Upgrading my home to a mesh network - seeking advice

[baltik]

So my system is pretty crappy, i get unreliable wired and wireless performance, and there is a distinct dropout when using wireless when moving across the house when my iPhone switches from my router to my repeater which causes problems streaming music.

I have a few things going against me - even though I am only trying to cover 1600 square feet, I am in an urban environment surrounded by other networks. I am also forced to use a MoCa connection to the surveillance camera in my garage and wiring Cat6 is not an option.

I am thinking about switching to 2 Ubiquity UAP-Pro's and an EdgeRouter - presumably the antennas are stronger, the mesh network will take care of the dropout and the enterprise grade router will be more reliable..

Here is the wired diagram of my current setup, there are 5-6 wireless devices connected to the network as well

 

[L&LD]

Wow, quite a mishmash of tech going on there. 4 year old N class router, USB printer, Wireless repeater and Moca too. I am surprised it works at all.

Does the Smart TV and Home Theatre PC connect wireless or wired?

Why not connect the Brother printer with the LAN port instead of the finicky USB? Even wireless may be better?

I don't think you need the level of equipment you list, any current AC1900 class router or above will give you a much better wireless experience.

What is your budget for this network upgrade?

For hardware changes;
I would be looking to move the Printer off of the USB port (even consider buying a new one at this time for better per page costs and print speeds), getting rid of the repeater and running a few cable runs to where it is now (consider the flat Ethernet cable that is available) and buying a few 5 or 8 Port 1GBe switches to connect to a new AC Class1900 or higher router (you might even consider the RT-AC3200 for it's stable and effortless network handling, wired and wireless, that many people comment on here in the forums).

For the other changes;
I would be looking to wire the main router to a central location (and at least 10' above the ground level) in the areas (in 3D) that need to be covered. Don't forget to run at least 6 cable runs to that location for future expandability (one for each WAN/LAN port and an extra run too) and to finish each run near or at where the ISP's modem or cable is brought into the building.

You'll have a choice how to connect wired devices to your network. I would suggest a 5 or 8 port 1GBe switch on each router port (you'll decide if it's best to place these near the router or near the ISP's modem or cable drop location, depending on how much equipment is allowed to show when the router is installed for best WiFi performance).

Next, you can optimally configure the grouping of devices within each port so that the normal traffic the devices generate stay within the switch. For example, if the Camera writes to the NAS unit, they could be grouped together, along with a low bandwidth device like the printer (wired) for instance. You might also want to put the Main PC and the Home Theatre PC on different switches so that they have equal access to the NAS and the internet too without one negatively affecting the other.

With the cabling completed, the AC class router optimally located and having as many stationary devices wired or set to connect to the 5GHz band as possible with the remaining devices connecting to the 2.4GHz band, you can now test for the best channels to use for your specific environment.

To do this simply use manual channel selection in the router for the band you're optimizing and test each channel as thoroughly as you want to (some customers test each channel over a period of a few days to a week and see if they notice any improvements or not). The 2.4GHz band channels you want to test is 1, 6 and 11. For the 5GHz band the testing is the same, but you don't have to skip channels as they are far enough apart to not overlap on each other.

Again, do you have a budget? Any skills or willingness to do some of the work yourself? I hope I answered your concerns at least partially. Come back with more questions as needed.

 

[baltik]

Fair points - I am not overly concerned about the printer, it's rarely on and actually one of the few things that I'm convinced is not affecting performance, but to your point there doesn't seem a lot of downside to hooking it up via ethernet.

My main concern with your suggestion is replacing a router+repeater setup to a single router. Given the layout of my space (long and narrow) I have never been able to get complete coverage across the entire space even from a central location. Is the antenna strength of new generation devices truly that superior? I have anywhere from 9-20 competing networks depending where i am in the house so getting a clean channel sin't really a reality, my best bet is to simply overpower them

 

[L&LD]

With a single AC1900 or above router that is located optimally in 3D space for the areas you want covered, the newest generations are much, much better for a lot of users (especially the RT-AC3200 from the folks here).

You don't want to overpower them (and we can't with these routers) but if you need more power, I would suggest you pm hggomes for his fork of the latest RMerlin firmware for Asus routers), you need to find a channel that is best for your environment.

The difference between leaving the Channel option to Auto and selecting one manually is huge for most users, in range and throughput and only requires selecting one channel and testing and comparing it to how the other channels perform.

