Thoughts on network upgrade

[teaseurmind]

Hi all. I seek advice on updating my network. I enjoy learning things and am not afraid to tackle tech, but at 67, I don’t want to become a network specialist or spend my nights problem solving too much.

1. My internet feed is Xfinity with routine DL speed of 125 Mbps and UL 25 Mbps.

2. I have Cat 6 cable throughout the house with a central structured wiring panel.

3. The basic network is diagramed in the attached picture.

4. The wifi clients are 5 phones (GS6 and i-phones); i-pads; 3 Surface Pro tablets; android tablets; and several laptops at various times.

5. The current router is a WD MyNet N900 (which surprisingly, has actually worked fairly well for the most part with only a periodic network stutter under load).

So after reading a lot, I am considering a wired router with a main wifi access point (AC1900/AC2600, or AC3200). I have a few wireless routers available that I can place in access point mode as necessary. I am considering the Ubiquity Edge Max Lite (or the ER-8 to gain the Gb lan ports). The main alternative was Routerboard/Mirotek product like RB2011UiAS-IN I have also looked at Cisco and Linksys wired routers as alternatives, but nothing much captures my interest like the Ubiquity.

Wireless coverage hasn’t been much of a problem, but of course wireless tends to be expanding into everything and upgrading/adding wifi access points is probable in the future. My main need seems to be moving large chunks of data—mainly streaming video and files throughout the house on the wired connections. What I don’t know is how much bottleneck the router/switch interfaces and their placement in the network may cause. (Or what slowdown the wifi component may induce). I have also just considered getting a newer version AC3200 router and just keeping everything as it is and see if the faster processors can improve the overall network performance----just considering since it might be nice to not need to spend several extra hours tinkering?

Just thought I would see what other’s thought---thanks.

 

[System Error Message]

Mikrotik requires more skill but as a router ubiquiti, cisco and mikrotik will do better than any consumer router except for the cisco RV. Basically avoid routers marketed for VPN use as they tend to have bugs and stability issues. For ubiquiti avoid the edge router lite, for mikrotik, look at the hardware and the architecture to see if it suits your needs. Switch chips on any router connect to the CPU at 1Gb/s so theres the bottleneck. All non consumer routers list performance for routing and not NAT which is what you need.

For your internet speeds a 600Mb/s 24K MIPS is the minimum. UTMs are a good option if you want all round security which is good for a multi user network.

For wifi the AC3200 is for a mixed environment of many devices in a small area otherwise just get 2 AC1900 or lower wifi APs. to spread around.

As long as you avoid dlink you'll be fine.

 

[coxhaus]

I would plug all the Ethernet stuff into your switch. Keep the router for only processing the front door to the internet. I would also try to localize as much of the video to one switch to maximize the greater bandwidth backplane of the switch. These are basics that I follow when setting up a network.

The wireless is going to come down to whether you are happy with one wireless device. You will have better coverage with more wireless devices.

 

[Trip]

+1 on topology change: ----modem----router----switch----LAN, and ensuring your internal switching fabric has enough throughput at any given aggregation/funnel point to not choke on max simultaneous bandwidth used by as many endpoints as are reasonable to simulate.

At your WAN speed, depending on what you're looking to do, you could possibly roll an ARM-based consumer box like an Asus AC56U with wireless disabled, running something like AdvancedTomato; if you're not intent on that direction, totally understandable. On the RV/LRT/Netgear stuff, I find it's a mixed bag at best, and reviews elsewhere indicate as such. For UBNT/MikroTik, I'd say UBNT is friendlier to use in most scenarios (hat-tip to WinBox, though), while out-of-the-box, MikroTik is more fully-featured. That said, you can load Debian packages on EdgeOS. To your point about not being up at night, it's likely that in order to setup a config that's even moderately complex, you may have to do a fare amount of google'ing for docs/examples, while educating yourself on networking as you go. Model choices depend on what you're looking to do, but for 'Tik, an RB2011 may work; the 850Gx2 would be the next step up for fanless. For UBNT, I'd also avoid the ERL/PoE-5 due to flash storage issues (search it, it's not just hearsay). You actually might be able to get away with the $60 ER-X if your config is simple enough; it'll even shape traffic using fq_codel + HTB in upwards of 200Mb/s aggregate before redlining. Otherwise, I'd look at the regular ER or ER Pro (if you don't mind built-in rack ears). Peplink *may* be worth a look, but they get pricey FAST for throughput beyond 100 Mb/s (excluding the Balance One, which may be an option).

