How to improve my wireless performance at home

[wachuko]

This is what I currently have:

In the home office:

Cable->Motorola Surfboard SB6121 Cable Modem-> Apple Time Capsule (1TB)

Then, to extend the coverage, I have an Apple AirportExpress in the Living Room, Apple AirportExpress in the Master Bedroom.

Problems I have:

1. I have the need for more wired connections than the Apple Time Capsule provides. I need 7 connections, only 4 provided by the Time Capsule
2. Bonus rooom (only room upstairs) has no wireless network coverage
3. Part of the reason for building a new PC is to be able to use it as a media server/game machine and I want to be able to have good performance when streaming to the different devices (AppleTV, Roku, Netflix devices, etc.)

What are my options for improving what I have?

Research so far:

1. Use a switch between the Surfboard and connect the equipment in the office to that switch along with the Time Capsule.
2. Use a Netgear Powerline 500 WiFi Access Point from the Home Office to the Upstairs Bedroom.

Is there a better setup that I should go after?

Should I have two networks? One for the streaming of movies/music to the TV and Streaming devices? And one for the computers to connect to the net??? If so, how do I set that up? What components would you recommend?

 

[john-b691]

Your plan look solid. You should have no issues running with a single network.
I hope you are not using the airport express boxes as wireless repeaters. It will work but it works much better to use them as AP and cable them back to your switch. Running just 1 repeater cuts the speed in half. Now with 2 you take the risk of them interfering with each other even more.

Putting a wireless repeater in the same room as the end devices many times decreases the performance. You would have to test but you many times are better off using a weaker direct signal than dealing with all the overhead of a repeater. Normally repeaters are put 1/2 way between the main router and the end device.

The only other thing you may want to look into is separating your 802.11g and 802.11n devices. This will let the n devices run at the higher speeds but this only works if you can disable the backward compatibility support in your router. Dual band router to a point do this since pretty much 5g only runs N (you still need to set the option to get the advantage). Otherwise most people run multiple AP on different channels one for all the old stuff and another for the newer N equipment. Now if you were really to send lots and lots of video and could exceed a single wireless channel so you could run multiple wireless channels so you could get more bandwidth..I would not worry about this unless you actually experience a problem.

 

[wachuko]

I am using the Airport Express to extend the wireless network. Without them the signal in my bedroom and the Family room is just too weak. In the bedroom I have the blu-ray player connected to it to be able to see Netflix without problems. Same goes for the Family room setup. Two of the rooms also have AppleTVs that without them would simply not work right.

Not sure if it would be better to replace the Time Capsule with a better wireless unit....??? Something like the ASUS ASUS RT-AC66U Dual-Band Wireless-AC1750 Gigabit Router to improve signal strength and coverage. Or move the Time Capsule outside the office...I don't know, but I need to improve signal strength for the rest of the house... The Time Capsule has been extremely reliable...just need better coverage.

Thank you for your post. I will look into testing the additional recommendations provided.

Your plan look solid. You should have no issues running with a single network.
I hope you are not using the airport express boxes as wireless repeaters. It will work but it works much better to use them as AP and cable them back to your switch. Running just 1 repeater cuts the speed in half. Now with 2 you take the risk of them interfering with each other even more.

Putting a wireless repeater in the same room as the end devices many times decreases the performance. You would have to test but you many times are better off using a weaker direct signal than dealing with all the overhead of a repeater. Normally repeaters are put 1/2 way between the main router and the end device.

The only other thing you may want to look into is separating your 802.11g and 802.11n devices. This will let the n devices run at the higher speeds but this only works if you can disable the backward compatibility support in your router. Dual band router to a point do this since pretty much 5g only runs N (you still need to set the option to get the advantage). Otherwise most people run multiple AP on different channels one for all the old stuff and another for the newer N equipment. Now if you were really to send lots and lots of video and could exceed a single wireless channel so you could run multiple wireless channels so you could get more bandwidth..I would not worry about this unless you actually experience a problem.

 

[john-b691]

I would prefer the asus n66u if you are going to get a new device. The 802.11AC is not a standard yet so everything on the market is the vendors best guess. Just like all the PRE-N stuff that came out you run the risk that it will not be compatible once the standard is fixed. Besides it does no good to run AC if all your equipment cannot run AC it will just slow down to N or even G if you have G devices.

I can't see how a repeater in the same room as the end device make it run any faster than a direct connection. Weak signal in wireless generally means it negotiates a slower speed and it gets more errors. So say the signal is only good enough for 4m. You get 4m to the repeater or 4m to the end device. Now the repeater has to retransmit the signal. It cannot transmit and receive at the same time. You have to get less than 4m so even though the signal level shows stronger on the end device the thoughput is less. Generally you place a repeater 1/2 between. Then it could say get 20m and repeat it giving say 10-15m at the end device rather than 4. It could be the antennas on the end deives not being as good as the repeaters antenna. In this case the repeater gets better signal and can repeat it but this is mostly because the end device is not as good as is should be.

I guess if its working for you then leave it alone.

Moving the time capsule to a different location to test would probably be a good idea. You would then get a better idea what what blocking your signal. There are lots of post on this forum where people complain that their wireless does not work at certain times of day and it turns out that someone went to bed and closed a door and that blocked the signal.

If you can do it you are much better off using a AP cabled to the main router than a repeater to extend the signal. Although a AP is not a repeater it is doing the same function but since it is using ethernet for the main connection there is competition for the wireless. Even if you only extend the cables into a hallway it might help. Wireless design tends to be almost a black art when you try to do it without all kinds of fancy signal strength meters

 

[wachuko]

John,

The Airport Express cannot be hardwired to the Time Capsule.

