What are the options to get upgraded to newer equipment?

[PaulB_]

I had a problem with my system with T3200M fed by Alcatel white fiber box.  Have a few Zyxel 5 port 1Gig switches.

The wifi would go down or slow, even the wired devices would only test to 93M when have 500M plan.

Well it turned out one of the Zyxel 5 port switches was only connecting at 100M and not 1000M.  Changed cables no go.  Changed ports on the T3200M no go.   Just removed the switch and l moved 4 connections to the other 2 switches.  Bingo all wired connections speed tested to 500M.  Wifi never went down again.   Netflix stopped switching to a lower bit stream.

I notice i had one Zyxel 5 port switch wired to a different Zyxel 5 port switch to extend it.  Can you do this or do you need a roll over ethernet cable to extend to another switch?  

Also this Zyxel 5 port switch would also turn on all green LEDs then off then on then off then on, then stop doing this but only connect at 100M.

I think my 500M internet plan was supposed to include Wifi 6 set of Boosters and currently only have the v1 of the boosters.

How do you get your equipment upgraded?

Is there any self install options yet?

Before I retired I remember there was a gateway that took the fiber directly with no need for the the Alcatel white fiber box.  This new gateway had a 10G RJ45 port.  I have the battery backup that goes with the Alcatel white fiber box.   And this box was needed for the new wifi6 set of Booster pods.

[Nighthawk · Accepted solution]

If you only have 500mbit fibre, the T3200 is more than sufficient for that. The newer hardware is for the 10Gbit port on it is more typically found with connections over 1gbps. I have the separate ONT and T3200 here and it works fine with my gigabit fibre.

The Wifi6 Boost units are separate from any of the gateways/routers that Telus uses. They can be used with any of them and will typically get the same speed on all. The Wifi 6 unit is more than sufficient for a 500mbps connection as it averages 525mbps down for me through several walls. Wifi 6e hardware would benefit more from faster connections. The battery backup was usually provided if you have a landline though not in all cases.

As for ethernet switches:

• Switches can eventually wear out and Zyxel is rather ancient.
• Yes you can chain switches together without issue. Crossover patch cables haven't been needed in a decade, if not almost two now as modern networking hardware automatically adjusts to both straight and crossover cables.
• Honestly, it's probably better just to get your own gigabit switches as Telus doesn't support them. New ones are actually quite cheap to get and getting well known brands tends to have better quality. Most of them do go on sale fairly frequently on Amazon. I've got quite a few gigabit switches that I purchased in use in my setup which include:
  • one ancient Zyxel switch that hasn't died yet and is connected to my Optik PVR
  • one 5 port TP-Link switch (often on sale for $15)
  • one 8 port TP-Link switch (often on sale but isn't currently)
  • one 8 port Dlink switch which is connected to the above 8 port TP-Link
  • one much older 8 port Dlink gigabit switch (~20 years) that is no longer available for sale and still gives full gigabit speeds on fibre. It definitely pre-dates the Zyxels Telus was using about a decade ago.
  • one 8 port Netgear switch
  • one 5 port Netgear switch
  • and several older legacy 100mbit switches in use for vintage hardware, printer, and a some IP cameras.

If you like having all the cables that connect to the switch to attach to the same side, the TP-Link switches are the ones to look at. The Dlink and Netgear ones have the cable coming out of the opposide side from the ethernet sockets.

[PaulB_]

Thanks.

Have have been looking into a new switch to replace the 2 Zyxel switches near the T3200M.   I'll look at your list of switches.

The thing I did was at other location like a TV stand, or Computer Desk area with 2 PCs I would place a 5 port switch for all devices at that location. 

I think I have about 24 runs of cat5e ethernet throughout the house.  Being a TELUS Retiree of course you would run your own cabling.

I know everything works so why mess with different TELUS equipment.