Need some ideas for a network setup

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DeathSmasher

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Apr 14, 2006
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Here is my current task. Please excuse my lack of knowledge about networking. I have a dsl modem i want to make it where i can wireless connect 3 laptops an have 2 wired connections. I would like the signal to be good throughout the entire house which is approximately 2500sqft. Thanks for all your advice an recommendations. Brian
 
modem > dd-wrt flashed wireless router > wired computers

Without much more detail (i.e. floor plan) I can't tell you where you want everything to go.
 
So the only piece of hardware i would need to purchase is a "dd-wrt flashed wireless router" Can you recommend one for me please. Also would i want the router in a central position of the house and what kind of range can i expect?
 
Honestly, I doubt the OP is going to need/use a router with DD-WRT from the tone of his post. The transmission power adjustment would be nice to have but if he's not sure how to set up a small home wireless network then we probably shouldn't be having him flashing his router just yet.

DeathSmasher: the range of the wireless depends upon the type of wireless that your laptops are set up to use. If they are newer laptops, they might support Wireless N (Draft N really) which is the longest range home wireless currently available. It has about a 300 ft range, but for reliable communication, you should consider it to be about 150 feet from where the router will be located. Wireless G or Wireless B, which most laptops more than a couple years old are compatible with, is about half that range, 150 max feet, or 75 feet or so for reliable communication. Of course, this does not take into consideration the materials (large metal objects particularly) in the house which may have a large negative impact upon the strength of the signal.

I'd suggest going to the store, buying a Wireless N router, one that is dual-band if possible. Get a name brand router; personally I prefer Linksys. Connect the DSL modem to the WAN port on the router, and connect the wired computers to the numbered ports on the router.

The Wireless N router should, by default, be automatically be configured to use whichever type of wireless your laptops support. If you find that your laptops are using wireless B or G, you may want to consider having those wireless adapters upgraded to Wireless N for better range, or having a wireless repeater (commonly referred to as a Range Expander) installed at the other end of the house from the router to extend the range of your wireless network.

I would highly recommend securing your wireless network so your neighbors don't abuse it... just google how to secure a wireless network and make sure you use WPA2 as your encryption standard.
 
DeathSmasher said:
Here is my current task. Please excuse my lack of knowledge about networking.
Click to expand...
This is the first thing that you need to work on. Before you can take any recommendations seriously you need to arm yourself with knowledge.
 
xphile has a point, we could tell you how to do everything, but you wouldn't learn anything. If anything were to go wrong, you wouldn't know how to go about fixing the problem. Use this opportunity to learn more about networking and you'll be able to make good choices and resolve your own technical problems further down the road.
 
xphil, xphil he's our man, if he can't do it... noone can!

Like Electrofreak said. Use this opportunity to learn networking. Maybe I did jump the gun by referring him to flashing the router.
 
I'm in IT, but I kinda disagree. I don't think it's necessary to learn all about networking in order to enjoy the fruits. If you're interested, great, but if you just want it to work, get help from those in the know. That's how a community works. Just my opinion. There's a lot of good suggestions in this thread to get him started, especially in electrofreak's post. Just keep asking good questions, OP. :)

By the way, the router you choose will either allow megabit or gigabit wired connections. Megabit is fine for 99% of users, but if you have gigabit NIC's in the wired machines, you might consider spending a bit more to get a wireless router with gigabit ports to allow faster file transfers between all of the computers. It won't affect internet speeds though.
 
Well the primary thing worth pointing out is that the first 2 routers on your list have Gigabit ports, which mean they support 1000 megabits per second (125 megabytes per second) transfer speeds between your wired computers (provided you're using Cat5e cables or better), and allow your wireless connections to really use the full potential bandwidth of Wireless N.

The last link, the Linksys WRT400N, has only a 100 megabit per second (12.5 megabytes per second) wired transfer capability. So you'll see much slower file transfers between wired devices. None of this really matters though unless you're copying large files and transferring them between computers regularly. For example, your actual internet connection is probably between 10 megabit and 15 megabit, which is only a fraction of what a "slow" 100 megabit network can manage. Thus, Gigabit is entirely overkill unless you find yourself regularly moving large files between computers.

I found myself wishing for Gigabit yesterday; routinely (as in, daily) my girlfriend downloads / rips large files and then transfers them from one computer to the other on our network. She didn't like having to wait 25 minutes for a file to finish being copied over from one computer to another (even though I keep telling her just to remote into the computer she wants it on to begin with and download it there!) But, my network is running on a business-grade Cisco router and switch, which, while allowing me to study for my Cisco certifications, are the slower 100 megabit devices. I can't really complain though, the switch was a gift and has been a great learning tool.

But for your sake, unless all you do is use the net and/or play online games, I'd go with one of the Gigabit routers. Remember, only large file transfers between computers on your network will actually make use of Gigabit speed; it will do nothing for your internet connection speed or online gaming ping times (unless you want to start splitting milliseconds). Personally, I would choose the Linksys, but that's just because I've had a few problems with D-Link in the past. I suppose I've had the occasional issue with Linksys products too, but in those cases it's been with non-routing hardware.
 
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To the OP: You won't need a switch unless the router does not come with enough ports to connect all your computers. Think of a switch as a device that lets you add more devices to the network. In reality it's a bit more complicated since there are some important differences between routers and switches, but Wikipedia can explain that should you be interested in learning.

The poster above has 100 megabit ports on the router, but is using a gigabit switch plugged into that router, with his wired computers plugged into the switch, allowing all of the computers plugged into the switch to communicate with eachother at gigabit speeds. Basically, anything plugged into a switch can communicate with anything else plugged into a switch without having to use the router. Of course, they still need to talk to the router through the switch if they want to connect to the internet or anything connected to the wireless on the router.

This is important to point out because, if you wish, you could get the 100 megabit router and then just get a gigabit switch some day if you feel like going to Gigabit. It is a cheaper solution, for the time being at least. The only downside is that with that configuration, any file transfers between wired and wireless devices using the Wireless N connection will be limited to 100 megabit speeds. This could also be rectified in the future by connecting a wireless N access point (like a wireless router, but basically just the wireless part) to the switch, but that kind of defeats the point of getting a nice Wireless N dual-band router to begin with.

One last thing worth pointing out: a computer can only use gigabit if it has a gigabit port at the computer as well... no sense in setting up a gigabit network if your computers don't have gigabit ports. Most computers made within the last 5 years or so that have network ports built into the motherboard should be gigabit capable however.
 
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Electro, good eye, I should have been more elaborate and explained myself. Also, OP, Elcctro hit the nail on the head. If you dont have gig wired PC's, the switch is a waste of money. I would just go with a simple router all by itself. on the other hand....if you DO have gig (or are considering it, remember, 1000Mhz or better cpu is considered to take full advantage of it , although I have not tested or coinfirmed that theory, maybe others have more/better info) the combo I linked is a good way to do it. That way, if somehow I lose a piece of equipment, its less costly to replace a $45 router or $34 switch versus a $125 router.gig switch combo.

I cant comment on wireless N as I havent fooled with it. I understand its kind of buggy ( anyone confirm or deny??)

My setup has my servers and main PC on my gig switch. My networked printer and some older pc's are on the router ports.
 
That, and if you're running computers with old drives (like, IDE, or laptop drives), they won't even read/write fast enough to fill a gigabit connection. There's a few bottlenecks in the actual PC hardware that can limit the usefulness of a gig network to be considered.
 
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