Question about DIR-825 / DAP-1522 configuration

[rocketdog]

Great site, glad I found it. Lots of good info for newbies like me. Before I shell out money for my first wireless home network, I wanted to know if the setup I'm planning will work, or if there are any better options than what I have planned. See attached schematic.

House is 100+ years old, hardwood floors, plaster & lath walls. Currently have a WRT54G router on 2nd floor, with PCs hard-wired to it. We're currently on DSL, but planning to make the switch to RoadRunner. We're already getting a decent wireless signal on the 1st floor (via the WRT54G), which my wife sometimes uses to access her company's network.

My plan is to put the DIR-825 downstairs so I can directly hook up the coaxial cable (RoadRunner) to it. Then, hard-wire the TV, Blu-ray, and Roku to the DIR-825. Upstairs, I'll use the DAP-1522 to capture the wireless signal from the DIR-825, and hard-wire the PCs to the DAP-1522.

I decided to do it this way because then I'll have uninterrupted internet access downstairs for high-speed streaming of content, and the PCs upstairs should be able to use the internet just fine even if the wireless connection isn't top-speed. (Our RoadRunner connection will be 10Mbs vs. the 1.5Mbs we're currently getting with DSL).

Before you ask, running CAT-6 between floors is not really feasible. There is no coax in the room where the PCs are, so I can't use a MoCA either. Power outlets are also in very short supply, so a powerline adapter won't work either.

My biggest concern over this set-up is security of the PCs, since we'll now be accessing the internet wirelessly, whereas we're currently accessing it on a hard line (except for the rare occasions when my wife accesses her company's network wirelessly).

Is this the best way to go about it? Are there any better products I should be looking at? I would love to be able to use DD-WRT, but I've never used it before so it's no biggie as long as everything works as-is.

Many thanks in advance for your help!

 

[thiggins]

Your setup is fine. Just secure the link between the 825 and DAP with WPA2/AES and you'll be fine (same goes for the laptop).

 

[zjohnr]

Some questions ...

My plan is to put the DIR-825 downstairs so I can directly hook up the coaxial cable (RoadRunner) to it.

Why the DIR-825? Are you thinking you'll get better throughput by using one band with the DAP-1522 and the other with the laptop? I suppose theoretically you could. Whether or not you'd actually notice a difference in practice I don't really know.

I guess I'm asking if others think this would be a better way to go.

Before you ask, running CAT-6 between floors is not really feasible.

Again, why CAT-6?? I'm sure there are places where using CAT-6 makes sense, but I don't think a home network is one of them. My understanding is that CAT-5e is more than adequate.

-irrational john

 

[rocketdog]

Why the DIR-825? Are you thinking you'll get better throughput by using one band with the DAP-1522 and the other with the laptop? I suppose theoretically you could. Whether or not you'd actually notice a difference in practice I don't really know.

I guess I'm asking if others think this would be a better way to go.

Thanks for the feedback. I was more concerned over transmitting a wireless signal back and forth between the 825 and the 1522. The laptop would be picking up its signal from the 825, wouldn't it? Or would it not "see" any difference between the 825 and 1522? In other words, would there just be one giant signal "cloud" for the laptop to access, regardless of which device it's originating from?

Again, why CAT-6?? I'm sure there are places where using CAT-6 makes sense, but I don't think a home network is one of them. My understanding is that CAT-5e is more than adequate.

I just meant any Ethernet cable, whether it's CAT-5e or CAT-6. I can't run cables through our walls due to the house's construction, and the wife doesn't want me running cables through the outer walls and down the outside of the house.

Thanks again for your input.

 

[rocketdog]

Your setup is fine. Just secure the link between the 825 and DAP with WPA2/AES and you'll be fine (same goes for the laptop).

Thanks Tim. I appreciate the feedback! I'll let you know how things go once I get the hardware and have everything set up. Wish me luck!

 

[thiggins]

Thanks for the feedback. I was more concerned over transmitting a wireless signal back and forth between the 825 and the 1522. The laptop would be picking up its signal from the 825, wouldn't it? Or would it not "see" any difference between the 825 and 1522? In other words, would there just be one giant signal "cloud" for the laptop to access, regardless of which device it's originating from?

The DAP-1522 functions as an AP or bridge. So both it and the laptop will be using the DIR-825 for wireless network connection.

John does bring up a good point however. You're paying a premium for a two-radio draft 11n router. Unless you're going to use both bands at the same time, it's sort of a waste. My testing has showed that 5 GHz range is significantly less than 2.4. So you really might not get much advantage from dual-band.

