Computerguys - Help with New Home Network Setup? (1 Viewer)

[Lehigh98]

Hey guys,

With new devices and changes over the last few years our home network stuff is a bit of a mess.

Looking for help and suggestions for new equipment for our setup. Please excuse my outdated ignorance...

We are currently running off an old Linsys router connected to the interweb by our cable provider's (RCN) cable modem. I have a NAS drive where I had stored ripped movies, family photos, etc but as some point I lost the connection to it and never worked on setting it back up. We were running XBMC on an old XBOX that was replaced by a 360 (which I still haven't figured out to connect to NAS) and I think the wireless network was set up through our old desktop which was since disconnected.

Looking to reboot the whole setup and use it for:

- Linking to NAS drive to make content available on network

- Linking to Canon Wireless printer to make printing available on network

The devices that would be using the network include:

- 2-4 different laptops

- 2 iPhones

- 1 iPad

- 2 Amazon Kindle Fires

- Apple TV

- 2 Xbox 360's (for gaming / media and would like to stream movies from NAS)

- Wii U

What would you guys suggest for a router for this setup? How about an extender?

Do we need a computer that would be on and at home at all times to run the network?

(Since we have laptops that would be home / away and on / off, do we need to dedicate something?)

What would you use as the infrastructure / program for the network?

Thanks in advance for direct suggestions or pointing me to good resources to figure it out.

 

[VA703]

what model Linksys? might be able to convert to dd-wrt

 

[Lehigh98]

what model Linksys? might be able to convert to dd-wrt

I did that when I first got it, but that was proabably 5+ years ago.

I just figured with some many more devices using Wifi it would be time for an equipment upgrade?

 

[Stanwyk]

If by "old Linksys router" you mean 2.4GHz only, then it's definitely time to move up. With potentially 14 wireless clients, you should get, at the very least, a wireless N dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) router, like this one: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/31687-asus-rt-n66u-dark-knight-dual-band-wireless-n900-gigabit-router-reviewed. The N66 is a beast for signal strength, which comes in handy for the 5GHz band, as 5GHz has less range than 2.4GHz. You'll want to get as many devices as possible off the 2.4 and onto the 5GHz band. You'll have more throughput and less interference. You can go AC instead of N, but the cost is greater and the benefits might not be enough to justify spending more. That website, smallnetbuilder.com, is great for reviews and comparisons of routers. See chart here: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/rankers/router/ranking/AC1900?rank=6&clear=1.

Connection wise, if you can hardwire a device, do it and get it off of your wireless network, especially the printer and NAS. Connecting those devices to your wireless router with some Cat6 cable will still allow you to access them via wireless devices and you'll reduce the overall wireless traffic (and stabilize your connections to your printer and NAS).

There should be no need to run any network via a PC - that's the router's job

Extenders - I highly recommend getting the app called "InSSIDer". It will show you actual signal strength for your current router. Use this to compare and tweak the new one. Signal max is -30 and you want a signal of at least -65 in all locations in the house. If the new router can't get that strong of a signal in the whole house, then look into getting a second router (and putting it in access point mode).

What is the NAS drive you have? You should be able to connect it directly into your wireless router via Cat6 and the NAS should already have software that allows the volume to be served to all networked devices. If not, you can connect it via USB to your new router and the new router will do that for you.

 

[ffldrew]

I just moved into a larger house and picked up a netgear AC 1900 - it has a lot of flexibility and several bands to run your devices. Also has USB 3.0 for a USB disk drive to create shares - and a USB 2.0 for a printer if you want to hard wire the printer. It has QOS as well so you can shape traffic for the streaming/gaming devices. The network is about 30% stronger over the older Netgear router I had brought to the new house(going to take that and hard wire it as an access point). It wasn't cheap - but it works pretty nicely right now.

 

[Lehigh98]

If by "old Linksys router" you mean 2.4GHz only, then it's definitely time to move up. With potentially 14 wireless clients, you should get, at the very least, a wireless N dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) router, like this one: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/31687-asus-rt-n66u-dark-knight-dual-band-wireless-n900-gigabit-router-reviewed. The N66 is a beast for signal strength, which comes in handy for the 5GHz band, as 5GHz has less range than 2.4GHz. You'll want to get as many devices as possible off the 2.4 and onto the 5GHz band. You'll have more throughput and less interference. You can go AC instead of N, but the cost is greater and the benefits might not be enough to justify spending more. That website, smallnetbuilder.com, is great for reviews and comparisons of routers. See chart here: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/rankers/router/ranking/AC1900?rank=6&clear=1.

