Can anyone help a home network problem, please?

[Di Wedd]

So I don't think you need to buy anything.

Your D-Link device will absolutely act as a regular access point and you can give it a different SSID in the cottage to the SSID of the router in the main house. See page 23 of the manual:

http://files.dlink.com.au/Products/DAP-1360/Manuals/DAP-1360_F1_Manual_v6.00(DI).pdf

Thank you for looking into this. I have not looked at the manual yet, but it sounds really promising. It would be great if I don't have to buy anything.

You've done the hard bit of having an ethernet cable run between the house and the cottage. If you need wired clients as well you put a cheap switch on the end of the ethernet cable in the cottage and plug the D-Link into the switch. If just wifi then plug the D-Link onto the end of the ethernet cable as it emerges in the cottage.

I think I am following what you are saying here. If I am not mistaken, I have this already, but I'm not sure. I have a D-Link DES 1005A Desktop Switch plugged into the the D-Link Network Adaptor. It looks like this:

Front - https://qwertypoint.imgur.com/all/
Back - https://i.imgur.com/f2mYhZb.jpg

 

[Di Wedd]

How does your DAP-1360 provide ethernet connections to the TV and PC in the cottage when it only has one ethernet LAN port?

I think it is through the DES-1005A Ethernet Desktop - http://www.dlink.com.sg/product/5-port-fast-ethernet-desktop-switch-in-plastic-casing/ Switch. I have this devise plugged into my router (see https://i.imgur.com/rNCmKrc.jpg & https://i.imgur.com/f2mYhZb.jpg)

As long as these two devices are already connected to the network via LAN cable then all you need to do is change the ssid of the cottage access point (exactly like @BigT has stated in his post).

So if I understand this correctly, even though the DAP-1360 is an Access Point, it will allow me to change the SSID in the cottage by following the instructions in the manual.

I have the same setup in my house with a DLINK router in Access Point mode in the garage providing wireless and lan connectivity. albeit on a different SSID to the house so I know what to connect to should I have poor signal with either.

If I am reading this correctly, your garage has a D-Link Access Point (providing WI-Fi and lan connectivity) with a SSID that is different from the house. Is the router in the house the main Internet access point then?

Apologies if I am complicating this. I'm trying to get my head round this. It is not an area I know well.

 

[Di Wedd]

Two routers is bad advice. (Unless it's set to AP mode)

Check your current AP settings add change the SSID.

Or buy a Unifi access point.

Thanks. I don't like the idea of two routers, but I am open to all ideas to resolve the problem. By the sound from other responses, I may not need a second router. The confusing thing is, the initial information I was given, was that I won't be able to change the SSID for my current AP. It seems however, that I will be able to do this.

I have never heard of Unifi access points until this discussion started, so I will research that as well.

 

[Di Wedd]

Any decent access point will allow you to pick any SSID you want.

Do you want ethernet ports on the second building? Or is it only WiFi you want?

I don't know how decent my access point is, but it seems it may not be as bad as I thought. I do use Ethernet connections in the second building with the use of a DES-1005A Ethernet Desktop Switch - http://www.dlink.com.sg/product/5-port-fast-ethernet-desktop-switch-in-plastic-casing/

 

[DIABLO]

A basic Gigabit Switch to replace that 100Mbit Switch that you linked and Access Point such as a Unifi AP AC Lite/LR, job done for £100 and gotten rid of the crappy Extender and just as cruddy Switch. Why is this getting over complicated.

 

[BigT]

Excuse the poor quick and dirty diagram, but this is how you'd wire it up with your existing kit. While changing the switch to gigabit is a decent enough idea, your access point only supports 100Mbit so your wireless won't support any faster. If you move a lot of data on your LAN or you have >100Mbit internet then upgrading is still a good idea but if neither of those conditions is true then you won't see much benefit:

 

[Di Wedd]

I basic Gigabit Switch to replace that 100Mbit Switch that you linked and Access Point such as a Unifi AP AC Lite/LR, job done for £100 and gotten rid of the crappy Extender and just as cruddy Switch. Why is this getting over complicated.

Thank you for the advice. I have only now realized that the that the Network Switch is only 100Mbit and not Gigabit, effectively slwoing down the speed in the cottage. This is explains why I have felt frustrated with the speed in the cottage at times.

 

[Di Wedd]

Excuse the poor quick and dirty diagram, but this is how you'd wire it up with your existing kit. While changing the switch to gigabit is a decent enough idea, your access point only supports 100Mbit so your wireless won't support any faster. If you move a lot of data on your LAN or you have >100Mbit internet then upgrading is still a good idea but if neither of those conditions is true then you won't see much

Wow, thank you so much for taking time to do this. I do not think it is poor at all. It shows my exact situation.

If I understand correctly, you are saying that the D-link DAP-1360 only supports 100Mbit and not Gigabit transfer. Is this correct? If so, it is not only the DES-1005A Ethernet Desktop Switch that is an issue, but also the actual Access Point. So, if I want faster Internet in the cottage, I will need to replace the D-Link DAP-1360 Wireless Network Extender and the D-Link DES 1005A Desktop Switch.

I had a look at the specs for the D-Link DAP-1360 Wireless Network Extender here - http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/products/dap-1360-wireless-n-open-source-access-point-router, but sine this is not an area I am familiar with, I can't work out what the speed is, or suppose to be. Under Connectivity it states:

Wireless speeds of up to 300 Mbps

Lan (under Network Standards) is 802.11n
802.3/802.3u (Ethernet)

Thank you again for your help. I appreciate it very much.

