Best wireless setup for house with Ethernet drop boxes

[Sderci]

Hi everyone, thanks for a great forum. The house we just bought has been wired for Ethernet in most rooms. There are 12 Ethernet jacks throughout the house, and they all go back to a 12-port patch panel in a bedroom closet. I guess this was chosen because the cable connection also comes into the house there, so that's where the cable modem was.

So far, I've just been using one of the Ethernet jacks, in our living room. I have our wireless router there (a Linksys E4200), and a few of our devices plug into the router directly. But the wireless doesn't really cover the whole house from there, especially the guest house that's a separate structure.

Since that guest house has its own jack, I was thinking to install a second wireless router there.

1. Am I better off having just one wireless network, or a separate one originating from the guesthouse?

2. What do I need in order to get more outputs from the cable modem to the patch panel so that more jacks in the house will have internet?

3. Or is there a better way to do what I want (better wireless coverage throughout the house)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[sdifox]

1. You can have distinct ssids. Not a problem. Just get an access point.

2. A switch with enough ports. They are pretty cheap, so get like 12 port and wire every room. Use ethernet for computers if possible.

 

[sdifox]

3. Add more access points.

 

[boomhower]

This or https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lr/.

You didn't mention how large the home is but generally one LR will cover the single floor of most homes. Get one AP for each floor.

The guest how is another matter. You have a few options. Hopefully the inside AP will reach it once you get it replaced with a ubiquiti, by far the easiest solution. Second easiest is an outdoor AP. Another option for the guest house is power line networking. I have zero experience with that tech so have no product suggestions.

I replaced an E4200 with the AC LR model and absolutely love it. My home is 1500q/ft and it completely blankets it with 5Ghz. 2.4ghz is even better. One should suffice for a 3000sq/ft singe story home. Keep in mind this is generalized as building construction will play a big part in coverage.

To hook these up you will move your E4200 to where your switch is. Cable->router->switch. The AP's will plug into the ethernet ports in your home. They will need to be near an outlet as they need power. I doubt your current switch support power over lan.

 

[smitbret]

Your biggest issue is the router in the living room. If the router is already ideally situated and there is more than one ethernet drop there, then just run a second connection back from the router to the patch panel and connect everything to a 16-port switch there.

Something like this will work:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127464

If you are on a budget and don't need gigabit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127464

If there is only one drop where your router is located, you may just have to move the router to the closet with the patch panel, connect the modem to the router, the router to the switch and connect the jacks in the patch panel to the switch. Then set up your wireless using additional Access Points throughout the house. Once you've got the router and switch in place you will have a connection in all of the rooms where you can simply add Access Points as necessary anywhere you can run a Cat5 cable to the wall jacks.

You didn't say what kind of devices you were using, if you needed 2.4GHz, 5GHz, AC, etc. Boomhower's recommendation is very good and top of the line for consumer gear but you could get by with 1 or two of these at strategic points in the house:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...667&cm_re=netgear_2020-_-33-122-667-_-Product

I have had very good luck with these as Access Points for basic 2.4GHz wireless N. You'll just need to set them up as shown in this guide:
http://www.ezlan.net/router_AP.html

Just about any router can be configured this way so if you needed dual band or AC just pick up what you think you'll need and configure it in a similar fashion.

If you are going to use more than one, I would recommend using the same SSID name and wireless passwords for all access points but run them on different channels. That way any wireless devices will automatically connect to the strongest signal.

If one of your ethernet drops goes to the guest house then you could just add another AP there. You may want to run that one under a different SSID unless it sees the same kind of use as the house.

 

[Sderci]

Thank you all for your recommendations! It looks like I have options that won't cost too much.

I actually do have a second Ethernet drop in the living room, where the router is currently. So I could do as you suggest, smitbret. So do I have this right: run a cable from one of the 4 outputs on my E4200 to the second drop in the living room; run a cable from the patch panel to a switch; run cables from the switch back to any of the other jacks in the patch panel for other rooms where I want internet.

Sorry for what may be a dumb question, but do I lose speed/quality running the signal back and forth like this? Mentally it seems "cleaner" to move my existing router to the closet so that it goes cable modem->router->switch->patch panel. But maybe the Ethernet cable doesn't care one way or the other!

I did want everything to be dual band like my current router so that I can roam anywhere in the house and stay on my 5Ghz network, so do you also have a recommendation for dual-band routers that I can use as access points? Thanks in advance.

 

[smitbret]

As long as your cable drops are clean Cat5e or Cat6 and aren't excessively long (hundreds of feet) you shouldn't see any noticeable performance dip. Just run a cable from a LAN port on the router to the 2nd jack in the living room and then from the corresponding jack in the patch panel to the switch. After that, anything that goes into that switch is live on your network.

As far as APs. Something like this will give performance on the same bands as your current e4200 so any device that works there will work on the AP:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA4P01PF0042

If you think there's a chance you might want wireless AC and maybe future proof:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704177

I have used both as APs and they performed very well.

If you don't think you'll need more than 100mbps at an Access Point location then you could save a few bucks and go with this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4150&cm_re=tplink_3500-_-33-704-150-_-Product
It's about the same thing as the the others except that it doesn't have Gb ports. I've never used one, but I would expect similar results.

The WDR4300 and the C7 would be a great backup routers, too, should the e4200 go down or have problems. In fact, I would dare say the C7 is a better router than the e4200 but if you already have your network configured I wouldn't mess with it.

I'm not a TP-Link shill (I am running a NetGear R7000 as my main router right now). I just seem to find some pretty good values in their lineup. Just about any router with the right specs can be an AP. In fact, I have owned a couple of dedicated APs in the past (Linksys and D-Link) and I have found that I get better performance from a router that has been set up as an AP for less money. Most anything from NetGear, Asus, TP-Link, D-Link, TrendNet and Buffalo will work just fine. Linksys will probably be OK, too but I am leery since they were purchased by Belkin. There are others out there that will work, too, I just like to stick with the first 5 brands I mentioned because they simply seem to be more consistent and have better track records than other brands across their lineups. If you want tip-tip performance you can always look into the Unifi APs. I've never used one but I don't think anyone will argue that they are top of the line when it comes to Access Points.

 

[Sderci]

Thanks again. I'm going to pick up 2 of the C7 routers and use them as access points. I'll let you know how things work!