Quantum Fiber Installation Tips Redux
 

After observing many Quantum Fiber installations I'm convinced, if you have a Designer Home expecially a larger one meaning 2,000+ sqft, the best place to put the Quantum Fiber WiFi 7 pod is on top of the kitchen cabinets.

Why? Because it's in a central location that's as high as you can get so there are less obstructions for the WiFi signal to travel and in most Kitchens, there is an ethernet jack and power that goes to the data cabinet in the garage. In addition, in most kitchen cabinet arrangements there is a space beween the cabinets to run the ethernet and power wires so you don't need to drill through the cabinets. This makes a very clean and easy installation where you won't need an extender pod.

If you sign-up for Quantum and want this installation show the tech these pictures and I'm sure he will install it this way for you since it's not any more difficult to do than the standard install and the results are consistently the best. In most installations using this method I'm measuring almost full speed both upload and download in every room and the lanai where some have a TV set.

We have an outlet and cat 5 plug above out kitchen cabinets, but it is a "switched" outlet, controlled by a wall switch under the wine rack. It makes no sense to have that outlet switched...

The switched outlets ar useful for our over-the-counter accent lights, though the switch is less necessary now that e-switches are a thing.

Yes, but typically only one of the two plugs are switched. Much like the floor jack in out living room, or the wall outlet by my night table on out bedroom...

In our case, both plugs in the outlet plate are switched.

One side plug in on the outlet is switched and the other should be live all the time. Designed/wired exactly like bedrooms where a wall switch controls half of the outlet behind the bed - unless you repurpose that switch to control the light on the fan making both plug ins live all the time.

The outlet and ethernet cable are currently being put above the cabinets above the refrigerator. But the ethernet wires are not terminated there or in the low voltage box in the garage.

Maybe *should* be that way but definitely not in my home. Pair of outlets above each cabinet both controlled by a single switch

Is there an ethernet cable by one of them? May be behind a blank plate.

Most likely only one of the receptacles is switched usually the other is live. Try plugging into the other receptacle.

This was done for under cabinet lighting thus switched.

I have a designer home and my initial installation had the equipment in my front "office". I had a less than adequate signal in the opposite corner of the house and had some initial problems with streaming of my TV (although, not certain if it was the signal or with YouTube TV initially). I contacted their customer service and they sent me an Extender (at no cost) and the Customer Service guy walked me through installation, then contacted me regularily for over a month making sure I got everything working to my satisfaction. I couldn't be happier now with it--everything works well (even in the closed in toilet in the farthest away bathroom :) ) Great customer service and product!

Outlet above cabinets
 

Some people place LED string lights above their cabinets and use the switch outlet to turn on and off.

In all the new construction in the Eastport area, houses are wired with the modem/wifi on top of the cabinets above the refrigerator. Fiber and a network cable are there. Or course the fiber is plugged in, but the network cable is just there, no terminal end. Same in the gang box in the garage, network cable ends waiting for their connectors. The rest of the house has the cable ends tired to the wall outlets. Quantum Fiber will come hook up one line, from the modem to which ever rooms wall outlet you want. And will hook up the rest for a fee. I just purchased a kit to hook up the rest. Alone with a switch to hook all the lines up in the garage panel. WiFi to my devices was fine. But hard wiring them really reduces the lag time. Definitely hard wire your tv’s.

Bypass the switch.
One wire nut and done.

We live south of 44 and seems that Quantum bypassed us for fiber and went straight to the newer area. I have been trying to get fiber for 2 years now and stuck with Spectrum.

Correct, the extender will work in your situation but if Quantum had installed the main WiFi pod above the kitchen cabinets then you would not have needed the extender. After speaking with some of the Quantum techs and showing them this installation, I've seen them replicate it if you ask.

Are you sure it's Quantum Fiber and not Centric Fiber? I believe in all the new areas Centric Fiber is the company supplying fiber internet as you described. Quantum is the carrier in some of the new non-Villages developments in Wildwood and in Villages areas in the Leesburg area.

I just helped a Villager with Centric fiber install an ethernet switch to hardwire his TVs and computer in his office. All you need is a 4 or 8 port switch from Amazon which costs less than $20 these days and I can come over put the connectors on the ends of the ethernet wires and connect it all up. Very simple job when you have all the tools.

WOW I can't believe all the responses to this post!

So, some homes in the Villages such as the Aspen don't have a switched outlet above the kitchen cabinets. In all other homes that I've seen, the double outlet is switched meaning both plugs are switched unlike the rest of the switched outlets in your home where only one outlet is switched. But this is OK because as you can see in the installation I posted about, because their outlet above the kitchen cabinets is switched, I used the outlet next to the ethernet jack to power the WiFi pod. The power cord for the device is long enough to be snaked from the outlet to the top of the cabinet with the ethernet cable.

If anyone wants to move their main WiFi pod to the top of the kitchen cabinets, please reach out to me. It takes about an hour and I have plenty of that wire molding.

I'm not sure where in the Villages you are talking about but in the newer areas where Centric Fiber is the provider, the fiber optic cable comes into the data cabinet in the garage then over to the top of the kitchen cabinets. There the fiber is connected to a "box" that terminates the fiber and provides the router and WiFi functions. You will also see a blue ethernet wire from the top of the kitchen cabinet that runs back to the white data cabinet in the garage enabling you to install an ethernet switch and feed the rest of the ethernet jacks in you home if you connect it all up.

As one poster mentioned, the Centric WiFi is pretty good and should cover most of your home but if you have jacks behind your TVs and or desktop computer, the internet will work better and more consistently if you hard wire these devices.

