That’s really helpful, jchamier - would you mind running through how you’d set them up? Do you have to make changes to the router’s configuration at all e.g. setting up the Virgin router in modem mode?

Nope! That’s the benefit. If you did put virgin box in modem mode you would need to add a router as well as the BT mesh.

The only thing to do is turn off wifi in the ISP router. The Plusnet router shows an orange light which is irritating.

Thanks again for clearing it up for me.

I don't want to sound offensive but your setup is madness! You need to realise that Wifi works like walkie talkies, only 1 device can communicate 1 way on a specific channel/frequency. Once you people understand this point they start to see why having multiple Wifi routers that don't work together in a mesh is a really really really bad idea. Now add to this all the "smartness" of the new wifi routers that try to jump to "free" wifi channels to outsmart other routers and you have a perfect storm. And if we then add all the other wifi routers that reach your house from your neighbours you start to wonder how is it even possible that this technology works at all.
So the advice given is correct. You should get rid of all your 3 wifi networks and install a single wifi mesh. By far the best mesh is Ubiquiti Unifi but it is more expensive than others. Each wifi mesh system has different requirements in terms of how it works. Some systems like Amazon eero or Google Wifi would want to take over the router function as well not just wifi. I prefer the ones that don't work as a router like Ubiquiti Unifi, TP-Link or Lynksys. On those mesh systems you simply turn off the wifi function in your ISP router and connect all the mesh wifi access points (2, 3, 4 or how many you want/need) to your network switch, give them an IP and that's it. They will simply take over your wifi duties. I say network switch as it's clear that as soon as you are talking about wifi mesh systems you will run out of ports in your ISP router and will need an additional network switch. One of the key differences on mesh wifi systems is how the wifi access points connect to your ISP router. This is usually called "internet backhaul" as it denotes how will the internet traffic be routed. On the best mesh systems internet backhaul is via wired ethernet meaning that all your mesh wifi access points will need to be wired to your internal network. This will of course require you to do some Cat 6 wiring and is a common mistake people make when chosing a wifi mesh system. If you really want rock solid wifi then that's the way to go. Any wifi mesh system that has the "internet backhaul" over wifi is basically working in "best endeavours" mode as it has to share the wifi bandwidth available not only to communicate with all your wifi devices but also to "backhaul" the internet traffic to the "master" wifi mesh access point. This not only reduces the wifi bandwidth available for your devices, increases chances of wifi traffic collision with other wifi networks (ie neighbours) but also concentrates all traffic in a single "master" wifi mesh access point whereas with wired ethernet internet backhaul all your wifi mesh access points can talk directly with your ISP router which means less congestion.

No offence taken at all - really appreciate your thorough and enlightening response.

Just a couple of points that I’m no clear about:

a) What network switch would you recommend and how to connect that to the isp routers?
b) How do I connect the Mesh Access Points to the above switch?
c) And also could you please provide me with brief instructions with regards to assigning the Mesh Access Points IP addresses?

Edit: would this entail choosing only one ISP connection to be the foundation of my Wi-Fi network (and restricting all the others to wired/ethernet usage)?

Edited by kam67 (Sun 19-Feb-23 10:21:26)

In reply to a post by GreenLantern22:

Any wifi mesh system that has the "internet backhaul" over wifi is basically working in "best endeavours" mode as it has to share the wifi bandwidth available not only to communicate with all your wifi devices but also to "backhaul" the internet traffic to the "master" wifi mesh access point.

Most of the vendors you quote are unsuitable for this use case as they want to replace the router and would be a nightmare to reconfigure to swap one to the other. I suggested the BT wholehome products as they are not routers, or even pretending to be routers. They are just mesh access points. The more expensive models attempt to solve the "backhaul" issue you raise by using a second 5 GHz channel for backhaul, keeping the 2.4 and first 5Ghz for end user devices.

Anyone with 3 internet services in the home is already unusual

Agree with the wifi madness.
Maybe a tad expensive, but there are non wifi routers that could bond the 3 ISP's into one router?
Then just add a switch and run the wifi AP's from this switch. Single SSID with no clashes etc.

As all this is way above my head may need to hire someone to set up an effective mesh system which may or may not end up ‘blending’ all isp connections. What you guys have provided me with is an excellent starting point!

In reply to a post by jchamier:

Anyone with 3 internet services in the home is already unusual

Very tactfully and diplomatically put 😊!

In reply to a post by jchamier:

In reply to a post by GreenLantern22:

Most of the vendors you quote are unsuitable for this use case as they want to replace the router and would be a nightmare to reconfigure to swap one to the other. I suggested the BT wholehome products as they are not routers, or even pretending to be routers. They are just mesh access points. The more expensive models attempt to solve the "backhaul" issue you raise by using a second 5 GHz channel for backhaul, keeping the 2.4 and first 5Ghz for end user devices.

Anyone with 3 internet services in the home is already unusual

Are the Ubiquiti ones simple access points or are they also routers?

If someone can dispel my confusion regarding whether the Ubiquit and Bt APs can work as simple Wi-Fi extenders and don’t have a router function, it would be much appreciated!

Edited by kam67 (Sun 19-Feb-23 13:43:38)