Looking for a Unified Network Solution

[grey-array]

Hey Everyone,

I am currently in an interesting position where I rent an apartment on an estate,
My Landlord has a 500mbit connection, but due to the bog standard Modem/Router and the Auto Negotiation everyone can only use a maximum of 100Mbit even when noone else is using the connection.
The Network is a bit cobled together, and I am also new within the networking space, so was hoping to get some advice on setting up a Singular network, that doesnt have the 100Mbit limitation problem.

To give a clearer view of what the current setup is like I will have a visual representation down below:

The Main connection is in House 1, where it splits out to the 2 other buildings, which have buried CAT6 Cables.
My Landlord has given me " carte blanche" and Im trying to figure out what kind of hardware I need to configure the entire estate under 1 Network. and still have the Local Devices Directly connected with a cable.
So here I am asking for advice, How should I configure this, and what kind of hardware would you all advise?

Yours sincerely

Ruud

 

[ColinTaylor]

I'm colour blind and can't read your blue text on a blue background. Can you use more distinctive colours please.

 

[grey-array]

I'm colour blind and can't read your blue text on a blue background. Can you use more distinctive colours please.

Oh Yes Certainly, let me see what I can do!
How is this:

 

[ColinTaylor]

Thanks but that's not much better. What does the top box say? "Incoming.... something something".

 

[grey-array]

My apologies, I will do another update to not add additional unclarity.
The top box is the Incoming Fiber Connection, then the Fiber Modem, And then the Main Router/Switch ( which is a basic Combination Router/Modem/Switch for consumers provided by the Internet Provider)
I am meanwhile editing the format so it might be clearer to read, sadly my software is somewhat limited.

Yours sincerely
Ruud

 

[grey-array]

Alright Updated once more, on the original post, hopefully it is now more legible.

Yours sincerely
Ruud

 

[Tech Junky]

What ports for media output does the fiber device have?

The speed limitation is likely the provider router connected to the fiber box. Swapping that out should just share the 500mbps instead of allocating what seems to be 100/port.

Does the existing router provide wifi to the location? Looks like there's already some other wifi on that location.

So, the next question would be is if there's a need for greater than 1ge speeds on the lan for say a NAS?

How intuitive are you or the owner on setting up a Linux router? The reason I ask is it opens doors to cheaper upgrades as tech/speed changes.

First items to by get rid of are the ISP boxes and put in better devices. For the main location obviously a router to provide nat and firewall. Then probably a couple of APs for wifi coverage.

For data privacy you'll want vlans to isolate traffic from each other so either a switch in the main house or a beefier router that can do it.

 

[grey-array]

What ports for media output does the fiber device have?

The speed limitation is likely the provider router connected to the fiber box. Swapping that out should just share the 500mbps instead of allocating what seems to be 100/port.

Does the existing router provide wifi to the location? Looks like there's already some other wifi on that location.

So, the next question would be is if there's a need for greater than 1ge speeds on the lan for say a NAS?

How intuitive are you or the owner on setting up a Linux router? The reason I ask is it opens doors to cheaper upgrades as tech/speed changes.

First items to by get rid of are the ISP boxes and put in better devices. For the main location obviously a router to provide nat and firewall. Then probably a couple of APs for wifi coverage.

For data privacy you'll want vlans to isolate traffic from each other so either a switch in the main house or a beefier router that can do it.

Hey Tech Junky,

The Fiber Modem, is simply an input that translates the Fiber Connection, and I believe the only output is a RJ45 connector which has Gigabit speeds

Yes it is indeed the Provider Router that is causing the problem with the Auto Negotiation. And Yes that Device is also providing WiFi, However the Main house requires additional WiFi Hotspots for a Stable connection around the house.
And There is no requirement for Highspeed LAN connections, there is no NAS here nor do I think he will ever set one up.

