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chilli_T's avatar
Aug 25, 2024
Solved

Setting up fiber bridge between Netgear routers

This is another one of those “setting up a network, need some help, and I’m a bit ignorant” posts. I was referred to the Netgear community from a reddit post. I know this isn't quite the right forum topic, but it was the closest I saw. This is a fairly general question for now. Anyway, here’s the gist…
A. We have two buildings: (1) main house & (2) second house, which is a double-wide approximately 30 m (~ 100 ft) away. Need WiFi in both. Plan to hardwire between the two buildings.
B. We currently have an old Nighthawk AC1900 (R7000) router/access point (AP), which we plan to move to the second house. We will be buying a new router for the main house.
C. My current plan is to bury a fiber line from the main house to the second house. I was told by the ISP that I should run the incoming internet to a router instead of directly to a switch to split before fiber. So, my planned setup will look like this: internet > router 1 > media converter 1 > fiber > media converter 2 > router 2 (AC1900).

 

The questions…
1. I like Netgear so far, and figure I might as well stick with it. Any recommendations for which router to purchase as router 1 for the main house that can take incoming internet and send to router 2?
2. Do I need to use a POE device to run to media converter 1 > fiber or can I go straight from router 1 to media converter 1?
3. Which type of fiber line should I bury? I’ve seen conflicting recommendations and I’m a little confused.
4. Do I need to be careful with selection of media converters or should anything work?
5. Is there a foreseeable compatibility problem using the AC1900 in the second house with this setup?
6. Anything I’m overlooking or being stupid about with this plan?
Many thanks in advance!

  • Would not be any grounding issue between buildings since LAN doesn't have power running thru it. Also if cabling is done right, would work for CAT6A STP cabling which would be recommended. 

8 Replies

  • Forgot to mention that I'm totally fine to skip the whole fiber option and just run Cat6 between buildings. I was only leaning toward the fiber option because some people warned about potential grounding issues when running Cat6 between buildings. 
    Again, thanks in advance for input!

    • FURRYe38's avatar
      FURRYe38
      Guru - Experienced User

      Would not be any grounding issue between buildings since LAN doesn't have power running thru it. Also if cabling is done right, would work for CAT6A STP cabling which would be recommended. 

      • chilli_T's avatar
        chilli_T
        Tutor

        Perfect. Thanks for that. It seems like it would be easiest to simply run Cat6 STP cable between the two routers (buried between buildings). So that's just: ISP > router 1 > Cat6 > router 2 (the old AC1900). 

        I'm hoping to set each router as a separate network. I don't think this should be a problem. Now I just need to choose which router to buy for router 1. If you/anyone has suggestions for ones you particularly like, I'm all ears. 
        Thanks again!

    • Kitsap's avatar
      Kitsap
      Master

      Avoiding the additional complexity of the media converter would be a good idea.  Whatever device you choose would need a power source.

       

      Don't confuse an electrical ground, a copper wire connected to a metal rod driven into the earth, with the white neutral connection in an electrical panel.  Referring to an electrical power installation in the US.  Can be significantly different in other locations around the world.