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The hub that lives with the coats

Under-stairs is a fine place for vacuum cleaners. It is a hostile place for the only radio you own.

11 min read · Home

OneTouchSwitch editorialIssue 01 · Autumn 2026 · Double11 min read605 wordsReviewed 10 September 2026

British houses hide the ugly objects: meters, vacuums, the hub. The hub then tries to paint a life through a coat and a bit of MDF. People buy mesh. The mesh node in the same cupboard joins the religion. The spare-room office sulks. The fix was always a cable to a shelf. It is still a cable to a shelf.

Split the ugly from the radio

Fibre ends where it ends. Power the ONT there. Run ethernet to a human shelf. Put the radio there, or an AP there and park the hub in bridge if you must.

One extra socket on a landing has saved more marriages than Wi‑Fi 7.

Coats, tins, doors

Measure with the cupboard open and closed if you enjoy theatre. Then cable anyway. Do not wedge a fire door. Do not unscrew a meter board.

If the only path is through a protected door, you have an AP-on-a-table problem, not a screwdriver problem.

Enough radio

A single AP in the right room beats a standard in the wrong one. Add mesh only after this move.

If the house is still dead after a central-ish AP, then walls are the story. Then mesh, with backhaul.

Cupboard versus shelf
Where the radio isTypicalFix
Under coatsPhones sulk, WAN tests fineEthernet to a shelf
Hall tableUsually enough for a small houseStop shopping
Far spare room onlyOffice fine, kitchen diesA second AP, not a cupboard return
The coats can keep the vacuum. They cannot keep the only radio.

The hallway cupboard is a British institution. So is complaining about Wi‑Fi. Only one of those needs a cable.

Questions searchers actually ask

Sources

  • Ofcom in-home connectivity
  • Fire-door common sense (do not wedge)
  • Openreach ONT placement notes

Figures move. Prices, coverage and eligibility must be confirmed with the provider. OneTouchSwitch is not Ofcom, TOTSCo or a broadband network. Last fact-checked 10 September 2026.

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