Cleaning Up The Network

[TORX]

A long over due project in the works. This weekend I am cleaning up some of the birds nest of wiring. It is great to get the home network tidied up a little. Special thanks to the 24 port Cisco switch. I have about half the Cat6e hooked up. I still have 4 to finish and connect, plus adding more as the house is removed more.

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[Luke.]

Sweet idea I like the shelf you made for it !

 

[TORX]

Sweet idea I like the shelf you made for it !

Thanks. Wife is happy so far as well. That is the main thing .

I love that Netgear Nighthawk router. It was pricey, but it is an amazing router with everything anyone could need. I still have to learn my switch though. Before I just ran a 8 port unmanaged Netgear switch.

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[SamB]

Good for you Torx
A nice little piece of mind project !

 

[TORX]

Oooo....look at all the pretty lights.

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[Pipes]

Nice project. What does this stuff do? Not being a teckie, It just looks like a bunch of wires and boxes...

 

[TORX]

Above the wooden box with blue LEDs is my cable internet modem from my Internet provider Teksavvy. Top left of the box with 3 antenna is my Nighthawk router. Below that, red box with red LED is my Raspberry PI. The 2 black boxes below that are each 5TB hard drives. The Raspberry pi is a low power server that allows sharing access of the 2 hard drives across my network from any computer to another. It is set up for certain access. I have full access to read and write across all 10tb, programs, movies, TV, music, photos, system backups and so on. My wife has full view access to all TV shows, Movies, Music, Photos. She can add to the drives, but can not delete anything. She has accidentally deleted a year worth of photos before and was devastated. Luckily I back up the photo directory weekly. My kids only have read access to TV and Kid Movies. They can not save or delete anything to the drives.

The big box on the right is a managed switch. It allows up to 24 computers to be connected and Internet controlled through it. Most routers only allow 4.

The kids bedrooms each have 2 ethernet ports in the wall with cable and phone. My living room has 4 so far, to be extended to 16 total when the other walls are replaced. My room will have 4 when I redo the master room.

Below that wooden box is my power supply for the Razor led over my frag tank and below that is my Apex. I will be making a casing for that as well some day


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[Pipes]

Ok. So my understanding is that you have your computers and TV all hooked up together, but not wireless??? And the big box makes all computers able to share the information, while making sure the kids have appropriate access.???

 

[TORX]

Ok. So my understanding is that you have your computers and TV all hooked up together, but not wireless??? And the big box makes all computers able to share the information, while making sure the kids have appropriate access.???

Yes, I have another Raspberry PI on my livingroom PC that is a Media Server. Same as those boxes that they sell on kijiji to get rid of cable or like an Android box. They go by lots of names, but mine cost me about $35. I prefer the security and dependability of a wired connection. It also helps me monitor wireless activity better so I know no one is on my WiFi. As is, we have 2 phones, laptop, tablet, printer and 2 Nintendo DS's on wireless.

Yes, kids can only view what I let them view. Right now it is mostly for my son. He was bringing over a computer when he visited and I did not want it writing to my network. He is 17 now...I am not stupid, I know what he is probably doing and do not want his carelessness getting into my other computers.

 

[TORX]

Ok. So my understanding is that you have your computers and TV all hooked up together, but not wireless??? And the big box makes all computers able to share the information, while making sure the kids have appropriate access.???

Yes, I have another Raspberry PI on my livingroom PC that is a Media Server. Same as those boxes that they sell on kijiji to get rid of cable or like an Android box. They go by lots of names, but mine cost me about $35. I prefer the security and dependability of a wired connection. It also helps me monitor wireless activity better so I know no one is on my WiFi. As is, we have 2 phones, laptop, tablet, printer and 2 Nintendo DS's on wireless.

Yes, kids can only view what I let them view. Right now it is mostly for my son. He was bringing over a computer when he visited and I did not want it writing to my network. He is 17 now...I am not stupid, I know what he is probably doing and do not want his carelessness getting into my other computers.

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

Looks so tidy now .. nice work Torx. I have a question regarding wireless networking that maybe you can answer. I have an ASUS N56U router which works great for the most part. The issue that I have is that my son's room is at the other side of the building with several walls/closets etc. in the wireless path. So his reception there is not as great as either of us would like. While I am fairly computer savvy I'm not quite so advanced with networking.

So I've been looking at various ways of boosting the signal without snaking a cable through the entire building. Do you have any experience or opinions on the Powerline Adapters that use your existing electrical wiring to transmit the signal? I've read some good reviews on them and I've also heard that sometimes they don't work well at all. The good reviews that I've seen have said that they're getting speeds almost as high as if they were connected to the router. So for $80-$120 I'm thinking this may be the way to go. Just thought I'd check here in case others have already used this method.

