Network layout for a duplex

Waffles on 15/10/2013 - 09:30

Hi Everyone,

I'm about to live in a 3 level duplex after a long time in flats. As a network tech I'm interested in how to get the whole place to have decent wifi reception and would love some input.

I currently have a bob2 which I don't think will reach from the phone connection at the front of the house right through to the rest of it. I'm thinking having another router to repeat midway through the house or perhaps using the network through power option (which I know is slow, but probably reliable and fast enough).

Also I'm thinking it might be time to decouple router from modem so I can have decent inter-house speeds.

Finally a question about relaying: If I have a 2.4ghz router broadcasting a connection can a 2.4+5ghz router relay that or will the extra frequency start to muck things up as it doesn't match the original? If I have to skip the 5ghz can anyone comment on how much of an issue that might be?

Cheers.

Computing

Comments

  • geek001 on 15/10/2013 - 10:41

    Hi ewanw,

    I am not sure if my situation will work in your case, but I can share my experience. I have a fairly long house and my adsl port is at one end of the house in the study and my bedroom is at the other end of the house. So, I get pretty crappy wifi reception from my ADSL wifi router in my bedroom.

    I tried to have a repeater(a wifi AP running dd-wrt) running in the middle of the house, but the connection is
    patchy at best, not sure if that is related to the quality of my routers bought from OzB, :) and wifi speeds halves when you use a repeater. There is also a noticeable latency maybe because the traffic has to go through 2 wifi routers.

    I have since bought a pair of EOP adapters instead. Speed-wise, there is not much improvement, but at least there isn't a lag anymore, and the connection seemed more stable. What I mean by stable is I stream media over the network and it seems that there is less random buffering.

  • ESEMCE on 15/10/2013 - 11:44

    5GHz wont interfere with 2.4GHz, that's the point of 5GHz..
    It will have lower range than the 2.4GHz though.

    I used a WRT54GL running DD-WRT as a Wireless Bridge/Extender in a 2 level house with 1 foot thick stone walls to good effect.
    Modem was on the second level and the WRT-54GL gave good, reliable signal to the lower level.
    However, that was 5 years ago before EoP was cheap and "reliable".. Nowadays, I'd do it with EoP, or preferably with Ethernet Cable. You can buy slim Ethernet cable that runs nice and discreet along Skirting Boards.

  • macrocephalic on 15/10/2013 - 12:08

    Use some EOP adapters attached to WAP's throughout the house. Speed won't be excellent, but in my experience the only way to guarantee speed is to cable it.

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