Whole house wireless networking

[bbyf16]

hey guys, had a quick question regarding wireless networking. I currently have a wireless G setup in my parents house that I wanted to upgrade. Reasons for upgrading including wanting wireless N; and to also cover the whole house with wireless instead of having dead spots all over the place.

The way the house is built is such that I will need at least one repeater since the walls are built with solid concrete and also that the house is quite spread out. The internet connection is a 10mbps connection with a wdtv in the tv room (which I would like connected to network to stream to clients on the network), but its quite far away from the rest of the users in the house (both on ground level and the upstairs). I'm not interested in powerline networking at this moment, partly due to the fact there would be a lot of noise as well as three power lines coming into the house, separated into different wings. The tv room is separated from the kitchen by about 50-75 feet. From the kitchen to the den is another 50-75 feet. And then the bedrooms are upstairs, with a ceiling height of 12-15 feet. I also have to mention that the rooms upstairs are spread out with about 50-75 feet distance between each room.

I was trying to figure out the different ways of doing this and if you guys could help me out understanding things, it would be much appreciated. I was initially thinking of connecting two routers via wireless bridging or wds; but from what I understand, that will cut your total network speed by half every time a new router is added to the network. What if I was to use one router, and then put up a one or two access points, would that make a difference with the network speed? I dont think I need dual band in this house considering, they are my parents, and I doubt they will need both (or if they'll even notice theres another network there). Should I look for routers that can have ddwrt or tomato installed so that I can do wireless repeating within the menu itself? Or maybe I should get a router with external antennas and then upgrade the antennas?

The routers i'm considering include : belkin600 (dual band), dlink dir655, linksys e2000 (dual band), and buffalo WZR-HP-G450H or 300. (these are going in order from least expensive to most expensive). Feel free to suggest others that you feel would do the job.

Thanks for any help that you can provide guys, it really is much appreciated.

 

[stevech]

As you know, there's no substitute for getting a cat5 wire to one or more locations in the house (assuming router isn't centrally located and/or house is too large or too many floors, etc.).

A WDS repeater does diminish the throughput by 50% and these are notoriously unreliable and difficult to work with mixed vendors or mixed product models even in the same vendor product line. Often this reduction is significant, e.g., to handhelds and simple web browsing.

Power line can work OK - especially if you follow a few simple guidelines.
Next best is MoCA.
These connect to a WiFi Access Point (AP) or a common cheap WiFi router re-purposed as an AP (as most all can be).

Don't forget too that coverage means the client-to-AP/router connectivity.. this is the weakest link rather than the signal strength FROM the route.

 

[bbyf16]

thanks for the reply. How does this sound:

An Apple Airport extreme with one or two ubiquiti unifi ap connected via ethernet? My only question would be, is it ok that the apple is a dual band while the access points are only single band 2.4? thanks for the help guys.

 

[Mark Uhde]

thanks for the reply. How does this sound:

An Apple Airport extreme with one or two ubiquiti unifi ap connected via ethernet? My only question would be, is it ok that the apple is a dual band while the access points are only single band 2.4? thanks for the help guys.

Wouldn't even consider UniFi for a home user since it's managed (Windows-managed, but still). If you did use it make it your ONLY Wi-Fi.

I'd get EnGenius EAP350's. Get three of them and an 802.3af PoE switch (so you only run Ethernet, not power. Hardwire and install them all, and connect them to a wired only router or disable your router's wireless.

Set all three AP's to the SAME SSID and the SAME security, but use one on channel 1, one on channel 6, and one on channel 11. Should cover any house fantastically. Obviously separate the AP's as much as possible to get the most coverage, but within where you can run CAT5 to from where your switch will be

 

[PhillipM]

Wouldn't even consider UniFi for a home user since it's managed (Windows-managed, but still).

It's managed, but not in the sense that a lot of other systems are, where you have to have a controller or management server running all the time. Once you configure it, you can leave it alone and it'll run on its own.

Just wanted to make sure no one read that and got the wrong impression...

 

[Mark Uhde]

It's managed, but not in the sense that a lot of other systems are, where you have to have a controller or management server running all the time. Once you configure it, you can leave it alone and it'll run on its own.

Just wanted to make sure no one read that and got the wrong impression...

Not completely true, it depends on the settings. Specifically, the captive portal function is done on the management server. Now, you're not likely to use that at home but still... well worth noting.

 

[PhillipM]

This thread is about use in a home, and your warning was against using it in a home, so a feature like captive portal that you admit would almost never be used in a home isn't really relevant. For home use, there is no reason the management would be an issue with Unifi. There may be other reasons to not use it, but that is not one.

I would hope that someone who is thinking of setting up a captive portal would be technical enough to understand what's involved, but regardless, that clearly doesn't apply here.

 

[Mark Uhde]

Very true, I guess in general for home I was just thinking the complexity vs. simply going to the web page for the AP. Not that UniFi is complex, it's just so DIFFERENT from normal consumer-grade gear that I figured it would be harder for the OP to setup.

But yes, it's a nice product, and the management setup isn't a huge issue, it just makes it different from what I'd expect a home user is planning on.

Oh, and I have had a captive portaled public network at home before