 

[TORX]

They really are hit and miss. I have read some that last for years and others that have to replace them every 6 months or less. I personally think the issue falls along power outages. Most of what I have read the issues are after a storm or power outages. Range extenders are really your only option without modifying your home. There is one other option, but that involves a second modem from your internet provider which may have a fee with it to rent or purchase the second modem. Then you could plug it into a closer phone/cable jack and be good to go sharing your over all internet speed but separate connections. It would not double the internet speed in the house unless you purchase a second plan.

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

They really are hit and miss. I have read some that last for years and others that have to replace them every 6 months or less. I personally think the issue falls along power outages. Most of what I have read the issues are after a storm or power outages. Range extenders are really your only option without modifying your home. There is one other option, but that involves a second modem from your internet provider which may have a fee with it to rent or purchase the second modem. Then you could plug it into a closer phone/cable jack and be good to go sharing your over all internet speed but separate connections. It would not double the internet speed in the house unless you purchase a second plan.

OK ... Thanks for the info. I have an older Netgear router here and have been looking into making that an extender but I would still need an Ethernet cable to go to it which presents problems. I'd thought of the 2nd modem but since my provider goes through Rogers there would likely be a fee to re-connect the 2nd cable line that goes to the front of the building and my son's room. Maybe I'll just grab one of the lower model Powerline's that are expandable so I'm not out much if I have problems. Do you recall if certain Brand Named Powerlines were better than others? I've been looking at TP Link mostly.

 

[TORX]

For the second router, you do not need a second cable connection to the house. If he currently has cable in his room that is connected, then you would just hook the other modem up in his room with the existing cable connection. I do not recall which ones are 'better' just that some work great for others and the same model will be garbage for others. :/ The only one that typically did not have too many negative reviews is the Apple one. But I know nothing about it.

Most Netgear routers let you use them as a repeater. You do not need an ethernet connection to connect to them. They work off the current wireless and repeat the signal. There is custom firmware that you need to install though. Here is an example http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/d...s-a-wireless-repeater?cid=wmt_netgear_organic

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

Unfortunately the cable to my son's room is on a different line. Same cable box though. I live in an apt. and the previous tenants had it set up that way. So from my cable box outside there is one line going to the front of the building and one line going to the back. Although I guess I could check it first with my existing router to make sure it's not connected. But when I first moved in and had cable TV for a couple months it was only the line to the back that was connected.

I'm a bit confused as I thought the Netgear used as a repeater would have to have the line in from the router still. I researched doing this a while back and don't remember exactly. However either way that would just increase the wireless signal but that would certainly help. My understanding with the Powerline Adapter is that when they do work you're generally getting better than wireless speeds which would be great although it's a gamble. LOL

I may give the netgear repeater a try to see if I can improve the signal first. But depending on the bandwidth I may also give the Powerline a try.

Thanks for all your help Torx.

 

[TORX]

What kind of router is the extra one?

 

[nathan]

Holy shit that just gave me a headache. ..lol... looks like you could take down the country with that set up...lol

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

What kind of router is the extra one?

I believe it's a Netgear WPN824 v3. I'd have to find it to be certain but I looked through a bunch of pics to make sure I had the right one. It's an older model but I think could still be used as a repeater.

 

[TORX]

I believe it's a Netgear WPN824 v3. I'd have to find it to be certain but I looked through a bunch of pics to make sure I had the right one. It's an older model but I think could still be used as a repeater.

Can be done with the V3 model. http://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/68/~/wpn824v3-faqs?cid=wmt_netgear_organic

 

[TORX]

just remember that when doing a wireless repeater, it will cut your speeds in half of the max. Which should still be more then anyone really needs and will be more stable then a weak wireless from the origonal access point.

 

[Aquatic Dreams]

just remember that when doing a wireless repeater, it will cut your speeds in half of the max. Which should still be more then anyone really needs and will be more stable then a weak wireless from the origonal access point.

Yeah ... I'm still leaning towards the Powerline adapters though. I've been doing some research on the TP-Link AV1200.

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=27_1054_360&item_id=087685

One video I watched had a guy showing everything from unboxing to installation. His wired speeds were 150 Mbps and through these adapters he was getting around 115 Mbps. Some of the cheaper models that don't use the new AV2 MIMO technology have a Wi-Fi boost built in as well. It's one of those things that I guess I won't know until I try it.

I'm sure I could set up the NetGear as a repeater but I'm not overly experienced so I know it would take a bit of messing around to get it set up correctly. And after all that to hopefully get 12-16 Mbps. ... maybe a bit higher but not much. The Powerline's ease of setup and faster bandwidth have me leaning that way. I also have a 4TB drive hooked up to my router so was thinking that transfer speeds would likely be improved as well using the Powerline.

If I end up getting one I'll be sure to post a thread and share my experience with it.