You could save some $ by buying a single-radio dual-band router. Or just get a DIR-655 single-band.

 

[zjohnr]

It really depends on how you set things up ...

Thanks for the feedback. I was more concerned over transmitting a wireless signal back and forth between the 825 and the 1522. The laptop would be picking up its signal from the 825, wouldn't it? Or would it not "see" any difference between the 825 and 1522?

The DIR-825 is a dual-band dual radio router while the DAP-1522 is dual band single radio wireless bridge or Access Point (AP). Because it has two radios, the DIR-825 can use both the 2.4GHz band and the 5GHz band simultaneously. The DAP-1522 can also use either the 2.4GHz band or the 5GHz band, but only one or the other.

As Tim pointed out, if you don't plan/expect to use both bands as part of your setup, then you'd be paying more to get hardware you wouldn't be using, i.e. the second radio in the DIR-825.

That's why I guessed you might be using one band to connect to the DAP-1522 and the other to talk to the laptop. If the two were using different bands then there would be no bandwidth competition between them.

That's the theory. In practice, I'm not so sure you'd be moving enough data simultaneously that you'd notice a problem even if both the laptop and DAP bridge connected to the DIR-825 on the same band.

Of course, another, possibly better reason to use separate bands could be if you'd be using both 802.11g and 802.11n. Apparently if you mix 802.11g and 802.11n then you can loose the increased throughput you would otherwise expect to get with 802.11n.

If the laptop only supports 802.11g then you'd probably get better overall performance by dedicating the 2.4GHz band of the DIR-825 to 802.11g and using the 5GHz band and 802.11n to connect the DAP-1522.

The above assumes that the DAP-1522 won't be located "too far" from the DIR-825.

-irrational john

 

[zjohnr]

I can't run cables through our walls due to the house's construction, and the wife doesn't want me running cables through the outer walls and down the outside of the house.

I think I'd have to agree with your wife on this one.

Poking through outer walls sounds like the sort of a project that might be deceptively easy to get right initially only to run into unanticipated complications further out in time.

-irrational john

 

[rocketdog]

The DIR-825 is a dual-band dual radio router while the DAP-1522 is dual band single radio wireless bridge or Access Point (AP). Because it has two radios, the DIR-825 can use both the 2.4GHz band and the 5GHz band simultaneously. The DAP-1522 can also use either the 2.4GHz band or the 5GHz band, but only one or the other.

As Tim pointed out, if you don't plan/expect to use both bands as part of your setup, then you'd be paying more to get hardware you wouldn't be using, i.e. the second radio in the DIR-825.

That's why I guessed you might be using one band to connect to the DAP-1522 and the other to talk to the laptop. If the two were using different bands then there would be no bandwidth competition between them.

That's the theory. In practice, I'm not so sure you'd be moving enough data simultaneously that you'd notice a problem even if both the laptop and DAP bridge connected to the DIR-825 on the same band.

Of course, another, possibly better reason to use separate bands could be if you'd be using both 802.11g and 802.11n. Apparently if you mix 802.11g and 802.11n then you can loose the increased throughput you would otherwise expect to get with 802.11n.

If the laptop only supports 802.11g then you'd probably get better overall performance by dedicating the 2.4GHz band of the DIR-825 to 802.11g and using the 5GHz band and 802.11n to connect the DAP-1522.

The above assumes that the DAP-1522 won't be located "too far" from the DIR-825.

-irrational john

You bring up a good point, and now that I think about it I do believe the laptop is G, not N, so I may be better off with the DIR-825 and dedicating the 2.4GHz band to the laptop (and any other G devices we might need to use), while using the 5GHz band to connect the DIR-825 to the DAP-1522.

Right now the DAP-1522 will be maybe 15'-20' away from the DIR-825, in the room directly above it. I've gotta believe the 5GHz band has enough power to penetrate into the room above it?

 

[thiggins]

Right now the DAP-1522 will be maybe 15'-20' away from the DIR-825, in the room directly above it. I've gotta believe the 5GHz band has enough power to penetrate into the room above it?

You should be ok with that distance, assuming no foil-backed insulation in the floor/ceiling.

 

[rocketdog]

You should be ok with that distance, assuming no foil-backed insulation in the floor/ceiling.

Cool. I'll give it a shot and let you know what happens. Worse comes to worse I can just resort to using 2.4GHz for everything.