Last Updated on October 12, 2024 by Tim FitzGerald
Location of Router and ONT
You need to plan where your Optical Network Termination (ONT) box and WiFi router are to be located. The ONT needs to located on an outside wall where the fibre-optic cable enters your house. These devices do not need to be co-located but need to be connected via ethernet. Each device requires mains power.
WiFi
If you are to rely on the toob router as your only point for WiFi access then the router location is key to good WiFi performance. There are guides for finding the optimal location for your WiFi router on the internet. The best place is probably not where you have your existing router; like in amongst the jumble of wires behind the TV.
Mesh WiFi
If you have a larger home, consider using a mesh WiFi system to deliver high-speed WiFi throughout your home. This might replace the toob WiFi service from the router.
Telephone
If you need to connect wired telephones to the router then this adds another factor to the decision about the location of the router.
In 2024, toob started to ship a toob branded Linksys (model SPNMX55 – AX5400) router as standard equipment.
This new router offers WiFi-6 support and links with other similar devices to form a mesh WiFi network for larger homes. This router is available on eBay for ~£50.00
Performance
I left the service running for a day or so and started testing in earnest. I connected my existing mesh WiFi to the toob router and found I could get 100 Mbps or more throughout the house and into the garden. Upload and download speeds were similar with both speeds being slightly slower in the evening. In many rooms in my house, I can see speeds approaching 450Mbps, via mesh WiFi.
Ethernet attached devices are delivering 900Mbps+ upload and download. These speeds have remained consistant throughout the first year of operation (May 2022 – May 2023). Ping speeds are consistently <6ms.
I found that older PCs were not able to deliver the full gigabit speeds but were limited to <100 Mbps.
Reliability
A network analysis tool has found that the reliability is high (99.99% and more) with only a couple of very brief interruptions in service.
There have been a few longer interruptions in service in the first year of operation. Two of these were pre-announced via email and one was an unplanned interruption.
- On the latter occasion, in April 2024, I contacted toob by email and they advised there was indeed an issue overnight (02:00-06:00).
- In August 2024 there was an interruption in service of 2.5 hours from 18:00.
Ping analysis has shown that there is no perceptible packet loss (failed pings) during normal operation.
Limitations of using CGNAT
Like some ISP’s and many mobile network companies, toob is using Carrier Grade Network Address Translation (CGNAT) in their network to provide your IP address. You can find out about CGNAT here or on Wikipedia. The fact that toob uses CGNAT should not be an issue for most users.
- some advanced gamers will find CGNAT quite limiting.
- If you want to establish a connection to your network devices from the wider internet
(eg; running a web server or VPN server) then you will also have some challenges.
Toob offers a static IP address option, for an additional monthly fee. Other CGNAT workarounds are available including Cloudflare tunnels, OpenVPN cloud, ZeroTier and Tailscale.