Thick walls / 10 Users / Cable Broadband

[scullydion]

Hi!

Think I'm slowly going round the twist with networking nightmares! Please advise me if you can on a router. My situation is as follows:

• 50mb Cable broadband in basement
• 10 laptops/desktop pcs
• Old house with thick brick walls and 3 floors

I bought BELKIN Play Max F7D4301UK to upgrade from the DLink-615 that Virgin provided, however it was actually worse! The signal was only usable one floor above and it kept dropping. So I will be taking that back to the shop....

Reading various reviews and charts I'm still non the wiser what hardware would work well for me. I have my eye on DLink-855 or should I just go all out and get something from Draytek?

I just want something that will be reliable, with a strong signal and that can cope with heavy traffic.

Thanks for any light you can hopefully shed on this matter,

Clare

P.S. Is there any way of stopping the other users from using P2P/torrnets and still allowing my machine full access?

 

[zjohnr]

The signal was only usable one floor above and it kept dropping. So I will be taking that back to the shop....

Where is your Wireless Access Point (WAP) / router located in the building?

My understanding is that a basic rule of thumb with wireless is higher is usually better. If your WAP/router is in the basement, then IMO it's in the worst possible location to try to get a signal to the three floors above it.

Any chance you could run an ethernet cable to (at least) a high shelf on the first floor? Possibly in a closet?

-irrational john

 

[Pyrroc]

Like (not-quite so) irrational John was saying, getting the AP up into the main house is important. Back-hauling via Cat5 or better would be best. If getting Cat5 up into the house is impossible, maybe something like powerline networking would also work as a back-haul.

You also may need to look at:
- running multiple APs if the signal strength is still low
- something like a Ruckus AP that does meaningful beam-forming
- attach higher-gain antennas to your APs and/or static clients

-Pyrroc

Oh, and as far as the question: "Is there any way of stopping the other users from using P2P/torrnets and still allowing my machine full access?"... Many good routers these days support port-based, IP-based, or protocol-based QoS, so the answer is yes.

 

[scullydion]

Thanks guys, yes after more reading since yesterday it all is pointing to the fact I'm going to have to get big bad butt long ethernet cable and access point - just impossible to move the router unfortunately.

Thanks again, I know what I'll be doing with my 2 days off!!

Clare

 

[zjohnr]

Why a (new) WAP?

I'm going to have to get big bad butt long ethernet cable and access point - just impossible to move the router unfortunately.

I'm confused. If it is possible to run an ethernet cable from the router to a WAP, then why not just move the router?

Do you have existing wired LAN connections already plugged into the router? (BTW is your wireless router actually in your basement? I was just "guessing" after all. )

A suggestion. Since you are planning on running the cable anyway, even if it impossible to move the router try just temporarily operating it in the location you intend to position the additional WAP. That would give you a (very?) rough idea of how the additional WAP would affect your coverage before you actually lay out the money to purchase one.

Of course, if money is not important ... well, in that case I think we should become very good friends!

Don't pay "too much" for your Cat 5e ethernet cable. I'm in the US and 100 feet (~30m ?) of pre-cut Cat 5e is around $10-$15. Often less if you catch it "on sale". Don't get suckered into using Cat 6. Paying more for Cat 6 is unlikely to give you any extra performance benefit over Cat 5e.

 

[tipstir]

Simple solution here.

Basement (Cable Modem / DHCP router) family room
First Floor (main)
Second Floor (upstairs)
Third Floor (attic or extra den)

This is what I have.. Older home built in the roaring 20's I have two brick chimney stacks, cast iron piping for radiator steam heating. Those pipes are in a loop in the basement family with drywall, solid oak floors. The house is build in pretty much the same layout as the all the floors including the basement. Each floor has been remodel with new wood, drywalls for walls and cellings. Original oak wood flooring is present which is also the large firewall and huge stair case going up to the second floor.

The way I did it, was to run 50 to 75 ft of CAT 5e to each room. Install the AP in the room where the interference was the lowest or null. On the main floor too much going on to install AP. I also have what is called a Sun Room with 9 windows attached to the house so over head there is just the roof. The second Brick Chimney wall is in this room which serves as the huge fire place for the connecting living room. Under the sun room are two large 275 gallon cast iron oil tank (more interference)

So my point is number 1 you need to know two things.

1. Where is the best place to install additional hardwired AP (access points for wireless clients)

2. Get something better for AP to handle the signal as that can vary (up and down method or flip/flop)

That Belkin Play Max not doing so well they were selling for $45 bucks on Monday as factory serviced on one site. I thought about it and said nay.

You need to get AP/Router that has 20dBm (100mW) In your case you need two AP and the Router is also the primary AP so it's 3 in all. I would test two first before buying additional ones.