Most of these tests can be done on the 2.4GHz band in half an hour or less (only test channels 1, 6 and 11. And, if your country laws allow, channel 13 too). On the 5GHz band, it will take longer because there are more channels to test.

When testing this way, I do an Ookla speedtest, a transfer from a wired computer to a wireless computer of a big file (1GB or larger) and I also browse the web for a few minutes to get a sense of how responsive the network is (and I do this for as many locations are deemed important by my customers). Set the 2.4GHz band channel width to 20MHz and you'll soon see that one of the main control channels I've indicated will be the 'magic' one to use. On the 5GHz band, I leave the channel width set to auto or 20/40/80 (depending on the router) as that usually gives the best performance for devices that are physically closer and / or have larger and more antennae to connect to the router with.

With great predictability, most customers have the best settings with channel 11 for the 2.4GHz band and the lower channels (36 to 48) for the 5GHz band.

Don't forget that with a new router, you'll have two routers that could also be used as AP's.

Just make sure you wire for them if that is part of the plan to upgrade this network to modern standards.

 

[baltik]

Just to make sure I follow - even though none of my wireless clients are AC compatible, and even though my current router is already centrally positioned in my home and cannot sustain a connection at both ends, your view is that the 802.11n signal of the latest generation routers is superior to the Linksys e4200 I am currently using?

 

[stevech]

Add one access point.
Connect it to router via cat5 or IP on power line or MoCA.

Certainly don't do meshing.

 

[L&LD]

Just to make sure I follow - even though none of my wireless clients are AC compatible, and even though my current router is already centrally positioned in my home and cannot sustain a connection at both ends, your view is that the 802.11n signal of the latest generation routers is superior to the Linksys e4200 I am currently using?

Yes, it may possible be. Depending on the AC class router you choose.

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...oes-an-ac-router-improve-n-device-performance

I agree with stevech don't do mesh; add an AP instead, if needed.

 

[baltik]

Good read - thank you, It seems that the new routers help with throughput but not range?

 

[L&LD]

The user reports suggest that range is also improved. Not dramatically in some cases, but it is there.

 

[coxhaus]

I think the simple thing to start with is to dump the repeater. Connect a second AP with Cat5e or a powerline adapter. This may give you what you want. If not test your air space for other networks. Go from there.

 

[baltik]

Just to clarify - I used an incorrect term by stating repeater, it's actually a hardwired Netgear router set up as an AP, so that part is already done

 

[coxhaus]

You need to figure out why there is a drop out. If you are using 2.4GHz you should have good coverage unless your house is really long(1600 sq feet). Is each wireless device setup on a different channel using the same SSID with the same security? If yes you need to scan wireless networks around you. I had 23 networks around me at 2.4GHz. I switched to 5GHz. I ended up with 3 wireless APs because 5GHz will not penetrate walls especially tile or brick.

 

[stevech]

23 networks across the entire band is not a problem.
Unless your cho0se an RF channel in your router/AP is near the same channel # that a neighbor uses and IF that neighbor very frequently is a WiFi hog. It's hoggy to stream 1080p on 2.4GHz WiFi for hours on end.

If your router is on "auto channel select", turn that off. It can flail around.

But it's rare to see WiFi hogging.

 

[coxhaus]

23 networks across the entire band is not a problem.
Unless your cho0se an RF channel in your router/AP is near the same channel # that a neighbor uses and IF that neighbor very frequently is a WiFi hog. It's hoggy to stream 1080p on 2.4GHz WiFi for hours on end.

If your router is on "auto channel select", turn that off. It can flail around.

But it's rare to see WiFi hogging.

All the channels are being used. The real problem is my back yard butts up against a city park which is broadcasting out over the park with 2.4GHz. When I tried 5GHz I knew I never would go back to 2.4GHz. 5GHz was so much better in my house.

 

[stevech]

23 detected networks is usually not a problem. It's not how many network SSIDs you can detect, but rather how busy your channel is.. busy meaning a neighbor is using a LOT of air time for streaming, frequently.

5GHz is far less crowded (so far), but has a big disadvantage in range, due to the higher frequency.

 

[coxhaus]

I prefer not to channel share on 2.4GHz. Performance is slower when channel sharing. 5GHz is short ranged so I do not have to channel share making it much faster for me.

 

[stevech]

I prefer not to channel share on 2.4GHz. Performance is slower when channel sharing. 5GHz is short ranged so I do not have to channel share making it much faster for me.

Sorry, the fundamentals of wireless are being overlooked here. Such as CSMA/CA.