Use
 

Have a Motorola Router which I purchased, use AT&T box to attach phone to WiFi and
have a eero extender for the wifi to extend in the house. It works marginally well.:popcorn:

I’ve had very good luck with my new WiFi 6 router. The signal strength has worked so well that I didn’t need a mesh system.

I am not sure what you mean by “static”. If you are referring to a static IP address, I doubt there is anyone in The Villages who has a static IP address via CenturyLink. You can probably get one through a business account.

Usually the DSL and cable modems built in WiFi has a weak signal, and does not provide complete coverage to your home and the land around your home. In Minnesota, we had a one acre lake front property. The cable modem WiFi signal was way too weak to cover the two story home and basement, and almost no coverage outside the house. I added an Ubiquity access point, which I bought from Microcenter. Microcenter doesn’t have a Florida store, but has an online store.

The Ubiquity access point provided strong coverage to the whole house, which was about 3,700 square feet in size, and almost all of the land around the house. The WiFi signal was a little weak at the farthest point from the house by the lake shore. I thought about adding a second Ubiquity access point to cover the backyard by the lake better, but I never got around to doing that.

I had two Orbit B-Hyve 12 zone sprinkler controllers at the Minnesota house for two 12 zone sprinkler systems. The Orbit B-Hyve sprinkler controller is the best choice for a WiFi sprinkler controller. It is aware of the weather conditions and can automatically rain delay the irrigation. It can easily be monitored, controlled, and programmed from you smart cellphone or computer. The B-Hyve controller comes in a 12 zone model, and less zone models. The 12 zone model is about $100, which is dirt cheap for a WiFi smart sprinkler controller. I think it’s smarter to buy the 12 zone model because it’s only about $20 to $30 more expensive than the smaller zone count model, because it gives you the flexibility to expand your zones in the future.

One more important device to consider buying is a Internet sensing electric power switch. The reason to buy the Internet sensing switch is that occasionally the cable modems, DSL modems, and camera systems lose their Internet connectivity. The DSL or cable modem then has to be manually power cycled. If you’re a snowbird, you’d have to call someone to drive to your house in Florida or in the snow belt state to manually cycle the power. The Internet sensing electrical power switch eliminates that hassle, since the Internet sensing power switch automatically pings Google, Yahoo, and other sites. When the Internet connection is lost, the switch power cycles you DSL or cable modem, which fixes the problem. The switch also logs the switching operations. Usually, the switch power cycled my Minnesota cable modem about 2 to 4 times a month. The Internet sensing power switches cost about $100, and are sold at the 5G Store online.

At the Florida house, we have Frontier optical fiber Internet service, which is 500 megs up and down, with no data caps. In Minnesota we had Comcast, which was 300 megs down and 12 megs up. The higher “up” speed is very helpful for the encrypted cloud automatic backups for all our computers, iPhones, and iPad. It’s about $80 a month for the 500 meg service, including a landline. It costs $30 more for 1,000 meg up and down service, but so far, we don’t need the faster speed. We went over the 1,200 gig Comcast data cap once and almost a second time in Minnesota. In Florida, Frontier doesn’t have a data cap, which is nice.

In the Florida house, I changed out the Rainbird dumb sprinkler controller with an Orbit B-Hyve 12 zone smart WiFi sprinkler controller. My Frontier WiFi doesn’t cover the whole house, so I’m going to buy an Ubiquity access point to fix that problem. I haven’t noticed any need to do a power cycle on the Frontier device yet after buying the Florida house last December, so I haven’t bought the Internet sensing electric power switch yet.

Another thing you should do is to buy and install a SunPass toll transponder on you vehicle. They cost about $6 and you set up the SunPass account online. It’s a no brainer to have a SunPass. You get a discount on tolls and you don’t have to stop, and hassle with keeping coins in your car. Some exits don’t have a “cash” toll option. On weekends, the cash line can be over one mile long on the Skybridge that connects St Petersburg to the south. The SunPass users don’t have to wait in that long line, plus they get a discount on the toll! It’s helpful to prepare yourself for the tolls. There’s a lot of toll roads around Orlando. There’s a lot to do and see when you drive all around Florida!

Thanks. Village of Bradford. Plan to go with Spectrum. Doesn't sound like I need to use the access point hook up in the ceiling.

Thanks Mike

Too much info
 

I’m thinking that providing too much detailed product info may make one vulnerable to hacking.

I will say that up north I have a much larger house with 3 floors, approximately 4500 sq ft. It has minimal Ethernet wiring. Early on I went with one of the most popular mesh networks and it has worked great. 4 mesh modules. Have Wyze cameras (work great and inexpensive) both inside and outside and a video doorbell. Stream television. Security system that can be turned off/on through the internet.

Here in The Villages our current home is much smaller. As such I have a current 2.4 / 5.0 router. It covers the home with no problems. Stream television. Both up north and here I have the same brand DOCSIS 3.1 modems. Installed a video doorbell (different brand than up north) and have Wyze cameras.

I have OOMA for a land line that we transport back and forth — we are getting so it is seldom used and may be getting rid of it.

Wife doesn’t want WiFi controlled thermostats so I have weather WiFi temperature/humidity controls (LaCrosse) both places. They work okay once setup but difficult to get them to link to WiFi systems.

Have not ventured into WiFi controlled door locks or sprinkler control yet but may be doing so this year.

M2; help me here. How can one stream without cable service?

Is the Flume water monitor hard to in stall? How long does the battery last ?

I have Spectrum, for both Internet Streaming and Cable TV channels.