UTM-type stuff might also make sense, not just for the security features, but also for their slightly more turnkey nature (re- your concerns over being kept up at night) and support is often included for 1 year, and renewable/upgradable. See CorporateArmor for the main brands/models (they do lack Zyxel, whose stuff tends to be a bit cheaper with free support, but less approachable and well-documented).

Lastly, from left field, might be a DIY x86 box running something like pFsense, but that's probably too many steps for this project without much real gain.

 

[AdvHomeServer]

I don't see why you're wasting money. A gigabit router is a gigabit router, even if it has or doesn't have wireless attached to it. Use a wireless router, with the wireless radios OFF where the ISP enters. Put a wireless access point where it is best capable. Any gigabit router will do the job. A wireless one with the wireless off will serve as a nice spare if needed. One of my old wireless routers is the designated backup for both wired or wireless duties, if needed.

 

[L&LD]

I don't see the cost / benefit of anything above the RT-AC3200 in your current setup (which is very nice, I might add).

Replacing your WD N900 router with anything in the AC1900 or AC3200 (or the soon to be released AC2600, after it is tested and verified) will give you a substantial upgrade without needing to jump through hoops to get it configured properly and securely too.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/tools/charts/router/bar/76-total-simul

The above link shows why the RT-AC3200 would be my first choice for your environment. But that doesn't mean I would rule out the much more affordable RT-AC68U though (testing onsite will be the only way to choose a true 'winner').

Depending on where this main wireless router is located, you may find that you can retire a couple of the old AP's too.

I would also buy 4 1GBe switches (4, 5, 8 or more ports, as your budget and connected devices dictate) to connect to each port of the RT-AC3200 or RT-AC68U you decide to keep. Then, I would further group the devices as necessary to keep as much of the traffic on one switch as possible during normal (or critical) use.

For example, I would segregate NAS1 and NAS2 with the end user devices that access them most often and if needed, be on separate switches.

I would also possibly group the TV's with the HT Receiver and the HTPC plex WMC server.

The XBoxes might be on a switch of their own (along with any AP's still needed) - these devices normally just need internet access.

The idea is to have as flat a network architecture as possible. But still taking into consideration the needs of the devices that need to access your ISP as their first priority too.

So, the traffic flow from your ISP to each device and the traffic flow from your devices between each other is grouped and configured by use of additional switches as necessary for the least congestion at the times of maximum LAN traffic.

With a couple of new (prosumer) routers (to compare against each other), a few switches and a few minutes of logically thinking of the traffic flow requirements for your devices and network, you will know in an afternoon or less if that is all that is required to make your network more efficient.

If the above exercise doesn't give you what you expect. You'll have newfound enthusiasm to tackle the business class products others are suggesting.

I highly recommend you use the RMerlin firmware for any Asus router you consider (and yes, Asus is my first and only choice of the available options today).

 

[teaseurmind]

Wow, lots to digest here. Thanks to everyone for the information. It seems I need to dedicate to some more reading. There does seem to be a definite problem going back to 2013 and current up to this week with the Edge product---special thanks, Trip, since I had not happened upon this when browsing the products. (I almost ordered the PoE-5 last night to start playing).

I do now plan to redistribute the network first. I have two or three 8 port Gb switches available as well as an older Linksys Etherfast 4116, 16 port switch. Perhaps I should be asking guidance about switches? Is there much difference in quality? I just have experience with basic un-managed switches in the past, but is there an advantage to going to a better quality/managed switch? More reading I think, but I enjoy learning when I can.

