Moving from virgin to Zen

Hello,
I am moving from virgin to zen end of next month as contract is up with virgin they pushed price for 100meg fibre right up.
Zen got my eye due to good customer service.
I was wondering what router would be good to use with the fritz box as a access point, i will be using ethernet cables for most connections.

In reply to a post by Family71:

I was wondering what router would be good to use with the fritz box as a access point,

"Access point"? I could be missing something here but... The FritzBox is an all-in-one modem and router. You connect the supplied cable to the Openreach Master socket and that's it! There's built-in WiFi and four Ethernet ports for your local network.

Hi i got mixed up i mean i want to add another router onto the network, ethernet cable job to weak spot in house. I was wondering what type of router i would need for a fttp connection.

In reply to a post by Family71:

Hi i got mixed up i mean i want to add another router onto the network, ethernet cable job to weak spot in house. I was wondering what type of router i would need for a fttp connection.

Ah! The short answer is any. I have a small four port router that was only a few quid (NETGEAR GS305, 5 Port Gigabit Ethernet Network Switch) as I was using all the ports on the FritzBox. This one is Gigabit so that should be fine with FTTP but there are loads depending on which brand you prefer. As long as it has enough ports for you needs and they are Gigabit you should be fine.

FritzBox make a WiFi extender which you can rent from Zen. I have a friend who uses one of these and he's happy. But if you want to guarantee as much of your 900Mbps as you can get then Ethernet is the correct way to go.

I can't get fftp just fftc i assume this will not make difference router wise what i get?

In reply to a post by Family71:

I can't get fftp just fftc i assume this will not make difference router wise what i get?

Correct. I'm on FTTC as well. Are there even 100Mbps switches still available? The one I have was only £16 and I live in hope I'll get FTTP one day. Future proof!

Is it fairly easy to configure the a second router tonthe fritz box. It will be a tack and ethernet cable job around thr house.

In reply to a post by Family71:

Is it fairly easy to configure the a second router tonthe fritz box. It will be a tack and ethernet cable job around thr house.

Yes you just plug the Ethernet into any of the FritzBox's ports and plug in to the power. Nothing to configure as these are simple routers. My FritzBox the reports a number of different devices all connected to a single Ethernet port, it doesn't 'see' the additional router.

I trust you'll get decent cable!

What cable would you recommend

Virgin bump thr price up to 53.00 from 30.00 a month just for 100 meg, that is way too much i think. Plus hear the virgin hub 3 are not the best wifi coverage wise. Hence why i want different provider and found zen because of their service. The wife wanted coop or EE and the likes becuase they over cashback etc But i said not thr best as routers they supply are not the best.

My cable is Cat5e. There's a good guide here I've found Cable Monkey reliable.

I only want to spend around 40 quid for the second router decided on a netgear one.

OTOH it may be Cat 6. I think my internal (in the walls of the house) might be Cat 5e though. But I get a Gigabit from my Mac to the router so that's OK!

Yeah, I had a friend on Virgin and his connection was terrible, our video calls would freeze all the time, I hear it depends the local area. As I said before, he went to Zen and since then we've never had a dud video call.

Also, what's nice about Zen is the price you pay won't go up. Ever. Sometimes they even put prices down and when do they will pass the cut on (if you ask!).

When you mention router at the extended location, is that because you want to present both wired ports and Wi-Fi there?

A gigabit switch would provide wired ports without adding Wi-Fi and would be much cheaper (and nothing to configure) if you only want to plug things in.

If you do go for a 2nd router it does not need to be a DSL type as for extending the LAN you are not using its WAN port (only needed on the Fritzbox).

Switch, router. Everyone tends to say router when they may be referring to their modem or their switch, or is it router?

When is a switch a router, or a router a switch?

Hi it will be a second router no switch, but i do want to use second router for wifi as well as wired as the signal in the kitchen at the moment is not the best.
Do tp link or netgear do decent second routers and would it be gigabite adsl connection i need i don't want to buy an expensive one.

Would this router be okay
Visit the TP-LINK Store
4.2 out of 5 stars 582Reviews
TP-Link 300 Mbps Wireless N VDSL/ADSL Modem Router, Support Modem Only Mode, 1 USB, 2.0 Port, UK Plug (TD-W9970)
Is around 30.00 or would i require a better one?

Like I already suggested, ask in the more general Network forum rather than the specific Zen one

Wouldn't his VM router do as the second one?

And, referring to your and the other suggestions about routers, nobody has mentioned turning off the slave one's DHCP?

In reply to a post by RobertoS:

And, referring to your and the other suggestions about routers, nobody has mentioned turning off the slave one's DHCP?

Well the one I mentioned " (NETGEAR GS305, 5 Port Gigabit Ethernet Network Switch) " doesn't do DHCP!

Maybe this is part of the confusion I mentioned later:

Switch, router. Everyone tends to say router when they may be referring to their modem or their switch, or is it router?

When is a switch a router, or a router a switch?

Maybe I should have replied to a "router" poster .

I am aware that a pure switch is not a router. I was suggesting the OP's router would do just as well as your switch solution. That's why I specifically mentioned "other suggestions".