Just the basic 200Mbps service. I don't use Spectrum's additional $5/mo to use their WiFi. It was a separate charge for my service plan.

Another comment indicated use of a cellular hotspot. I have one of those, too for traveling, or when Spectrum has issues.

The WiFi connected washer and dryer are actually pretty smart ideas. They could remind you to move the clothes from the washer to the dryer, instead of sitting wet in the washer all day. But using a Timer app on the cellphone would serve the same function.

I’m looking forward to the day where the washer and dryer will be one unit. When the washing is completed, the drying process would begin. No moving clothes from the washer to the dryer. There must be a technical reason why a washer/dryer cannot be built.

The remote control thermostat is a good idea that we installed in the Minnesota house, but not in the Florida house. We have two HVAC systems in the Florida house, so I’d need to buy two of the WiFi thermostats. One benefit to having two HVAC systems, one for the master bedroom suite and the other for the rest of the house, is that you have a backup system if one of the systems breaks down. The zoning is nice too, so that the bedroom can be set cooler at night, without having to cool the whole house as much. But we’re still waiting for the whole house natural gas electric generator to be installed. If the utility power has an outage, only the water and natural gas will be working.

The water sensors are a good idea. I had water problems in the Minnesota house when We were gone for a long time. After that, I just shut off the water main as a precaution, before leaving the house for a long time period. Murphy’s law, if you’re going to have a water leak problem, it always waits till you’re away from the house for a long time period!

We haven’t done the combination door locks in the Florida house yet. I’ll have to buy four of those keypad locks.

The Obit B-Hyve smart WIFi sprinkler controller will pretty quickly pay for itself because it automatically automatically rain delays when rain is in the forecast or is very likely, by reducing your water bill. I control and monitor the system from anywhere with my iPhone. The Orbit B-Hyve sprinkler control also as screw terminals for the wires, not the lousy pinch wire connectors. I’ve tried several WiFi smart sprinkler controllers, and the Orbit B-Hyve is hands down, the best, and also the least expensive.

Wifi
 

The size of you home here will affect how you lay out your network. If you are buying a new built spec home with the smart package don't get too excited. They only punch down for phone outlets and it is bare minimum cat cable. The block in the garage low voltage panel is a phone block not a ethernet block. For some reason no ethernet jack in in the living area near the cable outlet. Most outlets in the bedrooms are located in a place inconvenient for network usage. They are set up typically for telephone convenience. If you are building your home you can have the ethernet upgraded when designing the home.

The easy solutions are put a 5 or 8 port switch in the low voltage panel in the garage. Terminate the ends on the cables that are in the panel. Identify the cable you will use to back feed the switch in the garage panel. Put your modem in that room with a 4 port switch to feed from the modem and back feed the switch in the garage. You can now punch down any ethernet outlets in the walls. There are two places in the home that have cables run that are not terminated at all in the home, one in the living room ceiling & one over the kitchen cabinets near the refrigerator. You will have to pull new cat6 and install ethernet outlets in some places where you may need them ( living room, lanai, garage).

I know all this sounds a bit much but if you are tech savvy its not a huge project. You can get a local electrician or handyman to pull the new drops for you if you don't want to attempt this. I spoke with a local company they wanted about $159 for an interior wall, $259 for an exterior wall. I pulled the drops myself. Toughest part is getting to the low voltage panel to feed the new drops, inconvenient but not impossible.

The key to total reliable coverage is having your mesh system wired to ethernet and placed strategically through the home. In our home one pod in garage, one on lanai, one pod in front bedroom/office,& main router in living room.

We use spectrum for internet (400 Mbps) they supply the modem at no cost (no data cap). I used all TP Link equipment, TP Link Deco X20 (3 units) & an Archer AX6000. We are cord cutters so stream all TV we watch, Ring security system, ring cameras, smart light and switches throughout the home, Amazon Alexa devices in every room. Absolutely zero issue with the WIFI. We have coverage on any area of our lot slowest connection speed 80 Mbps.

There are newer versions of the deco systems out now that are somewhat faster. I like the decos because you can add more pods if needed, and they support 2 way communication on WIFI with dedicated streams. Deco X20 specs: Qualcomm’s Networking Pro 400 chipset, the Deco X20 is powered by a 1GHz quad-core processor. It carries 4GB of RAM and 1GB of solid-state storage of its firmware and commands. Able to connect up to 150 devices, the Deco X20 has an AX1800 rating, meaning that it's rated at a peak throughput of 1.8Mbps.

I hope this helps.

Single unit washer and dryer
 

We had a single unit washer dryer in our motorhome, took forever to do a small load of cloths. Im sure the technology has improved since then. Here is a link to 2021's best all in one machines.
The 7 Best All-in-One Washer Dryers of 2021

I use Comcast high speed really good but prices keep going up and an looking at others in order to change! Streaming is becoming popular

In 5000 sq ft home we use Netgear Orbi WiFi 6 mesh router and companion unit to get coverage to lanai, pool area, much of the yard, garages and even much of our driveway. Comcast/Xfinity (Spectrum is not an option for us). I did not try with just the router alone, but it might work. Best Buy sells and supports, so it would be easy to buy, try and return if necessary. I buy Best Buy for audio video equipment and appliances, and I use Geek Squad when I don't feel like being solely responsible for my own installations. I pay an annual fee and receive discounts and preferred on site and telephone service that more than pays for itself, at least for me.

I ran cat. 7 and cat. 6 to SMART TVs. I use Tivo and Apple TV. I use small network switches to connect TVs and other devices to internet. I do this to eliminate and maintain a fast, reliable connection without lag and without mismatch of audio and video.