Need help 'designing' a home network solution for my house

jeked

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Aug 30, 2011
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Hi all,

My family is one of 7 people and as such, with all of us now having several wireless devices our existing network is reaching its use by date.

I have uploaded a couple of visio-turned-PDF files and added links for them below. They contain our existing network and what I am looking at implementing.

What I need help with is two-fold:
1. If there are glaring problems on the proposed network, please let me know and advise or a possile solution.

2. (More important?) I am not sure what brand and models I should be using for the Router, Switch and APs.

Router: single point of throughfare for all internet traffic.

Switch: 12 or 16 port GB switch for high speed internal network speed. Used from streaming media from file server and LAN gaming.

Access point 1: Just a wireless network. AC preferable but not requried, will service a minimum of 5 but possibly anywhere up to 20 wireless devices at any one time (no including guests)

Access point 2: Just for slow internet access in back room, doesn't require any bell and whistles but would be nice to have a couple of lan ports if possible built in.

The network has a combination of BSD, Mac and Windows (plus random media server software but meh) if this is relevant.

Please feel free to ask any questions if you need more information and lok forward to any help you can provide.

Existing Network PDF: http://speedy.sh/BPeJ5/Existing-Net-Diag.pdf
Proposed Network PDF: http://speedy.sh/r6X2x/Proposed-Net-Diag.pdf
 
Solution
I think your proposed design looks good. Now realize there are many ways to do what you want, and everyone has different hardware they like. So you may get a bunch of different answers to this question, but here is what I would do (in fact many of the things I propose I actually have done in my home network).
I would put most of your money into your primary WAP. You have many devices that are wireless and this will be the bottleneck in your design. Most consumer AP’s will not even connect more than 20 devices and most consumer AP’s will start coughing when you have just 4 or 5 heavy devices in use. So I would go with a Pro level AP. One of the vendors I use and am very familiar with is Ubiquiti. Thus for the AP I would...

jeked

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Aug 30, 2011
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18,510


Hi thanks for reply.

I understand basics, player around with Cisco technology before, vlans, trunking, but want to keep it as simple as possible.

Budget is shall we say $1000 for the router switch and ap1 but cheaper the better without compromising too much.

If this isnt feasable let me know what would be.
 
I think your proposed design looks good. Now realize there are many ways to do what you want, and everyone has different hardware they like. So you may get a bunch of different answers to this question, but here is what I would do (in fact many of the things I propose I actually have done in my home network).
I would put most of your money into your primary WAP. You have many devices that are wireless and this will be the bottleneck in your design. Most consumer AP’s will not even connect more than 20 devices and most consumer AP’s will start coughing when you have just 4 or 5 heavy devices in use. So I would go with a Pro level AP. One of the vendors I use and am very familiar with is Ubiquiti. Thus for the AP I would recommend either the UAP-AC ($300), or the UAP-Pro ($210). Both are simultaneous dual band 2.5ghz and 5ghz, but the Pro is the older N technology and does not support AC (but still a very good AP). Another nice thing about these AP’s is that they allow for a separate visitor SSID and network without having to use multiple VLANs (though they do support multiple VLANs and multiple SSID’s).
Now for the router. Since you have a little bit of networking knowledge I would recommend the Ubiquiti Edgerouter Lite. It is also Pro Level gear but has a very good price ($100). It is not the easiest thing to set up (though with the newest OS it has wizards that will do most of the setup for you), but it is extremely fast and rock solid. It should go months if not years without a reboot. Also it can do almost anything which will give you options in the future, like creating VLANs, setting up a VPN server so you can access your network while away, etc.
One thing I did not ask is what speed internet connection do you have? If you use the Edgerouter Lite it does not really matter as it can route at near gigabit speeds. But if you decide to go with a consumer router you will need to make sure it can route at least as fast as your internet connection.
Okay for your switch. For home use I really like TP-Link switches. I have had extremely good luck with them (both managed and unmanaged) and the price can’t be beat. For your setup I would recommend a smart (managed) switch. At first you can use it just like a dumb switch (plug it in and go). But it has the ability to do VLAN’s, port aggregation, and has graphs and counters so you can see port usage. It also has diagnostic tools built in to help you identify where there might be a problem on your network. It looks like you will want at least a 16 Port switch. So a TP-link TL-SG2216 16 port switch would be $140. If you wanted to go with a few more ports for expansion, the 24 port in that series is the TL-SG2424 for $170. Those switches are gigabit switches.
Now for the second WAP could you just use your Dlink DIR-632A? I did notice it only had 10/100 ports on the back and not Gigabit. Did not know if you really need Gigabit speeds there. If you need Gigabit wired ports there, but the Dir-632A is fine for wireless, I would just put in a small, unmanaged Gigabit switch, like a TP-Link TL-SG105 ($30).
Anyway for the AC WAP, Router and 16Port switch it would be about $540. You could save money by not getting a managed switch, it’s up to you.
 
Solution

jeked

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Aug 30, 2011
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Hi again,

Sorry for the late reply, missed your reply to my question in my inbox.

I understand the bottleneck will be the WAP so thank you for putting and emphasis on this section. Also re: your assumption for the 2nd AP indeed it is mainly for local traffic so 10/100 will be fine for both wired and wireless.

I'll stick with the 16port switch as I don't THINK we will be expanding the wired network much more than it already is. In fact the opposite is more likely in the next 5 years I think.

Thank you for you detailed and well thought out answer. I appreciate the exact models you have gone through the effort to provide as that is what I was looking for.

Kind regards and much appreciation,
JohnC.