The xbox's get a lot more use than normal since I use them as extenders for the Windows Media Center. Everything is recorded to the server and distributed to the various tv's. Hate to watch commercials---so just blast right thru them. They also use the Silicondust tuners for live tv if needed.

I do have an old box down in the garage that has dual channel Gb ethernet lan ports (old AMD Opteron server board) that I might revive and try to play with some of the router software if I get motivated. For the short term, I think I will start with redistribution and maybe try out a new consumer router.

Thanks for the input...

 

[System Error Message]

Since you are distributing wifi and wire around the house theres a few things you can do.

A wifi router like the AC1900 or even the AC3200 can act as 4 port gigabit switches. Remember that when you use the easy way of wiring switches about without a central switch you create a bottleneck. This can be lessened if you do not connect more than 2 layers of switches.
For example router-----central switch------switch-----devices

Wifi routers are also switches too.
You do not need a switch if the router has enough ports but the exception is the RB1100AHx2 because of it's weird port config. Routers even MIPS one perform wirespeed bridging if no switch chip is present and it allows for software filtering.

In terms of switches using a newer switch can be beneficial in a few ways. Power saving options can help you save up on electric bills whereas semi managed switches can provide basic control such as VLANs and a bit of security.

When choosing any network equipment avoid dlink as their switches do not perform as good and their routers poorly designed and hackable. Other than that all switches that are unmanaged are equal except for stability, heat and power usage.

you definitely need to redraw your network to have a single central switch (this can be on the router) distributed among a few switches to serve all your clients. Ofcourse you can wire your clients directly to the central switch where possible. Avoid using wifi if you can for performance.

 

[Trip]

Hi tease, apologies for the onslaught of my first reply... lot of info in there, and perhaps some of which may be overkill or too corporate for your needs. I just like to consider any/all similarly-priced gear which stands to actually serve the purpose way better, depending on the goal set and skill level involved.

As for switches, quality/reputation is nice when you have time to plan/order, especially at the more managed/L3 end of things. For lower-density less-managed stuff, I do Allied Telesys/Cisco/HP for my business clients, and TrendNet, TP-Link or Netgear ProSafe for my residential stuff. Every so often I'll play mixy-matchy, but if I have control over a whole deployment, I'll tend to stick with one or two brands at most.

On the router front, yeah, I don't see why an AC1900 like an R7000 or AC68U wouldn't work just fine. A lot of fancier, technically superior stuff out there, but very often most of it is totally overkill for the vast majority of SOHO use-cases.

 

[L&LD]

Wow, lots to digest here. Thanks to everyone for the information. It seems I need to dedicate to some more reading. There does seem to be a definite problem going back to 2013 and current up to this week with the Edge product---special thanks, Trip, since I had not happened upon this when browsing the products. (I almost ordered the PoE-5 last night to start playing).

I do now plan to redistribute the network first. I have two or three 8 port Gb switches available as well as an older Linksys Etherfast 4116, 16 port switch. Perhaps I should be asking guidance about switches? Is there much difference in quality? I just have experience with basic un-managed switches in the past, but is there an advantage to going to a better quality/managed switch? More reading I think, but I enjoy learning when I can.

The xbox's get a lot more use than normal since I use them as extenders for the Windows Media Center. Everything is recorded to the server and distributed to the various tv's. Hate to watch commercials---so just blast right thru them. They also use the Silicondust tuners for live tv if needed.

I do have an old box down in the garage that has dual channel Gb ethernet lan ports (old AMD Opteron server board) that I might revive and try to play with some of the router software if I get motivated. For the short term, I think I will start with redistribution and maybe try out a new consumer router.

Thanks for the input...

You're welcome.

I would not use the Etherfast switch at all. But any fairly current 1GBe switch you have access to is fair game.

Switches are mature products that do not give more or less performance between different 1GBe models. They either work or not.

