Online safety and connectivity Network protection and data transmission
Online safety and connectivity Network protection and data transmission
I’m planning to connect to the internet at my new home, and all the available choices are cable services—no fiber. I’ll be subscribing to Spectrum with 400 Mbps speeds. This is in Los Angeles County; it should help clarify things. My goal is to install three security cameras: a Unifi doorbell, a front-facing camera (likely G3), and a rear camera (possibly in the garage). The rear could end up being a dome camera or two facing both ways down the alley. The property is a single-family home, not huge, but the existing internet doesn’t cover the whole place. I’m thinking about adding a Unifi router and either a mesh network or access points.
Since I’m not very tech-savvy, I’ll be hiring a contractor to handle the installation. I’d need Ethernet connections to the camera spots and possibly extra runs to the bedrooms for devices like Apple TV and gaming consoles. Should I use Spectrum’s standard modem or buy my own? Because I’m not familiar with all the details, I’m only considering items that seem appealing. I prefer Unifi because I don’t want to pay monthly fees.
Do you have any recommendations for reliable networking professionals who do home installations? I’m struggling and just need a quick reboot of this setup—current speeds are around 18 Mbps, which is slow. Thank you for your help.
Spectrum will supply you with a cable modem, which is short for Modulator/Demodulator. This device handles transforming the signal from your coaxial cable into Ethernet. Your ISP might also offer a simple router, but it's best to avoid that. Connect the "Internet" cable from the router directly into your Unifi Security Gateway's WAN port. Then, insert the remaining network components (switches, APs) into the LAN 1 port. The setup would resemble this arrangement.
The Spectrum modem acts as both a router and a modem. You can disable its router features by connecting it to a Unifi Security Gateway WAN port. Comparing Unifi Security Gateway to products like Dream, Alien, or AmplifiHD can be confusing due to different naming conventions.