal by using one or more access points wired back to the switch.

In reply to a post by Undisputed:

It's not my house but my friends. He's got all his rooms wired with cat6. The cat 6 cables all feed into a patch panel in the cellar, which is where he wants Cityfibre to install the connection. He will also have a switch in the cellar (cables from patch panel into switch).

He wants to put the modem/router in the living room. Easiest way would be for the Cityfibre connection to go directly into the switch from where the modem/router can get a connection.

Then I suggest you need two CAT5/6 cables between the cellar and the living room:

- one to connect from the ONT (in the cellar) to the router's WAN port
- one to connect from the router's LAN port back down to the switch, which then feeds all the other ports in the house

If you don't have two cables available between cellar and living room, then if I were you I'd put the router in the basement, and buy a separate wifi access point to put in the living room (connected via CAT5/6 to a port on the switch or the router)

I would not recommend trunking two VLANs (WAN and LAN) along the same cable. Even if the router supports it it will be a [censored] to configure; and if you have a gig/gig connection from Cityfibre it will reduce the total throughput you have available.