As I already said, keep the network as flat as possible (don't daisy chain too many switches together) and keep in mind that you will loose one port for each connection you make in the chain.

Consider the WD router's 7 ports as part of your ISP's direct connection and for any devices that need to communicate with each other on different ports (and different switches too, now).

So, using your diagram and guessing / assuming how the data is flowing (or should flow) in your network, this is how I would suggest you connect and group everything, at least to start.

WD Router Port 1: Add a 1GBe switch with enough ports for all AP's. Plus, 1 (or 2 or 3) extra ports to connect back to the router and / or connect additional AP's in the future, as needed.

WD Router Port 2: Add a 1GBe switch with enough ports for NAS1 and the computers that normally connect to this NAS. Plus, 1 (or 2 or 3) extra ports to connect back to the router and / or connect additional computers in the future, as needed.

WD Router Port 3: Add a 1GBe switch with enough ports for NAS2 and the computers that normally connect to this NAS. Plus, 1 (or 2 or 3) extra ports to connect back to the router and / or connect additional computers in the future, as needed.

(NOTE: If both NAS' are used by all wired computers, just use all devices on a single 1GBe switch with enough ports).

WD Router Port 4: Add a 1GBe switch with enough ports for all the HT Receiver(s), TV's, HTPC's, and Silicon Dust 3 Tuner(s) devices you have. Plus, 1 (or 2 or 3) extra ports to connect back to the router and / or connect additional media source / output devices in the future, as needed.

With three or four (depending on how you configure / group the NAS units) additional ports available, you have a lot of flexibility of further refining the groupings for your use.

For example, the NAS units can be on the WD Router Ports 6 & 7 independently and by themselves (if wired and wireless devices access them constantly).

Or, the Silicon Dust 3 Tuner might be on one of the main WD ports (as can the HTPC as it is now, if that is how it is normally accessed (wired and wirelessly).

Just keep in mind that the WD router you're using with the 7, 1GBe LAN ports is still limiting your networks total performance and you are only testing device groupings that limit the impact it has on your network. These groupings will change (most routers only have 4 LAN ports) when you get a new router to test in your network with.

Note you will not be able to design a perfect arrangement of all possible uses of your devices. But you should be able to design and configure them in such a way so as to minimize the bottlenecks introduced at the peak usage times which you are most sensitive to.

Keep notes and be methodical. You may not even want to upgrade anything with the equipment and options you have today. Or, at least you may wait for the true gen 3 AC class routers to become available and reviewed (here).

 

[teaseurmind]

Once again thanks for all of the stimulating discussion. I want to pick up a new larger switch to act as a central switch (and just to clean up the network cabinet) and retire the old etherfast switch. It will allow me to avoid having multiple switches in the path (for the most part). I am looking at a couple around the same cost. 1) ZyXEL GS1910-24 Smart Gigabit Smart Managed Switch and 2) NETGEAR 24 Port Gigabit Business-Class Rackmount Switch - Lifetime Warranty (JGS524). Any advantage one over the other (or other recommendations in that price range or less--found around $130-150 online)?

Also another question. When setting up the connections is there a need to segment groups of clients on the switch? For instance on the 24 port switch would it be prudent to group all of the TV clients in area 1-6 ports. Or does it matter. I would like to add some basic router to central switch from the modem. Or investigate just taking the modem out of bridge mode and utilizing it's router capabilities--it's a DOCSIS 3.0 Technicolor TC8305C Cable Gateway modem.

I know that I'm overthinking this but want to experiment a bit while I'm making the changes.

 

[coxhaus]

You tend to divide networks to reduce broadcast domains as machines are chatty and to add security. Adding VLANs to sub divide your network will add complexity to your network. On this forum the usual reasons for dividing a network into VLANs are a Guest network and security cameras.

Adding a big core switch after the router is probably one of the best improvements you can do for a home network.