If going with the ASUS N66U, how would you recommend I setup the wireless network? What would you recommend for APs?

Thank you again for your recommendations.

I would prefer the asus n66u if you are going to get a new device. The 802.11AC is not a standard yet so everything on the market is the vendors best guess. Just like all the PRE-N stuff that came out you run the risk that it will not be compatible once the standard is fixed. Besides it does no good to run AC if all your equipment cannot run AC it will just slow down to N or even G if you have G devices.

I can't see how a repeater in the same room as the end device make it run any faster than a direct connection. Weak signal in wireless generally means it negotiates a slower speed and it gets more errors. So say the signal is only good enough for 4m. You get 4m to the repeater or 4m to the end device. Now the repeater has to retransmit the signal. It cannot transmit and receive at the same time. You have to get less than 4m so even though the signal level shows stronger on the end device the thoughput is less. Generally you place a repeater 1/2 between. Then it could say get 20m and repeat it giving say 10-15m at the end device rather than 4. It could be the antennas on the end deives not being as good as the repeaters antenna. In this case the repeater gets better signal and can repeat it but this is mostly because the end device is not as good as is should be.

I guess if its working for you then leave it alone.

Moving the time capsule to a different location to test would probably be a good idea. You would then get a better idea what what blocking your signal. There are lots of post on this forum where people complain that their wireless does not work at certain times of day and it turns out that someone went to bed and closed a door and that blocked the signal.

If you can do it you are much better off using a AP cabled to the main router than a repeater to extend the signal. Although a AP is not a repeater it is doing the same function but since it is using ethernet for the main connection there is competition for the wireless. Even if you only extend the cables into a hallway it might help. Wireless design tends to be almost a black art when you try to do it without all kinds of fancy signal strength meters

 

[john-b691]

Unless you want to do PoE stuff real AP tend to not be cost effective. Any router that you can disable the DHCP on can be a AP by cabling lan-lan even if it does not have a true AP option. Pretty much you look for a cheap router that has good radio features like mimo support and maybe external antenna.

Its tough to say since the time capsule box does much more than just router function so you kinda need to keep it. Normally I would use the Asus as the main router. I tend to be a little biased on the n66u since it has so much memory on it and you can run the largest dd-wrt images and run some things that are closer to server function on it. But that is a feature a tech geek likes and not always the best for someone who just wants a box that works with no tweeking. The key feature it has is that you can replace the antenna with slightly larger ones and increase the coverage. How well it works depends on your house but I know I have removed the antennas completely when I was testing stuff and it actually had more signal that I wanted. It was detectable outside.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
So I get to this point and I realize I am all wrong on this. For some reason I did not realize the cable modem was JUST a modem and I was thinking your time capsule box somehow just did the wireless and the modem was a router

You cannot place a switch after the modem...well you can but they will charge you for the IP addresses. You must put a router of some kind in between. This would mean your time capsule box needs to go there. In this case I would place the asus router in between modem and switch and use the time capsule box mostly as a disk storage device and plugging it in lan-lan to the new router. You could leave the wireless on the time capsule and use it as a AP. This all depends on where you can physically place things.

If you could find a way to centrally locate your time capsule and then run a cable back to the switch you may be able to just use it and not buy another router.

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[wachuko]

John,

Happy to report that everything has improved significantly after moving the Time Capsule to the outside of the office (installed it on the top of the doorway entry), hardwired to the switch (Cisco-Linksys SE2800 - 8-port Gigabyte switch). So much now that I now have WiFi coverage on the second floor...so computer and blu-ray have good signal to work and stream movies.

Since I had already ordered the Netgear 500 Powerline, I will use that now in the garage to be able to have access to a connected computer for when looking up stuff in the car forums.

Thank you again for your help... this thread is now resolved!!! BTW, here is an updated version of diagram:

Unless you want to do PoE stuff real AP tend to not be cost effective. Any router that you can disable the DHCP on can be a AP by cabling lan-lan even if it does not have a true AP option. Pretty much you look for a cheap router that has good radio features like mimo support and maybe external antenna.

Its tough to say since the time capsule box does much more than just router function so you kinda need to keep it. Normally I would use the Asus as the main router. I tend to be a little biased on the n66u since it has so much memory on it and you can run the largest dd-wrt images and run some things that are closer to server function on it. But that is a feature a tech geek likes and not always the best for someone who just wants a box that works with no tweeking. The key feature it has is that you can replace the antenna with slightly larger ones and increase the coverage. How well it works depends on your house but I know I have removed the antennas completely when I was testing stuff and it actually had more signal that I wanted. It was detectable outside.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
So I get to this point and I realize I am all wrong on this. For some reason I did not realize the cable modem was JUST a modem and I was thinking your time capsule box somehow just did the wireless and the modem was a router

You cannot place a switch after the modem...well you can but they will charge you for the IP addresses. You must put a router of some kind in between. This would mean your time capsule box needs to go there. In this case I would place the asus router in between modem and switch and use the time capsule box mostly as a disk storage device and plugging it in lan-lan to the new router. You could leave the wireless on the time capsule and use it as a AP. This all depends on where you can physically place things.

If you could find a way to centrally locate your time capsule and then run a cable back to the switch you may be able to just use it and not buy another router.

Sorry for the confusion.