Network upgrade: 2-3 story house

[Q-BZ]

We're technically talking three floors since there's a computer down in the basement and the router will be on the second floor of the house.


I've been following this site for a long time and am very grateful for all the work you guys do.

I'm realistic with my expectations. I know nothing beats being hardwired, but this will be logistically infeasible in my house so I need to go wireless.

Keeping in thiggin's article from not too long ago in mind where he no longer is outright recommending dual band (if I read it right) here goes:

My almost 5 year old Netgear WGR614 (original model) is showing me some age issues that suggest that it's not going to be long for this world. It's corresponding USB Adapter is on the second computer two floors away, down in the basement.

The performance has always been mediocre at best.

I'm ready and prepared to go wireless N all the way, no mixed. Choosing the router seems to be the easy part. I can go with D-Link and get either a 655 or DGL 4500. (The 855 is too expensive.) I can go Linksys and get a 600 or 610. I'm not loyal to one brand.

The computer that's two floors down from the router will need an adapter. It's my understanding that USB adapters typically are more flaky and more of a "bottleneck." Is that true?

If I go with any PCI adapter, none of them are dual band yet. This isn't the end of the world to me, either. If I'm going all N, am I best going to 5GHz or should I just stick with 2.4GHz?



Potential adapters I'm considering if the corresponding adapters from whatever company's router I buy aren't sufficient would be things like these:


http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/productlist.php?CatID=32&FamID=60&ProdID=379

or

http://www.hawkingtech.com/products/productlist.php?CatID=32&FamID=60&ProdID=377


^^ I'm surprised they don't have an N router out yet.


Anyways, those are just some of my ideas. I'm pretty wide open on the whole subject and I want to see what you all think is the best way for me to get this done right.

Thanks!

 

[crashnburn]

What you think might be logistically unfeasible might have work arounds -

I posted a 3D model of my place to outline my home network. It might help you to post a 3D model of your house and maybe there is a way out.

 

[thiggins]

Welcome, Q-BZ.

The good news is that you have had some sort of connection with 11g. I would not recommend dual-band unless you have interference issues with 2.4 GHz networks.
5 GHz is going to have reduced range and probably won't reach where you need it to go.

I don't know where the "USB adapters are flaky" comes from. USB 2.0 is fast enough to not be a bottleneck. USB adapters usually come with a short USB cable so that you
can move them away from the USB port.

With PCI adapters, your antennas are stuck down low, behind the computer unless the adapter comes with cabled antennas. Down low and in back of a metal box is not where you want wireless stuff to be.

You might want to skip the Hawking stuff and stick with D-Link, NETGEAR, Linksys.

Of course, you could also give powerline a shot. It has its own problems with sensitivity to line noise that knocks down bandwidth. But a set of "200 Mbps" powerline adapters could still yield a 10 Mbps or so connection. Not good enough for high-def video, but plenty good for web browsing, email, Voip.

 

[Q-BZ]

What you think might be logistically unfeasible might have work arounds -

I posted a 3D model of my place to outline my home network. It might help you to post a 3D model of your house and maybe there is a way out.

I'll try and look into this.

How did you do this? Did you just scan the picture from somewhere else and post it?

Welcome, Q-BZ.

Thanks!

The good news is that you have had some sort of connection with 11g. I would not recommend dual-band unless you have interference issues with 2.4 GHz networks.

Doesn't seem like it. Is there any way I can test that to be sure or would that be very obvious like dropouts and such?

5 GHz is going to have reduced range and probably won't reach where you need it to go.

That saves me money right there.

I don't know where the "USB adapters are flaky" comes from. USB 2.0 is fast enough to not be a bottleneck. USB adapters usually come with a short USB cable so that you
can move them away from the USB port.

With PCI adapters, your antennas are stuck down low, behind the computer unless the adapter comes with cabled antennas. Down low and in back of a metal box is not where you want wireless stuff to be.

You might want to skip the Hawking stuff and stick with D-Link, NETGEAR, Linksys.

Good. This cleans this picture up for me some more.

Of course, you could also give powerline a shot. It has its own problems with sensitivity to line noise that knocks down bandwidth. But a set of "200 Mbps" powerline adapters could still yield a 10 Mbps or so connection. Not good enough for high-def video, but plenty good for web browsing, email, Voip.

I'll consider it.

Who puts out the best line of these powerline products or are they all about equal?

 

[thiggins]

You can do a simple site survey to assess potential interference problems:
How To Fix Your Wireless Network - Part 2: Site Surveying

I would look at "200 Mbps" powerline products, which are the latest and fastest generation. There are two types, HomePlug AV and DS2/UPA, and they are not interoperable. So get two of the same make and model adapter.

The Linksys PLK200 kit that I used in this recent article isn't perfect, but was better than some of the other products that I've seen.

 

[Q-BZ]

You can do a simple site survey to assess potential interference problems:
How To Fix Your Wireless Network - Part 2: Site Surveying

I would look at "200 Mbps" powerline products, which are the latest and fastest generation. There are two types, HomePlug AV and DS2/UPA, and they are not interoperable. So get two of the same make and model adapter.

The Linksys PLK200 kit that I used in this recent article isn't perfect, but was better than some of the other products that I've seen.

Much appreciated.