 

[L&LD]

Once again thanks for all of the stimulating discussion. I want to pick up a new larger switch to act as a central switch (and just to clean up the network cabinet) and retire the old etherfast switch. It will allow me to avoid having multiple switches in the path (for the most part). I am looking at a couple around the same cost. 1) ZyXEL GS1910-24 Smart Gigabit Smart Managed Switch and 2) NETGEAR 24 Port Gigabit Business-Class Rackmount Switch - Lifetime Warranty (JGS524). Any advantage one over the other (or other recommendations in that price range or less--found around $130-150 online)?

Also another question. When setting up the connections is there a need to segment groups of clients on the switch? For instance on the 24 port switch would it be prudent to group all of the TV clients in area 1-6 ports. Or does it matter. I would like to add some basic router to central switch from the modem. Or investigate just taking the modem out of bridge mode and utilizing it's router capabilities--it's a DOCSIS 3.0 Technicolor TC8305C Cable Gateway modem.

I know that I'm overthinking this but want to experiment a bit while I'm making the changes.

On a single 24 port switch, it doesn't matter the order you put devices in.

But, consider that All your devices will then need to share a single connection back to your ISP. Depending on what other traffic is already flowing between and amongst the ports, this may be a new bottleneck you'll have created by using a single switch.

The Netgear JGS524 is the preferable choice for maximum performance of the two you have indicated.

If segmentation (grouping) is needed (and I think it is on most networks, as it is in yours too), then using a single switch is not helpful. Using multiple switches (on at least one router port, while using the remaining router ports too) is more effective at getting the maximum performance possible from networks that need to be optimized for maximum throughput and least latency.

If you want to test how your network will respond to segmentation of the wired devices, buy the Netgear JGS524 switch and put all your equipment (in any order) on it and take notes of what has changed, re; performance. Next, use the 1GBe switches you already have and move some of your devices there (as I have indicated previously) and see how the overall performance has changed. I have no doubt that if you do this methodically, you will find a combination that offers you the best performance possible for your network.

If you'll be expanding your network in the foreseeable future, consider buying multiple JGS524's (or the 12 / 16 Port versions) to ensure that each branch off of the main router performs similar to the other.

As for your modem, leave it in bridge mode. Nothing good is offered by the ISP's in terms of routing duties or wireless capabilities. A current AC1200 class or higher router will easily eclipse it not only in features and performance but also in security aspects too.

 

[Mokers]

Taking your switching off of the router completely is really going to help you out. The switch handles all of the traffic unless it is going out on the WAN. eBay is full of managed Layer2 enterprise stuff you can get for $100-$200 and will last a long time. Something like a Dell 2724 or HP J9021a. They will allow you to do things like link aggregation (NIC teaming) to your NAS boxes which is an effective way of increasing the throughput. Only use a second switch if the wiring makes it impossible to wire everything in the central location. You can also get a dual gigabit card for your HTPC and link aggregate there.

If you need to move large files over wireless, upgrading things to AC should help and in general the chipsets get better every year across the board, so that is a good improvement as well.

Adding VLANs with your number of devices isn't likely to help that much as it appears you want most of the devices to be able to talk to each other.

 

[L&LD]

Dell has always been a company I avoid. Dell Hell is not a children's bed time story. It is real.

http://blogmal.42.org/tidbits/no-dell-2724.story

The HP would be too loud in most homes.

But I do like the link aggregation suggestion for the NAS boxes if they have more than one LAN port each.

 

[System Error Message]

Even consumer semi managed switches will do LAGG. What makes a 2nd hand enterprise switch worth it is the configurability and security that you dont get on semi managed only if they have it. For example all mikrotik routers with switch chips have fully managed L2 capability on the switch chip as you can add filters, VLANs, etc because they take the switch chip and add all the software they can to it. The switch chips may be the same among different switches but their implementation of it differs.

Not all HP switches are noisy since you can get one without a fan. While these switches are good they do use a lot more power than recent semi managed switches so the consideration should be features or power saving. Comparing the number of watts and features available that is of use to you will help in determining if it is worth buying. Some will tell you to use a layer 3 switch which is completely unnecessary.

