ISP and network planning

[paperwastage]

Right now, my friends and I are living in Baltimore 21210...

Locally, there is Comcast(12Mb/2Mb) and Verizon DSL(1Mb/384kb).

We actually have 3 apartments among 8 people, around 13 devices(mix of b/g/n devices). Two of them are next to each other(dry wall separating the apartments), and the third one is in the building next door (about 75 feet away, maybe 4-6 walls plus exterior wall). The modem is most likely put in the 2-apartment area.

I currently have 2 (crappy) Netgear/Verzion-branded b/g routers that lag under multiple devices, so that won't work... also had a Netgear N-router that i bricked trying to update to DD-WRT

Should I go with a really good residential N-router, or look for a used Cisco Commercial router?

1) try to work with just one really good router in the 2-apartment positioned as best as possible for the third apartment. Wireless N with b/g fallback, better range but no speed increases
2) try to work with one really good router in the 2-apartment, directional antenna N-link with an access point in the third apartment(so this is like the 'backbone'). I will use my existing 2 routers to create hotspots in each of the two areas.

 

[cymon]

Step 1. See if your ISP's Terms of Service will allow you to resell or split the bill.

Cisco commercial router would be good. That way, you can isolate each apartment so that when they get viruses, it doesn't trash your whole network. With 8 users, you'll need to consider how much bandwidth they are going to use. The last thing you want is a bunch of people fighting over why the Internet connection is so slow--meaning that you, as the 'IT guy', has to resolve that. Cisco's got an excellent QoS implementation that will allow you to dedicate a certain amount of bandwidth to each apartment, perhaps based off how much they pay. Or, if there are any gamers on the network, you can dedicate a certain amount of bandwidth to games. Look on cablesandkits.com and see if you can find a 3600/3700 with two ethernet interfaces. I would have FastEthernet0/0 be your WAN link (that plugs into the modem), and FastEthernet0/1.1-1.3 be your LAN interfaces (one for each apartment). You will need a managed switch to do that, something like the Netgear GS108T will suffice at the low end.

Is it easy? No. But it's the best solution (but the most expensive), and the people around here can help you out with the configuration.

Alternatively, you can set up an old computer with a few NICs in it to run Untangle or pfSense, this might be the preferred option depending on PC hardware availability.

 

[paperwastage]

Step 1. See if your ISP's Terms of Service will allow you to resell or split the bill.

Cisco commercial router would be good. That way, you can isolate each apartment so that when they get viruses, it doesn't trash your whole network. With 8 users, you'll need to consider how much bandwidth they are going to use. The last thing you want is a bunch of people fighting over why the Internet connection is so slow--meaning that you, as the 'IT guy', has to resolve that. Cisco's got an excellent QoS implementation that will allow you to dedicate a certain amount of bandwidth to each apartment, perhaps based off how much they pay. Or, if there are any gamers on the network, you can dedicate a certain amount of bandwidth to games. Look on cablesandkits.com and see if you can find a 3600/3700 with two ethernet interfaces. I would have FastEthernet0/0 be your WAN link (that plugs into the modem), and FastEthernet0/1.1-1.3 be your LAN interfaces (one for each apartment). You will need a managed switch to do that, something like the Netgear GS108T will suffice at the low end.

Is it easy? No. But it's the best solution (but the most expensive), and the people around here can help you out with the configuration.

Alternatively, you can set up an old computer with a few NICs in it to run Untangle or pfSense, this might be the preferred option depending on PC hardware availability.

a) my desktop is probably going to run 24/7... MythTV on Ubuntu with a TV tuner(might add more tuners if I get cable)... currently just pulling in 6 OTA ATSC channels), and a Brother USB laser printer(HL 2140) that I want to share with all 8 people... also want to share the recorded TV content with everyone

-splitting the bill

either way, i want to have a stable b/g/n connection to the 3rd apartment. I want to be able to stream recorded programs(and other content) when I'm over their apartment... wireless N seems to be the only way to stream HD content ... also, I want to share my printer with all 8 people... kinda bad opening up my CUPS port out of my modem...

-computer with NIC

i actually looked into that last year. did research on the wireless card needed(you need one that does MASTER mode). I got a Belkin F5D8001 card that i though would work, but it doesn't... I actually want to try it again.. .looking at a TL-WN951N PCI card that says it has infrastructure support, and ath9k drivers for ubuntu that allow it to act as an AP

thanks for your help... I still have 3 more months to think about stuff before school starts again(and all 8 people will be there)... might try the NIC idea again and see what happens...(my desktop's most likely to be on 24/7 because it has a TV tuner and printer shared among the 8 of us)

 

[cymon]

If you're going to use pfSense/Untangle those run on a dedicated computer. So that computer would only be serving as your router. You've mentioned that you have a few wireless devices. If you want a wireless N connection between apartment 1 and apartment 3, that's possible, just set up the router as a bridge (turn off DHCP on it, change its LAN IP to something correct for the network, and plug into the LAN port). If you run separate networks for each apartment, you wouldn't open up CUPS to the whole internet, just to the other apartment networks.

 

[paperwastage]

If you're going to use pfSense/Untangle those run on a dedicated computer. So that computer would only be serving as your router. You've mentioned that you have a few wireless devices. If you want a wireless N connection between apartment 1 and apartment 3, that's possible, just set up the router as a bridge (turn off DHCP on it, change its LAN IP to something correct for the network, and plug into the LAN port). If you run separate networks for each apartment, you wouldn't open up CUPS to the whole internet, just to the other apartment networks.

i was thinking more along the lines of

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/WirelessAccessPoint

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/ChillispotHotspot

or i could get the $77 Asus RT-N16 from http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=2050974 which looks pretty good... 32MB ROM, 128MB RAM, 480mhz processor... ... decisions, decisions, decisions