[JRcorvette]

Originally Posted by jrref

Because of the recent $35 price for 1Gbs bi-directional, non-shared internet service that Quantum Fiber has been offering, there have been many people, who can get the service, switching from cable and a lot of discussion on how to get the best WiFi coverage with Quantum's included WiFi7 equipment.
From my experience, you should get a premium installation without any intervention but here are some tips to make sure it’s installed optimally.
Quantum will install what they call a SmartNid device usually in the white data cabinet in your garage. This SmartNid is a combination Optical Network Terminator which terminates the fiber optic connection to your home and a Router. It has two 1Gbs ethernet ports, one fiber port and a power supply connection.
They will also provide WiFi7 Pods. One pod will be a larger “main pod” which has to be hard wired via an ethernet cable to the SmartNid in the garage. The remaining smaller pods work wirelessly off of the main pod and are installed in other areas of your home for maximum coverage. The number of smaller pods needed will depend on the size of your home. Because these WiFi7 pods provide wireless signals in the 2.4, 5 and 6Ghz bands, they give you effectively a “stronger” WiFi signal than previous versions of WiFi devices so the main pod might be all you need for a smaller home where in a designer home you may need one remote pod and in a larger premier home you may need two remote pods. The technician has an app that will tell them based on the signal strength in all of your rooms, lanai, etc, how many if any remote pods are needed. If there is any doubt, always ask the technician for at least one remote pod that you can move around your home at a later date if needed.
In most homes here in the Villages built circa 2012 and newer, the builder installed blue cat5 ethernet cables from the white data cabinet in the garage to most of the rooms in your home. They were installed and wired as telephone jacks even though no copper landline service was ever installed. Only 4 out of the 8 wires are typically wired in the wall jacks. I don’t know how older homes in the Villages were wired but I’m sure over the years they were done in different ways. The point is, if you have these blue cat5 ethernet cables, the Quantum technician will use them to provide the hardwired connection from the SmartNid in the garage to the main WiFi7 pod and if you ask them they can also use the 2nd ethernet port on the SmartNid to give you a hardwired connection for your computer in you office if you have one.
Given this background, here are the tips:
1) Make sure the main WiFi pod is installed as close to the center of your home as possible. This may mean installing it above or under one of the cabinets in the kitchen where there is one of these ethernet jacks available. Most every home has this connection.
2) If you don’t want or can’t install the main pod in the kitchen then have the technician install it in your office near your main computer if you have one. In this situation you will need remote pods to get a strong WiFi signal throughout your home.
3) NEVER let them install the main WiFi pod in the garage with remote pods throughout your home. This will never work reliably.
4) The main WiFi pod has several ethernet jacks so if installed in your office near your computer you can hardwire everything you want in that room easily.
5) If you install a remote WiFi pod in a room where there is an ethernet jack, ask the technician to hard wire that pod via the jack to the SmartNid. This will make the remote pod work better.

Now for the exceptions for the advanced homeowners:
1) If you have your own WiFi equipment such as an Orbi, TP-Link, Amazon or any other favorite system, all you need to do is plug it into one of the ethernet jacks going to the SmartNid in the garage. You will be double NATing because your equipment will have a router but the small delay is not noticeable. If you are a purest or have special needs then you can log into the SmartNid and put in ByPass mode which disables the built-in router but I personally don’t believe it’s worth the effort.
2) The WiFi7 equipment that Quantum installs is actually very good and will work great for a majority of people but an Orbi or other premium WiFi7 equipment will be better.

After working at Verizon for 30 years and much of that with Verizon FiOS, I can say we are very fortunate to have fiber internet service in many locations here in the Villages. I hope this post helps provide potential users of Quantum Fiber with some good information. I’ve overseen many Quantum installs here in the Villages so my comments are based on my actual experience. If anyone has any specific questions I would be happy to help. And of course, if you have had Quantum fiber installed and made any tweaks to improve performance, please share them.

That is an awesome detailed article…. Thank you. Are you for hire???