 

[Mokers]

Dell has always been a company I avoid. Dell Hell is not a children's bed time story. It is real.

http://blogmal.42.org/tidbits/no-dell-2724.story

The HP would be too loud in most homes.

But I do like the link aggregation suggestion for the NAS boxes if they have more than one LAN port each.

Yeah, the lack of a console port is annoying, but I have never had a problem configuring the 2724 and they are cheap or free. Or get the 2824 if you need a console port and want something newer. Or a Cisco SG series if you like Cisco. For basic layer 2 stuff in smaller networks or home, they are perfectly serviceable. Any of them should have enough switch fabric to improve the performance for the OP.

As for noise on the HP, the OP said that everything was wired CAT6, so I am assuming (hoping?) that he has a wiring closet somewhere. But that brings up another recommendation: a 6-12u enclosed rack to house all your telco stuff.

 

[teaseurmind]

Fortunately I do have a central location. When the house was built a couple years ago, I did all of the low voltage wiring myself (hey, I'm retired and had a lot of time on my hands---and just enough knowledge to be dangerous---of course experience from back in the vacuum tube days and REALLY early digital counts, right?). Anyway, I did home runs to a custom cabinet with extra runs to some areas as I thought I would need for future. Punched down to structured panel what was required and terminated all the remainder with rj45 for cables that would be plugged and left for years (or the next upgrade). Not much use for telco this time as I found in my last house that we almost never plugged a phone in. The wireless multi handset with a base station worked so well I just put a central drop in for a base station (and really use cell phones the majority of the time) and security system drops.

Just moving one of the xb0x's from the older 10/100 box already showed benefit since a brief "network issue" message that would occasionally pop up when shifting between things on the WMC and back too quickly seems to have disappeared.

Ordering a 24 port Gb switch and then start playing around with cables after it arrives. Thanks everyone for the comments. I think I learned a bit with each. Although L&LD has me a little confused on one item....since everything comes in on a single connection (single WAN) thru the modem and a single cat 6 cable to the router everything on the network always have to "share a single connection back to the ISP doesn't it"? Or if a router has multiple (switch ports?) does it help to add additional cables to the switch from the router (redundant? or problem with loops?).

 

[L&LD]

Just moving one of the xb0x's from the older 10/100 box already showed benefit since a brief "network issue" message that would occasionally pop up when shifting between things on the WMC and back too quickly seems to have disappeared.

Ordering a 24 port Gb switch and then start playing around with cables after it arrives. Thanks everyone for the comments. I think I learned a bit with each. Although L&LD has me a little confused on one item....since everything comes in on a single connection (single WAN) thru the modem and a single cat 6 cable to the router everything on the network always have to "share a single connection back to the ISP doesn't it"? Or if a router has multiple (switch ports?) does it help to add additional cables to the switch from the router (redundant? or problem with loops?).

You're welcome teaseurmind.

To clear up the confusion I may have caused, please do not add additional cables from the router to any single switch as it will cause loops which might bring your network down, depending on the capabilities of the router (or 'smart' switch).

What I meant before is that if there is a lot of LAN activity on a single, large switch and some of the same client devices need to also access the internet simultaneously, that would be a reason that a bottleneck can be happen.

Assuming that all ports in use are 1GbE capable, remember that any two port pairs between any two devices can operate at maximum speed.

When a device needs to operate with more than one other device, simultaneously, bottlenecks may occur. How noticeable or bothersome those bottlenecks will be depends on how fully utilized the connections are, but I assume the connections are fully utilized when I'm planning the segregation / grouping of devices and that gives me some leeway for real world usage variations and for future growth too.

As I mentioned already, consider the ISP as another device that your devices need to connect to, in addition to the normal interaction they have with each other internally on your network, when determining how the data flows.

For example, I'll assume the following simplified setup of your network:

Level 1 ISP dependent devices:
The AP's (and their connected devices), the PC's, the NAS' and the XBox' (in roughly that order) all need direct ISP access, in addition to connections to other devices, as needed.