Connection wise, if you can hardwire a device, do it and get it off of your wireless network, especially the printer and NAS. Connecting those devices to your wireless router with some Cat6 cable will still allow you to access them via wireless devices and you'll reduce the overall wireless traffic (and stabilize your connections to your printer and NAS).

There should be no need to run any network via a PC - that's the router's job

Extenders - I highly recommend getting the app called "InSSIDer". It will show you actual signal strength for your current router. Use this to compare and tweak the new one. Signal max is -30 and you want a signal of at least -65 in all locations in the house. If the new router can't get that strong of a signal in the whole house, then look into getting a second router (and putting it in access point mode).

What is the NAS drive you have? You should be able to connect it directly into your wireless router via Cat6 and the NAS should already have software that allows the volume to be served to all networked devices. If not, you can connect it via USB to your new router and the new router will do that for you.

Thanks, this is the type of info I'm looking for.

My old router is something like this (http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-WRT54GL-Wireless-G-Broadband-Router/dp/B000BTL0OA/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1418063800&sr=1-2&keywords=linksys)

This is my NAS (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000GK8LVE/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

Looking back at it, looks like there's some features I didn't use or understand.

The NAS is hardwired to the router, the printer is not but I can add when we redo and relocate everything together.

 

[Stanwyk]

It looks like that NAS is fine - you should be able to directly connect it to your router and have the NAS (you might need to configure it) to serve out the volume as a share on the network. Then you can access the movies from your devices.

Your old router is the trusty, but aged, Linksys WRT54. As a comparison, it is wireless G (not N) and 2.4GHz only.

Start here: http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-basics/32316-how-to-buy-a-wireless-router-2014-edition and choose your new router. One thing you can do is to connect the new router to the old router via Cat6. That way, you can set up and configure the new router without taking down everyone's internet access. Get the new router set up first, then migrate the NAS to the new router, then migrate all of your wireless devices.

One final note. The link above mentions an important point - all wireless clients will connect at the speed of the slowest wireless device. In other words, if you have 1 out 14 wireless devices that connects at G, not N or AC, then *all* 14 will connect at the slow G speeds. The Wii U, 360's, Fires, Apple TV, and Kindle Fires are all N. If any of your Iphones or laptops are G only, then save your old router and use it as an access point - and only allow those G wireless devices to connect to the old router.

 

[Leeroy Jenkins]

 

[Johnny Rock]

 

[Dan Lambskin]

 

[coyote5]

 

[Lehigh98]

I'm a sucker for Slickdeals, just got an alert for this, checked it out, and picked it up...

(Netgear AC1450 Dual-Band Gigabit Smart Wi-Fi Router)

http://slickdeals.net/f/7503560-netgear-ac1450-dual-band-gigabit-smart-wireless-router-70-free-shipping?v=1

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1101341-REG/netgear_ac1450_100nas_ac1450_dual_band_gigabit.html/dealZone/true

Hopefully works well after I update the FW.

 

[PinkydaPimp]

I'm a sucker for Slickdeals, just got an alert for this, checked it out, and picked it up...

(Netgear AC1450 Dual-Band Gigabit Smart Wi-Fi Router)

http://slickdeals.net/f/7503560-netgear-ac1450-dual-band-gigabit-smart-wireless-router-70-free-shipping?v=1

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1101341-REG/netgear_ac1450_100nas_ac1450_dual_band_gigabit.html/dealZone/true

Hopefully works well after I update the FW.

Hmmm i may have to grab that. My router has been acting up. You tossing ddwrt on this?

 

[Stanwyk]

Good choice there. How's the setup now?

 

[Polish Hammer]

Can anyone answer my question from this post?

 

[hxperson]

I think everthing Stanwyk says is pretty spot on. The only thing I'd add is that you don't really need to splurge for an AC router or cat6 cables unless your are trying to future proof your set up. A Wireless N router like the one he mentioned (Asus RT-n66u) and cat 5e will do just fine, as I doubt your NAS the horsepower capable of transmitting data at speeds materially above the theoretical limits for either of those two standards (especially Cat 6). Also, the bandwidth needed for wireless printing is minimal. I especially agree with Stanwyk about Asus routers - they are all of that. I personally use the Asus RT-ac66u and it rocks, and a few of my friends have the RT-AC68u and it is even better. The AC68u is the one I'd get if I were truly looking to future proof my router, on a limited budget.