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(Picture Attached) Can I Plug in Multiple Modems in the house, wanting fast internet in all rooms of this large house?

DigitalAR

DigitalAR

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 30, 2022
247
370
I am attaching a photo of an outlet that I just discovered.

In fact, there's 1 one of these (pictured) on every floor of this 2K sq. ft townhouse. (3 floors)

Currently, the 2nd floor (the main floor) has one of these pictured wall port/plug whatever its called and I have a internet modem connected to it and I have an Apple AirPort Extreme connected to that giving me WiFi in the house. The main floor and the basement have Apple TVs, a Mac mini and an iMac and all of these run well using Wifi in the house...

However, up on the top floor of the house I have an office with an iMac and the internet up here is ungodly slow.

Low and behold I just discovered that in this office on the top floor, I have one of those pictured wall port/outlet thing and am wondering how I can get my iMac on my 3rd floor to finally have fast internet. It's a 2015 iMac so would love to plug it in directly with ethernet but am wondering if this is even possible or allowed considering I already have a modem and AirPort Extreme on the 2nd floor.

I guess I'm wondering if any issues would arise from having 2 modems in the house.
 

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"Currently, the 2nd floor (the main floor) has one of these pictured wall port/plug whatever its called and I have a internet modem connected to it and I have an Apple AirPort Extreme connected to that giving me WiFi in the house."

That's a coax cable connector.
(not an ethernet port or anything like that)

The internet modem/router is connected to it, yes.
What KIND of internet service do you have?
By that, I mean is it
- cable (such as Comcast)
or
- fiber-optic
or
- something else
???

If it's cable, the cable signal is coming through that to the modem/router (often called "a residential gateway").

If it's fiber-optic, chances are you also have an ONT (optical network terminal) somewhere else in the house (basement or closet), and what I think is called a "MOCHA" connection between the ONT and the router (that you actually see).

Do you also have any ethernet connections between the rooms?
They would be more important.

If you don't, you might consider "extending" the Airport network. You could use another Airport Extreme, but the signal will probably be a little slower upstairs.

You might also consider a "mesh" system. These are 2 or 3 piece setups that have a "base" (connected to the router) and satellites.

With mesh, you'd probably want a "3-band" setup. This uses a separate radio band for the units to "communicate" with each other, without using that bandwith in the "regular" channels.

Not sure what to recommend, although you might check the TP Link "Deco" mesh system.

One other thing:
There is also "ethernet over power line", which uses connectors that plug into wall outlets, and then transmit the ethernet signal over your in-house AC power lines.
I have no experience with that, other than knowing this alternative exists...
 
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Fishrrman said:
"Currently, the 2nd floor (the main floor) has one of these pictured wall port/plug whatever its called and I have a internet modem connected to it and I have an Apple AirPort Extreme connected to that giving me WiFi in the house."

That's a coax cable connector.
(not an ethernet port or anything like that)

The internet modem/router is connected to it, yes.
What KIND of internet service do you have?
By that, I mean is it
- cable (such as Comcast)
or
- fiber-optic
or
- something else
???

If it's cable, the cable signal is coming through that to the modem/router (often called "a residential gateway").

If it's fiber-optic, chances are you also have an ONT (optical network terminal) somewhere else in the house (basement or closet), and what I think is called a "MOCHA" connection between the ONT and the router (that you actually see).

Do you also have any ethernet connections between the rooms?
They would be more important.

If you don't, you might consider "extending" the Airport network. You could use another Airport Extreme, but the signal will probably be a little slower upstairs.

You might also consider a "mesh" system. These are 2 or 3 piece setups that have a "base" (connected to the router) and satellites.

With mesh, you'd probably want a "3-band" setup. This uses a separate radio band for the units to "communicate" with each other, without using that bandwith in the "regular" channels.

Not sure what to recommend, although you might check the TP Link "Deco" mesh system.

One other thing:
There is also "ethernet over power line", which uses connectors that plug into wall outlets, and then transmit the ethernet signal over your in-house AC power lines.
I have no experience with that, other than knowing this alternative exists...
Click to expand...
Thank you for the quick reply.

I have cable, not fiber optic.

