Advanced Home Networking Questions

[Vader]

Ok....I need your expertise for a few questions that I have:

Situation: A friend of mine is building a fairly large home, over 3000 square feet. He is having the majority of his rooms wired for CAT5e. Everything will run out of a makeshift data closet in the basement. He wants a fast sercured network with these abilities:

1. Wireless "G" Great Reception throughout the house and immediately outside on his deck, near the pool etc. Secured wireless is a must, without killing the bandwidth.

2. Fast Gigabit speed wired network to stream video/audio throughout the house. His security system stores data on a storage server and requires optimal bandwidth.

3. Parental Controls of internet usage is a must, ie Time Limitations of Internet usage per user, nasty site blockage, etc. Logs of internet usage as well.

4. Firewall. Pretty beefy firewall without too much configuration. The user is a programmer, doesn't know much about how hardware works or how to configure..etc. Wants it secure but not to the point that requires him to interact with the Firewall software to allow him to do certian things.


5. Remote Adminstration of his network. I will be required to connect to his network remotely to help him with some configs, troubleshoot, etc.

6. Price: He does not want to break the bank here so let's keep it mediocre. Obviously no cheap crap but no CISCO 6509 Gig switches neither.

Please lmk your recommendations. This should be fun!

Thanks!

 

[Taje]

Here is what I would consider if cost and somewhat user friendly issues are at hand...

1. Linksys WAP54GX http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...849913&pagename=Linksys/Common/VisitorWrapper
I would bridge another access point on another floor also for greater range.

2. Linksys EG008W http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...906341&pagename=Linksys/Common/VisitorWrapper
If he will have more than eight cable runs then maybe Linksys SR2016 http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...180036&pagename=Linksys/Common/VisitorWrapper

3. Linksys BEFSR11 http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...832017&pagename=Linksys/Common/VisitorWrapper
(or get the WRT54GX http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Sate...825933&pagename=Linksys/Common/VisitorWrapper and merge option 1 and 3 and restrict etc. users via the router)

4. Use the built in with the router or for the sake of ease a lower end sonicwall or linux box)

5. Assuming he has atleast one XP or 2000 machine set up port forwarding and use remote desktop or terminal services with a non standard port for remote connections.

6. I am a fan of Linksys and have had maybe 1 out of every 10 devices I use either fail or cause issues. For the sake of cost and ease Linksys, D-link or Netgear may be the way to go for a home user and waht you have described. If the budget is a little higher then I would go with a little more higher end on some of the equipment. That is my opinion.

 

[penguin]

For 3 I would just set up a proxy server box and block all the other computers from ports 80 and 443 in your router, basically only allowing the proxy server to access the web. I know there are filtering proxies out there, just haven't had a chance to look at any (Besides, I'm 15 - I'm not about to start filtering my internet Seriously, too many legit websites (That aren't pr0n) get blocked)