Suggestions, advice and links to good guides please to help me connect two networks. I hope the following description works for you, but if not I can draw it out and post the schematic. Anyway....
I currently share a network with a neighbour that's evolved over the years. It's business class internet with a fixed IP but can't get fast broadband because we are too far from the local exchange and sit at the end of a bit of copper wire that won't be upgraded. Here's the current state of play:
The problems are:
I know it sounds a bit of a dog's breakfast, but how should I progress? Your help and guidance much appreciated!
p.s. I'm not adverse to putting more hardware in to solve the problem, so long as it won't cost me a kidney and is easily managed.
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I currently share a network with a neighbour that's evolved over the years. It's business class internet with a fixed IP but can't get fast broadband because we are too far from the local exchange and sit at the end of a bit of copper wire that won't be upgraded. Here's the current state of play:
- We both have Synology DS411 Disc Stations for our own info and each is backed up to the other automatically.
- We both have a WNDR3700 router. His handles the internet and the IP addresses, mine just acts as a switch and WiFi. It's the ususal 192.168.0.XXX format. The first 50 addresses are reserved for DHCP devices. 51 is the router. The next 100 are reserved for his fixed IPs and the remainder up to 255 for mine, including my WNDR3700.
- We each have about a dozen wired and wireless devices. I have a repeater for his wireless router as well, in case his router stops mine for accepting WiFi connections (as it frequently does)
- We also have IP CCTV cameras, which all sit on a server/HD recorder on his side. Because of the fixed IP, we can see the cameras (and both servers) remotely. It's a bit of a hoot being able to look at my garden using the media system in my car or to access my music library on the beach.
- Everything at both sides of the network is wired for Gigabit, including all the switches and Cat5E/Cat 6 cabling.
- Except the long length of Cat 5 that joins the two sides of the network. It's buried and can't be replaced. It brings all my traffic down to 100Mb at best, sometimes not even that.
The problems are:
- From my devices to my Disk Station, data has to make the journey along the bit of Cat 5 to his router, then back again to my server. So it's slooow
- We're looking at puttting some fibre in place, for part of the journey, but I would still rely on his router for my data.
- He has a lot of download activity, so sometimes my internet performance falls off a cliff when we hit the copper limit. Anything streamed, like live TV starts to stutter and pixilate. Watching live sports is a chore.
- Because his router handles all the IP adresses, sometimes some of my wireless devices get locked out, so I have to get everything reset at his end. Despite all this, one of my laptops appears to be permanently persona non-grata and it's driving me nuts having to plug it into a wired connection.
- On my side, my WNDR3700 will have its own internet connection and will manage all of my devices and "my side" IPs - I'll get Gigabit to my server and WAPs that will work properly. I won't be getting a fixed IP.
- My CCTV cameras will still have to be visible to his side so that the server/recorder can deal with them.
- Our respective Disc Stations will have to be visible to each other, so that the automatic backups can still work and so that we can access particular data (like music) from "the other side".
- I still want to be able to see his CCTV server and my Disc Station remotely, using his fixed IP.
- Ideally, if my internet service goes down, I want to automatically default to his provider until mine comes up again. And vice versa.
- At a push, I'd give up on accessing my own server remotely if it makes the solution practical.
I know it sounds a bit of a dog's breakfast, but how should I progress? Your help and guidance much appreciated!
p.s. I'm not adverse to putting more hardware in to solve the problem, so long as it won't cost me a kidney and is easily managed.
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