There are no Ethernet outlets anywhere in the house. As far as I can tell each floor has 1 feet of these coax cable connector. Thank you for the term.


I do have 2 AirPort Extremes and have already once attempted to extend the original Wi-Fi network but I’ve noticed really it mainly halves my Wi-Fi internet speeds and doesn’t really make my 3rd floor office iMac and faster.

Not considering a mesh system, just not in the cards right now.

I’m wondering if there’s anything preventing me from buying a 2nd modem and placing it in the 3rd floor office so I can connect an Ethernet cable between the modem and iMac…. But considering the 2nd main floor already has a modem and AirPort Extreme I’m wondering if I’ll run into issues this approach.
 
"I’m wondering if there’s anything preventing me from buying a 2nd modem and placing it in the 3rd floor office so I can connect an Ethernet cable between the modem and iMac…"

That's not how cable works.

A second cable modem means you'll need to pay for a second cable account.
You don't want that.

The way I see it, if you don't want mesh, you have a couple of choices:
1. Run a wired ethernet connection up to the 3rd floor.
or
2. Consider buying a couple of "ethernet power line adapters" and use them to "extend" the ethernet connection through your home wiring.

Here's a link to power line adapters (thru amazon):

Amazon.com: Ethernet Powerline Adapter

Amazon.com: ethernet powerline adapter
www.amazon.com

This TP Link set looks fairly good:
www.amazon.com

TP-Link AV1000 Powerline Ethernet Adapter(TL-PA7017P KIT)- Gigabit Port, Plug and Play, Extra Power Socket for Additional Devices, Ideal for Smart TV, White

Gigabit Network Goes Further with AV1000 PowerlineAV1000 Gigabit Passthrough Powerline Starter KitTL-PA7017P KIT1000 Mbps!Perfect for Bandwidth-Hungry ActivitiesComing with advanced HomePlug AV2 technology, TL-PA7017P KIT provides users with high-speed data transfer rates of up to 1000 Mbps—ideal...
www.amazon.com
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
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DigitalAR said:
Thank you for the quick reply.

I have cable, not fiber optic.

There are no Ethernet outlets anywhere in the house. As far as I can tell each floor has 1 feet of these coax cable connector. Thank you for the term.


I do have 2 AirPort Extremes and have already once attempted to extend the original Wi-Fi network but I’ve noticed really it mainly halves my Wi-Fi internet speeds and doesn’t really make my 3rd floor office iMac and faster.

Not considering a mesh system, just not in the cards right now.

I’m wondering if there’s anything preventing me from buying a 2nd modem and placing it in the 3rd floor office so I can connect an Ethernet cable between the modem and iMac…. But considering the 2nd main floor already has a modem and AirPort Extreme I’m wondering if I’ll run into issues this approach.
Click to expand...
As you already have coax cable connector, maybe you can try to use Ethernet over coax extender for your network connection to your 3rd floor.
 
OscarC12 said:
As you already have coax cable connector, maybe you can try to use Ethernet over coax extender for your network connection to your 3rd floor.
Click to expand...
The coax outlet on his 2nd floor is connected to the modem…so they can't put ethernet back into it.

IF there's a second one nearby enough (or they get another installed) AND there's access to where the coax is split…there would be a starting point. I know ethernet over coax exists but I've never seen it used in practice. Just glancing at some info on the web it seems kinda tricky.

OP…do you have any idea why your wifi signal is so poor a floor above the router (at the iMac location) when it's good a floor below? Seems odd. Are there any spots on the 3rd floor that get good reception (with a phone, for instance)?
 
Might be helpful to know who you pay for your internet service. That's your ISP.
You might contact your ISP's tech support, tell them about your slow wifi on the 3rd floor. They may offer a solution, or at least a guess about why your wifi in your office is slow.
 
I use the TP Link Powerline adapters that @Fishrrman has suggested and can recommend those. I have the ethernet ones as I don't have hard-wired ethernet in the house. You can get them as Wi-Fi too. You have one plugged in by your existing router (connected with an ethernet cable to the router) and then plug in your other adapters wherever you want to use them (as long as the wall points are on the same wiring circuit as the source point).👍
 
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