Home network help

ringo747 · 7 Feb 2011 at 16:21

I am hoping to move into a new house fairly soon and was trying to work out what way to sort the network. I will have a study/pc room upstairs where I will connect all the boxes to a GB switch. I plan to install BT Infinity - the router for this will probably sit downstairs. I also have a NAS which I want to keep below the stairs beside router for keeping the noise down.

I want to avoid sticking cables from downstairs to upstairs so what other options are available to me? I obviously don't want to inhibit the full speed of the NAS so maybe cable is the only way.

Can I wirelessly bridge the downstairs LAN with upstairs?

SiriusB · 7 Feb 2011 at 16:59

If you have two WiFi access points/routers that support bridging, then yes. Though I imagine speeds will be woeful. Only other option I can think of is HomePlug, but results vary.

Any reason why you don't want to use cable? If you get a second switch for downstairs, you would only need one cable.

EDIT: Actually, if you are happy with the 100MB Ethernet on the HomeHub, you don't even need the second switch.

ringo747 · 7 Feb 2011 at 21:51

Cable is certainly an option but I was thinking of avoiding the hassle. I wasn't sure about the speed of wireless bridging but sounds like it would be the weak point as far as network speed is concerned.

Another option is that I have a telephone socket upstairs that might work with the router. That way I would only have to go up the wall, into attic, across one other room and then drop cable down. I'm guessing you need to use the master socket for Infinity which presumably is the downstairs one.

Tripp · 7 Feb 2011 at 22:51

ringo747 said:
Cable is certainly an option but I was thinking of avoiding the hassle.

TBH with the amount of time you will invest getting the equipment, then setting it up, then tinkering to get the best wireless speeds and signals....which will still bottleneck your network.....it will probably be quicker and more reliable (speed and connection wise) if you route an ethernet upstairs or even drill direct through your ceiling

paradigm · 7 Feb 2011 at 23:12

Cavity walls were invented for a reason

Takes no more than 10 minutes to drop a cable down a cavity, then maybe 2 minutes per faceplate to punch-down the cable, then maybe another 10 minutes to place the faceplates on the wall.

Get it done!

ringo747 · 7 Feb 2011 at 23:33

- cable it is then!

It would be fine dropping cable down from attic to the two upstairs rooms but downstairs might cause problems if trying to get the cable sorted. The rooms in question aren't at the same side of the house so it could be some hassle getting down and across.

3dcandy · 7 Feb 2011 at 23:41

Have you got infinity router yet? As new HomeHub 3 has a GigE port on it...
One cable to upstairs and you'll get far better transfers via gige and the NAS should be able to transfer at GigE speeds if you buy a cheap 5-port switch.
Choice is yours, but I reckon cable will give you by far the best throughput

ringo747 · 8 Feb 2011 at 00:11

Not got it installed yet but it's the best I can get in my area so should be ordering soonish.

Will try cable and hopefully it isn't too much hassle.

3dcandy · 8 Feb 2011 at 00:18

It's scheduled for release 28th Feb, so if and when you order I'd make sure you get it. As a stop-gap the wireless is supposed to be much improved, and you could probably bridge them better/easier than previous HH's. Cable isn't too hard to lay to be honest, just take your time.

3dcandy · 8 Feb 2011 at 00:20

Ohh and just to say, a decent NAS will be inaudible (almost) and for sake of ease, I'd locate it upstairs next to the GigE switch with only one cable required from the GigE port on a HomeHub 3. That would provide best speeds all around...

ringo747 · 8 Feb 2011 at 00:22

Yeah I have a Synology DS211 which is near silent but the disk spin up is fairly loud as I have it set to sleep after 10 mins so it wakes/sleeps a lot.

3dcandy · 8 Feb 2011 at 00:27

That way round will result in your best speeds...otherwise, you'll be stuck at 100 instead of 1000 for your transfers to/from the NAS

CocoPops · 8 Feb 2011 at 21:43

Hey mate,

Just about to order a DS211 (as per your prev recommendation) DS211+ seems a little costly at moment.

What disks should I be buying with it?

ringo747 · 8 Feb 2011 at 23:40

Sorry just saw your post. I ordered the HD204UI drives. They have been taken off the supported list by Synology after some problems with the drives reported. Update them to new firmware and you will be fine.