Level 2 ISP dependent devices:
To a lesser extent the HT Receiver, the TV's and the WMC HTPC need some ISP access too, but not at the level that the other devices above do.

Level 3 LAN dependent devices:
The NAS', the TV's, the AP's (connected devices), the HTPC server and the PC's are the most likely to use the internal LAN with their normal workloads (order unknown for any given time).

One more piece of the puzzle will help us know why and how we must group them for minimal interference from each other (as best we can, of course).

That piece is the knowledge that anything that goes through to the ISP or back is orders of magnitude slower than what two 1GbE ports can communicate at on our internal LAN. That is the actual routing part and unless you have 1Gbps up / down ISP service, it will slow your network down if not planned for.

Given the above, let's make some more assumptions about our network usage.

Some of the AP connected devices and all of the TV's primarily access the HTPC and the Silicon Dust 3 Tuner, but normally not the NAS'.
The PC's primarily access both of the NAS' and each other, but normally not the HTPC or SD3.
The PC's do not download or seed torrents.​

With the above info and a 'normal' 4x 1GbE LAN port router, this is how I might begin to group the devices above:

Router Port1 to Switch1:

S1P1: Router connection P1
S1P2: AP1
S1P3: AP2
S1P4: AP3
S1P5: WMC HTPC
S1P6: Silicon Dust 3 Tuner
S1P7: TV1
S1P8: TV2
S1P9: TV3
S1P10: TV4
S1P11: TV5
​

Router Port2 to Switch2:

S2P1: Router connection P2
S2P2: PC1
S2P3: PC2
S2P4: PC3
S2P5: PC4
S2P6: PC5
S2P7: NAS1
S2P8: NAS2
​

Router Port3 to Switch3:

S3P1: Router connection P3
S3P2: HT Receiver
S3P3: XBox1
​

Router Port4 to Switch4:

S4P1: Router connection P4
S4P2: XBox2
S4P3: XBox3
​

Each switch above allows the normal LAN traffic of the devices it holds to happen at switch speeds, without interfering with required WAN traffic of those same devices and worse, other devices on the LAN too.

Depending on the ISP traffic the devices on Switch 2 generate, an XBox might be better placed there, as might an AP be moved to Switch 4 for devices that are only browsing the 'net and not consuming media over the LAN.

The above is just an example of how you might start to group / segregate your devices for a more optimized network, overall.

I hope I have cleared up the confusion I seemed to have caused before too.

 

[sfx2000]

Hi all. I seek advice on updating my network. I enjoy learning things and am not afraid to tackle tech, but at 67, I don’t want to become a network specialist or spend my nights problem solving too much.

1. My internet feed is Xfinity with routine DL speed of 125 Mbps and UL 25 Mbps.

2. I have Cat 6 cable throughout the house with a central structured wiring panel.

3. The basic network is diagramed in the attached picture.

4. The wifi clients are 5 phones (GS6 and i-phones); i-pads; 3 Surface Pro tablets; android tablets; and several laptops at various times.

5. The current router is a WD MyNet N900 (which surprisingly, has actually worked fairly well for the most part with only a periodic network stutter under load).

Just some thoughts...

• pfSense SG-2440 - reasonably powerful HW platform, and it's runs pfSense, which is a very flexible SOHO routing platform (actually enterprise level, but let's not fool ourselves)
• Managed Switch - probably overkill, but there's a few 16-24 port managed switches that are reasonable in cost - make sure they're not dependent on an OS specific app (many low end ones are...) - anyways, looking forward, consider something that can support LAG and VLAN's
• Dedicated AP's - lot to choose from, but try to stay away from the cloud - probably don't need more than 2 AC7150/AC1900 class AP's - one can re-purpose consumer grade Router/AP's, but for stability, might step up to the next tier
  
• Consider a mid-range NAS at some point - QNAP and Synology have some very nice boxes in the mid-range 4-bay category and either can provide a tremendous amount of usability to your LAN/Network.