I Have no experience with setting up and Linux Router/Switch or Network Solutions, except for the attempts that I have made in the past with limited information of the internet, usually I do eventually figure it out however in the current position it would not be ideal to have the network down for multiple days while I try and figure out how to get it working, and the increased cost would potentially be worth the ease of install in this case. However if the material on the Linux solutions is clear, I tend to be fairly decent at grasping tech base products so I am certainly not against it, however getting a tried and true solution, ideally even all products that are from the same Ecosphere/brand/manufacturer that dont create creative problems that require troubleshooting is ideal

And yes a Mainswitch in House 1 sounds like a more than reasonable solution in my mind,
Also we aren't super concerned about Data privacy and would be fine with us all being on 1 Network as from a usage scenario that is ideal, All the other people on the estate are family.
I however am not at home in the hardware, as I never dabbled in Networking equipment, so what specs to look for to make sure I can properly configure it, without it being an absolute pain to configure or it limiting all users down to 100mbit due to Auto Negotiation is something I require a little bit of added insight for.

Thank you for your help already
Yours sincerely

Ruud

 

[ColinTaylor]

It could be helpful to know what the make and model numbers of your existing main router and hotspots are. Some of them could probably be reused.

You say you have an auto negotiation issue. Are you sure that's the case or is it simply that your router or hotspots don't have gigabit ethernet ports?

 

[grey-array]

Hey ColinTaylor,

I am more than happy to look it up, however, its a creative miss mash of All sorts of Modems and Routers being used as APs and its a blend of Netgear, Asus, and off brand equipment,
I have in fact checked that everything is Gigabit Capable, which it is, and I have with much issues, circumvented the Auto Negotiation for a while, however the Blend of Hardware is very unstable, causing issues for everyone making use of it, and seeing the fact money is not the biggest problem for my Landlord ( he rebuilds Ferrari's and Maclaren as a hobby) He just wants a solid Solution that is reliable and can be counted on to perform.

So I thoroughly understand that it can be done with some of the original hardware, but after a year of trouble shooting, failing APs and Routers with varying defects, we rather start fresh and do it right the first time.

Yours sincerely

Ruud

 

[Justinh]

If money is not a problem, call a local network/tech company to set you up first-class with a simplified, cohesive network.

 

[Tech Junky]

Good info to start off with. Yes mixing old gear makes for problems.

I use Zyxel for an AP and they work well. There's a few options depending on the need. There's NWA210AX / $125 NWA220AX6E $150 and there's a triband 6E that runs about $275.

Zyxel makes routers / switches as well. If you have all the same brand you can use the Nebula portal to manage everything like you would in an Enterprise setting. Makes things easier and IIRC runs about $10/yr per device. There's a GUI for each device if you choose to do local management by IP in a browser if the monthly cost is something to be avoided as well. The 210 I'm using covers 1300sq ft at full speed corner to corner. IIRC they're rated for 2500sq ft. It all depends on the wall composition though.

I would probably start with:
Wired router
Switch
3 APs one for each area to see how the coverage is before adding more // if these spaces are huge or brick / plaster then more will be needed for better performance.

On my Linux setup w/ AP I get 1.4gbps reliably on the LAN. My setup though has drives inside for NAS functionality as well. I also have it setup to DVR OTA TV directly. The nice thing about going DIY on the router is you have full control of everything and flexibility to swap ports / cards as needed. No buggy firmware to deal with when using off the shelf options. Putting functions behind it works like anything else like the switch / AP / etc. Just need to tweak the config to allow the ports to come up and DHCP to those devices. I preconfigured everything before putting it into its place. So, no real downtime involved. There's plenty of "homebrew router" tutorials out there to guide you through it. I used Ubuntu and put a QNAP 5GE quad port NIC inside since the drives max speed is just under 5GE. The NIC was $200 and you'd just need a SFF PC to be the router for maybe another $150. just something to think about but, you'd also be the tech support when someone breaks something if they have access to it.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/...2085-4aa4-4ece-8c1d-fda56fdc58a3&ref_=ast_bln

 

[ColinTaylor]

@grey-array Given your previous comments I definitely wouldn't recommend you try and build (and support) your own router. I think you are right to look for a turnkey solution (preferably from a single manufacturer) or as @Justinh said pay a professional company.

