Upgrading WLAN / LAN Equipment for better speed and coverage.

[spasme]

Hey guys!

I'm interested in upgrading my home network for better speed and coverage.

Below is a diagram of the equipment's layout.

The Gaming PC, Server and TV in the living room are connected to the switch, and the laptops are using the wireless from the Linksys and the TV in the bedroom is connected through the Power-line adapter - i cannot get a cable to the bedroom because of the bathrooms, there is no place to hide it, i cannot drill through the bathroom walls.

The problems:
- my router is 802.11g and the laptop is only 802.11b class so 1.2MB/s is just not enough anymore.
- Power-line 200Mbps is sometimes not enough for 1080p streaming.
- all the walls are concrete so the signal has to be as strong as possible.


What i would like to do:
- replace the Linksys with a 802.11n class device for better coverage and speed - at least 300Mpbs.
- replace the Power-line adaptors with TP-Link 500Mbps device
- still need to find an internal wireless mini-PIC card for my laptop (Dell Studio 1535) 802.11n

Details about LAN traffic.
- the media server is also a torrent seedbox, always on so its doing a lot if up/down traffic.
- the TV's are only used for streaming from the media server, mostly 720p but 1080p a bit more lately.
- the laptops are just for web browsing
- also 2-3 mobile devices using the WLAN but i guess that's not so important.
- ISP connections is 100Mbps download, 80Mbps upload.

Equipment i'm thinking about getting:
- Linksys Wireless-N E1200
- D-Link DIR-645
- ZyXEL NBG-5715, IPSec VPN - love the design but not sure it's worth the extra cost.

I'm partial to Linksys (untill Belkin starts producing/branding them), D-Link and Zyxel equipment, have not had much experience with TP-Link.


Please let me know what equipment you use/change and if you would do anything differently.

I'm flexible on the budget, i just want to make sure that i don't buy expensive routing equipment that is equivalent to a DIR-600 running DDWRT.

Looking forward to your comments!:worship:

 

[Genesius]

Hi im not sure what question your asking because the things that youve listed seem perfect.

i use a Netgear wndr4500 router (along with a couple of others
a tp link gigabit switch
and a wn802t range extender.

i run whs2011.

 

[spasme]

Hey, thanks for the reply.

Sorry for being so vague. My main question is what new router should i get and also if there is any other equipment you think would be more interesting than what i have.

 

[mrapoc]

Problem with powerline afaik is that getting 500mbps plugs would not mean 500mbps speed - each one has a 100/10 port on it so the max is 100 (and it will never be 100 - more like 10-20mbps!)

It basically shares the bandwidth between devices so 500mbps would mean you can have about 5 plugs before the speed decreases (like a hub) so the only real way is to get gigabit rated plugs - and even then I wouldn't trust the mains in your house to support anywhere near there.

Cat5e/cat6 would be the only real way but not all of us can have it

 

[Genesius]

I think the main thing with router choice is deciding what you need it to do.

I chose mine because i wanted to run dd-wrt and use some custom Qos settings - however after getting it and playing with it for a while i realised Qos wasnt working so posted on the forum and then they decided to tell me that Qos had major bugs. I reverted back to the Netgear software and the Qos in that has been pretty good to be honest.

I have cat5e run throughout the house but obviously this isnt an option for you. If it were me i would try and use some range extenders or a spare N router to piggy back the signal on.

You may be able to pick up a router with external aerials. If you do that would give you the option to mount a powerful EXTERNAL areial on the side of the house or even cable tied to a drain pipe. Wi-fi doesnt like concrete walls but it does travel pretty well through glass windows! In fact thats what i would recomend if your walls are that thick. Wireless N router, external aerial, run the aerial outside (if you have wooded windows a small hole in the frame filled with silicone will work) then put the aerial in between the 2 floors and that should work nicely.

 

[mrapoc]

Just a thought, keep your current router, disable the wireless and get a good/a couple of wireless access points (wireless n, 300mbps and a high gain attenae) as these will usually give you more control (setup on/off periods to save your brain and potentially other uses like PEAP?)

Then if you need a faster switch by the router stick in a £20 gigabit switch. That way all your router is doing is a) a modem and b) routing. Both of which probably won't be improved by a newer router (unless services in your area outceed what your router supports (adsl2 instead of adsl2+ or something)

Raw speed is only going to be achieved by Cat6 really (no point saying cat5e as its pretty much the same price) although I haven't had a play with recent wireless N access points