Looking for network design advice

[Daniel123]

I'm looking to change my home network.

I have a cable internet provider and a wireless router. This router is in the newly modern design living room. The wireless signal is poor on the back of the house.

What I'm thinking of doing is the following:

Direct to the cable modem connect an atom computer with 2 ethernet cards, and put linux on it, to serve as the router/dhcp server/firewall...

From this linux router connect a switch, with will connect all the wired stuff (printer, NAS, PC), and from the switch connect 2 access points, one in the living and one at the back of the house.

Can you guys comment on this design? Does you think of a better solution?

For a home design, can you give me some switches (gigabit, min 5 ports) and access points (Wireless N or AC) advices... That will do these work and dont cost much...

Thanks

 

[L&LD]

A much better and simpler solution is to simply get an router to use as an AP.

Any 5 to 8 port 1GbE switch you can buy today will be enough. 'Better' here, is not possible after you have passed a certain price point (around $20 or more).

I would recommend an RT-AC56U as your AP. Check for sales at $50 to $100, depending on how lucky you are. This is an AC1200 class device that has the hardware and performance to match AC1750 or higher routers.


http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-378-55-3_hgg-final-mod.26524/page-2#post-199549


I would also recommend running RMerlin firmware on the router or a fork thereof (the link above shows the kind of performance different firmware makes) instead of stock Asus firmware.

You may even want to switch the routers around and use the RT-AC56U as the main router and use your existing router as the AP too. Test both and you may even find you don't need an AP for full coverage either.