 

[Di Wedd]

To everyone that has been responded to this, thank you so much. This has been really interesting and I have learned quite a bit in the process.

The discussion has veered off a bit because the limitations of my Network Extender and Network Switch came to light. However, coming back to my original questions about preventing devises in the cottage to connect to the network in the house, I am really very pleased to let you all know that I managed to rename the SSID in the cottage as per BigT's suggestion.

I did it this morning and I now have a different network name for the cottage. Devises in the cottage are no longer connecting to the network in the main house. This include the areas of the cottage that were problematic.

The main house now has an SSID (called Firehouse) and the cottage (called Firecottage). Everything is connected and working. The only thing left to do is to improve the speed.

 

[BigT]

Basically both your DAP-1360 and DES-1005A are limited to 100Mbit (the switch is badged as 10/100 and the data sheet here says the DAP-1360 has a 100Mbit port: http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/-/media/...360/datasheet/dap_1360_f1_datasheet_en_eu.pdf)

I always think it is disingenuous when they list an access point as 300Mbit but in fact you're limited by the weakest link on the device which is the ethernet port connecting to your wired network.

If you want to improve throughput around your LAN and/or if your internet is in excess of 100Mbit and you want to make full use of the speed in the cottage then you'll have to upgrade both. @DIABLO has already given the best option most people here would suggest, a Ubiquiti Unifi Access Point (A Lite would probably be fine for you https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lite/ ) instead of your range extender and replace the switch for a cheap unmanaged gigabit version. TP-Link and Netgear do nice 8 port metal designs for <£30. It's generally worth paying the extra for 8 ports as it is not much more than 4/5.

 

[rhysduck]

If I am reading this correctly, your garage has a D-Link Access Point (providing WI-Fi and lan connectivity) with a SSID that is different from the house. Is the router in the house the main Internet access point then?

Correct. Router in house which is connected directly to the phone socket. 8 Port Gigabit switch connected to the router. AP in the garage connects to the gigabit switch via lan cable.

As already mentioned you do not need to upgrade any of the switches or routers you have currently if your internet connection speed is below 100mbit, you'll see no benefit with internet speed if you do. What speed is your internet?

 

[Di Wedd]

Correct. Router in house which is connected directly to the phone socket. 8 Port Gigabit switch connected to the router. AP in the garage connects to the gigabit switch via lan cable.

As already mentioned you do not need to upgrade any of the switches or routers you have currently if your internet connection speed is below 100mbit, you'll see no benefit with internet speed if you do. What speed is your internet?

Basically both your DAP-1360 and DES-1005A are limited to 100Mbit (the switch is badged as 10/100 and the data sheet here says the DAP-1360 has a 100Mbit port: http://www.dlink.com/uk/en/-/media/...360/datasheet/dap_1360_f1_datasheet_en_eu.pdf)

I always think it is disingenuous when they list an access point as 300Mbit but in fact you're limited by the weakest link on the device which is the ethernet port connecting to your wired network.

If you want to improve throughput around your LAN and/or if your internet is in excess of 100Mbit and you want to make full use of the speed in the cottage then you'll have to upgrade both. @DIABLO has already given the best option most people here would suggest, a Ubiquiti Unifi Access Point (A Lite would probably be fine for you https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap-ac-lite/ ) instead of your range extender and replace the switch for a cheap unmanaged gigabit version. TP-Link and Netgear do nice 8 port metal designs for <£30. It's generally worth paying the extra for 8 ports as it is not much more than 4/5.

Thank you. I will look at getting a Ubiquiti Unifi Access Point and an 8 ports gigabit switch somewhere down the line. For now, at least I have two different SSIDs.

 

[Di Wedd]

What speed is your internet?

I used several online speed tests and the results vary, but it is basically between 17 - 19 Mbps (down) and 9 - 11 Mbps (up). That seems very slow, if I am not mistaken.

 

[neil_g]

I used several online speed tests and the results vary, but it is basically between 17 - 19 Mbps (down) and 9 - 11 Mbps (up). That seems very slow, if I am not mistaken.

Then getting a gig switch most likely won't speed things up.

What speeds were you quoted when you took out the internet package

 

[DragonQ]

I'd definitely use separate SSIDs to be honest, I even use different ones for my 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels to stop my devices switching to 2.4 GHz when it isn't necessary.

 

[neil_g]

, I even use different ones for my 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz channels to stop my devices switching to 2.4 GHz when it isn't necessary.

Shouldn't really be necessary unless your devices are running in to issues receiving the 5ghz.

 

[Semple]

I'm surprised the extender even defaulted to the same SSID as what the router was broadcasting, unless you specifically set it that way?

When installing an extender in our flat it defaulted to <network>_EXT for the SSID.

 

[neil_g]

I'm surprised the extender even defaulted to the same SSID as what the router was broadcasting, unless you specifically set it that way?

When installing an extender in our flat it defaulted to <network>_EXT for the SSID.

Probably manually set. In theory it should allow for reasonably reliable roaming. Unless there is too much overlap or your devices are particularly sticky.

 

[DragonQ]

Shouldn't really be necessary unless your devices are running in to issues receiving the 5ghz.

My phone works perfectly in 5 GHz mode when 2 floors away from the router, yet it always switches to 2.4 GHz if given the choice because it has an extra bar. >_>