There is a very simple 2 minute procedure to make one outlet live and one switched. There is a brass tab on the outlet that needs to be removed. Of course, you should have an electrician, or someone very knowledgeable help you with that. Here's a link to a Google search, "switched outlet wiring diagram".

switched outlet wiring diagram - Search

Switched outlet for soffit lights
 

They likely installed a switched outlet to run lighting strips above your cabinets....you could bypass the switch and change cover plate to blank (good electrician)

Thanks for all the information on the switched outlets. Just wanted to note that the Quantum tech will not do anything with your electric so if you want to modify the outlet above the kitchen cabinets you will need an electician or DIY as everyone has mentioned.

One person I know had the Quantum tech install the WiFi pod above the kitchen cabinets using the switched outlet then after the install had an electrician come and modify the outlet. Of course, you could do the reverse procedure as well.

A couple of things, 1 router doesn’t provide the coverage you need in a designer home. I use 4 mesh routers both wired and wireless and I’ve helped friends with bigger premier homes that needed 5 mesh routers. Never use a wap. Plus not all mesh networks are good.

There are 2 outlets above the cabinets. I don’t use the switched outlet. I have a smart plug for my LEDs so my automated house automatically turns on the lights at sunset and off at a specified time.

South of 44 and fiber isn't an option. All non terminated ethernet cables are in the low voltage box in the garage. At wall outlets in the home, the cables are behind blanks and aren't terminated.

I determined which ethernet cable was above the refrigerator in the low voltage box. Terminated both ends. Put the Spectrum modem in the low voltage box and connected the ethernet cable. I then connected the wireless router above the refrigerator and plugged it into the always live plug-in on the outlet. None of the other ethernet cables were used. I have great coverage for my 3 bed/3bath designer home including streaming all TV programming.

That's great! Basically, you are replicating the Quantum install where the SmartNid (fiber optic terminator and router) is installed in the data cabinet in the garage and the WiFi device is installed high in the kitchen. Perfect. In a situation like this, using the hardwired ethernet cables is optional.

South of 44 both Fenney and DeSoto are the only Villages to my knowledge who have Quantum fiber. Bradford, Chitty Chatty, Sawgrass, Richmond. etc., all don't have fiber so you are stuck with cable. South of these Villages, Centric Fiber is the supplier. I have no idea why some Villages South of 44 were skipped installing fiber. I'm sure there is a good back story about this.

What I do find interesting is in the Villages where Centric Fiber is installed in every home build, it essentially locks out the cable companies from sales. Why would you get cable if you could get Centric Fiber? The price is not that different and it's all ready installed. After closing all you need to do is call Centric Fiber, give them your billing information and withing seconds the WiFi internet is turned on in your home and there is no negotiating every year or two after you get a price increase like with cable.

Are you sure both sides are switched? Probably put there for above cabinet lighting like for Christmas or just upward pod lights.

It makes sense if you want to install led light strips above your cabinets and have the ability to turn them off and on. Or you can add a smart plug and control it with your smart device.

Do you have a block, cement, or stick built home?

Nor for me

The most common complaint I get is the TV in the Lanai buffering. This is usually because the WiFi signal also degrades when going through glass as well.

Be aware in a stick built home the WiFi signal will easily travel through the walls of the home and you will most likely get full coverage with only one device. With tilt-wall cement and block homes the WiFi signal degrades sometimes significantly when going through each wall or combination of walls. This is why you want to place the WiFi device as high as possible so there are no additional obstructions like a refrigerator or other appliances.

This is great but the reason why the signal seems "stronger" is because these newer WiFi 7 devices have more sophisticated antennas and amplifiers so you will get a stronger signal with them. They also use the 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz and the newer 6Ghz bands so if you have a new iPhone for example, the speed difference will be very noticable.

Keep making that claim and I will keep saying you are wrong - I have the t-shirt to prove it.

Breaking that tab PLUS ADDING WIRES will allow you to convert both outlets working the same to the outlets working differently. Breaking the tab without adding wires will make one outlet unusable.

It really depends on the home. I agree, more than three or even four mesh devices seems a little much but i'm sure there are some very large homes that may require them do to their room layouts. And again, it depends on where you place them.

As far as using access points like from Ubiquiti, after thinking about it, for our homes here in the Villages, even the very large Premier homes, I think it's overkill. The problem becomes the lack of smooth switching between points if there are too many and if they are installed too close. I just don't see the advantage over modern mesh systems that have dedicated backhaul channels in a residential home. Also, most anyone who can read and follow directions can install a mesh system. Just my opinion.

WiFi 6 and 7 use the OFDMA protocol and Beemforming for better throughput reliability with low signal strength. Upgrade all your WiFi devices to 6 or 7 :)

That first photo with the cords and box visible right above the kitchen countertop would never be okay with me. It’s super ugly. I’m very fussy about how my kitchen walls/counters look.

Nope. Both plugs are switched...

And I agree. One -should- be switched and the other -live- all the time, but that's just not the case. Seems somebody screwed up when wiring the house...

That's the first thing I tried... No go...

Yes, I'm sure. I plugged in a small lamp into each side and the wall switch turned the lamp on/off on both plugs.

My wife sometimes (okay, more than sometimes) calls me an idiot, but that was the first thing I checked...

Yes, we used one of the plugs and ran wires behind the cabined for under cabinet LED lights. They SHOULD be controlled by the wall switch (and they are). Problem is, the remaining plug is ALSO controlled by the same wall switch...