The majority of the members of these forums are Asus owners so you tend to see a lot of recommendations for those devices. But in your case (speaking as an Asus owner) I wouldn't recommend Asus devices.

Bear in mind that hardware recommendations from people in other countries do not always translate well when it comes to cost or availability. For example, the NWA210AX is not $125 in Sweden but over twice that price at around $260 equivalent. Still less than the price of a Ferrari though.

 

[Tech Junky]

the NWA210AX is not $125 in Sweden but over twice that price at around $260 equivalent.

I guess Sweden would be an important thing to mention in the OP rather than having to view profiles for locale. I don't know what the prices in SE are but, there should be something similar that's SMB level to provide the functions desired. Even w/ markup though it's still going to be less than other vendors like Cisco / Aruba / Juniper / Fortinet / et al.

Ok, so se.amazon 210 would be ~200% w/ currency conversion.

@grey-array
Routers
TP-Link TL-R605 - KR 823.24 / $78
‎TL-ER7206 - kr1,742.00 / $165

AP
EAP653 kr1,959.79 / $186

Central management for APs
Controller OC300- 2,820.96 / $269
or
Controller OC200 - kr1,087.00 / $103

So, ~$1000 for 3 AP's / router / controller. Omada seems to be a cheaper option in EU prices.

Since I haven't used the Omada line I can't say if you need only 3 APs or 10 of them but, 3 should get you started in all 3 dwellings. Of course you can either use an AC adapter for power or POE injectors at each location. They're cheap enough. compared to a POE switch.

 

[tgl]

FWIW, I've not used the Omada line either, but I believe you can get away without buying their dedicated controller hardware, as long as you have an always-on PC that you can run the software controller on.

Evan McCann has a ton of good info about the Omada and Ubiquiti lines -- it's worth exploring his site if you're considering gear in the SMB space.

 

[Tech Junky]

always-on PC

Or a NAS and spin up a VM / bottle with it running. Just figuring for simplicity to just add the controller for ease of management w/o relying on the mechanic to leave a PC / NAS powered on to manage things.

 

[coxhaus]

In my way of thinking most Unified Network Solution people have switched from using their routers to using pfsense for routers. Watch Lawrence solutions or systems. Unified routers are very limited. There are a bunch of YouTube on it.

​

 

[drinkingbird]

Hey Everyone,

I am currently in an interesting position where I rent an apartment on an estate,
My Landlord has a 500mbit connection, but due to the bog standard Modem/Router and the Auto Negotiation everyone can only use a maximum of 100Mbit even when noone else is using the connection.
The Network is a bit cobled together, and I am also new within the networking space, so was hoping to get some advice on setting up a Singular network, that doesnt have the 100Mbit limitation problem.

To give a clearer view of what the current setup is like I will have a visual representation down below:

The Main connection is in House 1, where it splits out to the 2 other buildings, which have buried CAT6 Cables.
My Landlord has given me " carte blanche" and Im trying to figure out what kind of hardware I need to configure the entire estate under 1 Network. and still have the Local Devices Directly connected with a cable.
So here I am asking for advice, How should I configure this, and what kind of hardware would you all advise?

View attachment 51988
Yours sincerely

Ruud

Late to the party but nothing gigabit capable should have any issues with auto-negotiating 1G speed. There are some cases with 2.5 gig ports when connected to 1G or 10G ports but if they're all 1G there should be no issue, they fixed those problems long ago (was a common issue with some 100M devices, or if you hardcoded one side to 100/F and the other to Auto). But with gig you can hardcode one side and auto the other and it will work fine, but better to have both sides set to auto. Have you gone through device by device to see where the 100M limit is happening? Are you sure all the ports are gig capable?

There may be no need to change anything, or maybe there is just one device with 100M ports that has to be swapped.