Advice needed for my new home network setup

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linzheng

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May 27, 2013
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My new house will start construction around March 2016.
It is a 2 story house(about 430 square metre indoor excluding garage) with a 80 square metre underground garage(concrete suspended ceiling underneath office and media room)


Devices I'm currently using:
20Mbps/1Mbps ADSL2+
Synology DS713+, uploads a few GBs of RAW photo and 4K video occasionally between 12AM- 6AM
Asus AC68U router with Tomato firmware
D-link 2890AL as modem only
TP-link range extender for upstairs

This current setup works pretty well when it's just me and my wife with about 10-15 devices connected(phone, tablet, PC, laptop, NAS, game console, and a few stream boxes).
Whenever my parents or in-law come to visit a few weeks each year(about 10 additional devices), the whole network runs really slow even if no one is uploading or downloading anything.

Devices I have now bought for new house:
HikVision DS-7616NI 8 channel POE NVR with 6 cameras around the house.
Fibaro Home Centre 2 with multiple relay,dimmer, roller shutter, door sensor and 4in1 ,motion sensor.(Z-wave)
New house will have 100Mbps/20Mbps NBN connection.

Now, I need some advice on how to build a consistent/stable network for my new house which also allows me to reliably access the NVR and Fibaro through WAN.

What I have in mind:
Cat 6 in every room, and connect every device that has a Ethernet port.
Ruckus R700??? Works really well with lots of devices according to Lines Tech Tips, but software can be pain in the @ss?. Advice needed.
A 16 port switch. Need advice on which one to get.
Ideally, I'd like to have all above mentioned devices in the garage so all the cable mess is hidden.
Is it a good idea to have multiple AP or range extender so the whole house is covered? Which ones?

Cheers,
Lin
 
Solution
kanewolf


Switches are all pretty similar. You might not think of...
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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May 29, 2013
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If you have having cable installed, look at structured cable. It is a single pull with coax, and two cat5e cables. -- Like Belden 7876S.
broadbandutopia_2262_42594249
The biggest cost is the labor to pull the cable. By having everything as a single pull the labor is minimized. Bring all this back to a structured wiring panel in the basement. Add a 24 port gigabit switch (managed maybe). Use your Asus router as the primary router. Add WIFI access points on each floor for WIFI coverage.
 
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linzheng

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May 27, 2013
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Thanks for the reply, structured wiring panel is something I never thought of and sounds like a great idea!
What switch and AP do you recommend?
 
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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Switches are all pretty similar. You might not think of them, but Dell actually has reasonably priced switches. A managed switch will let you take advantage of the multiple ethernet ports on the Synology for link aggregation.

The Ubiquiti UniFi access points are intended to work as a system. If you use something like this, you will want a POE (power over ethernet) capable switch to power the access points. Ubiquiti has them also.

You may also want to think about having one or more OUTDOOR access points to cover your yard/pool/garage etc.
 
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linzheng

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May 27, 2013
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Really appreciate your advice. Based on it, I've narrowed down
AP: 3-5 x Ubiquiti AP AC PRO or 3-5 x Apple Airport Extreme (they are about the same price in Australia, and Airport extreme yields better speed according to this review.
Switch: Ubiquiti Edgeswitch 48 port POE 500W (other switch like Cisco SG200 does not support Ubiquiti AP), and future proof myself in case I want the security cameras connected to it as well
Router: Keep my current Asus with Tomato firware, Ubiquiti Security Gateway or any other router that's capable of bandwidth limiting per IP?

One thing I'm still confused after many days of research is what's the difference of managing connected devices through AP, switch and router in a home environment?
For example, my Asus router can limit bandwidth of each device connected, so does the Ubiquiti APs(only devices connected wirelessly through guest SSID) and Ubiquiti switch(only devices connected through ethernet).

Bandwidth limiting is a key feature I need in my setup, while tomato firmware can do it, I found it doesn't work 100% of the time. Do you have any suggestions on a router that can handle such task better?
 
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kanewolf

kanewolf

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Rate shaping is the technical term. And it is always a difficult problem. Since I assume you only want to rate shape WAN bandwidth, it seems to me the best place to do it is at the WAN gateway. That can be your router or you could look at building a pfSense firewall to be your WAN gateway. Otherwise I would probably stick with the ASUS.

A 48 port switch is a lot of ports, but if you are 2/3 full on a 24 port, it is probably the better answer.

Documentation is the next hurdle. Get a good label maker, and a mid priced ($100-$200) ethernet tester. You will want some kind of tester that will let you put a remote in one room and the main unit in another to trace cables.
 
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