Re-doing the Wi-Fi network in the house for efficient media centre running

YaYa

So, here's the current set-up I have to get my content to various TVs in the house

our modem-router is downstairs towards one end of the house, my desktop with all the media content on it is upstairs pretty much directly above that. we have a TV in the same area of the house with an Apple TV connected to it that has no problem streaming content from the internet or getting stuff from my desktop

however, downstairs way on the other end of the house, there's another, much better TV with another Apple TV connected to it. our modem-router doesn't really reach back there, and for the moment we have a wi-fi extender in a central location of the house to connect to the internet and to my desktop. that only works about half the time, though, and generally the connection is sluggish


what would a better option be for the house? I realize wireless isn't the best bet for anything we want to do, but due to structural issues we can't have ethernet wired in. thoughts?

illig

the newer dual band routers are pretty good at this - you use the 2.4GHz band for general surfing and set any video devices up on the 5GHz one, and it tends to improve the signal

i would still think about wired, however. unless you live in some bunker cast out of solid concrete, it's usually not as hard as you think to run some cable... they even have flat ethernet cables which can be easily run under a carpet, molding, kick plates, etc.

Phyphor

If you're talking about streaming to multiple TVs you're going to want wired. Regardless of what bitrate you have, the more machines you have talking on the network the worse it gets in terms of dropped packets and crosstalk. If you must go wireless, ideally you should have multiple APs on different channels

RUNN1NGMAN

If you're thinking about using wifi for your home theater, don't. You need reliable bandwidth and the wireless spectrum's just getting more crowded every day. And all it takes is one neighbor with a baby monitor to effectively jam your wifi and make your hundreds of dollars of wireless gear useless. Get yourself some moca adapters (assuming your house is already wired for coax) and never look back.

And if you happen to have fios you already have a moca network set up!

useless4

Make sure your apple tv's don't use google dns as well. There is a weird quirk that streaming performance (from apple, not local machines) is HORRIBLE if you use the 8.x.x.x dns settings from google. It shouldn't effect streaming from apple at all but swap to those dns servers and watch the misery.

Pantshandshake

*ahem*
Powerline Adapters to run your internet bits through your existing electrical infrastructure.

YaYa

Pantshandshake wrote: »

*ahem*
Powerline Adapters to run your internet bits through your existing electrical infrastructure.

wait

what

explain!

Foomy

YaYa wrote: »

Pantshandshake wrote: »

*ahem*
Powerline Adapters to run your internet bits through your existing electrical infrastructure.

wait

what

explain!

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-powerline-networking-adapter-trendnet-tpl-401e2k/ decent article explaining them and a pick for one to get. But basically it uses your houses electrical wires to send data.

It depends on your homes wiring quality, distance, and how many different circuits it passes through on whether you would get faster speeds than a wireless network.

YaYa

okay, so, I've got a couple of adapters set up

one to my router, one to my desktop, and two to two different Apple TVs

after a bit of futzing the router and desktop connection works fine, although I can't tell if it's still going through my wireless or not

the AppleTVs pick up that they're connected via Ethernet, get an IP address, but don't get a DNS or a router IP and don't connect to the internet

so, anyone have any ideas? I'm trying to hunt down my router's IP address and try inputting it manually

YaYa

okay, so, I think I've got an idea of how to fix the problem, but I don't know if it's feasible or not

do you guys know if you can set a static IP for just one device on a Belkin N600? I think if I just set the one IP for the Apple TV to connect with it'll solve the problem but I don't know how to do it without setting a static ip for every device in my house

Daenris

leave the dhcp turned on in your router config and just set up a static IP on the apple TV - making sure it's within the router's subnet but ideally outside the range of dynamic addresses so you don't run into conflicts.

DisruptedCapitalist

Foomy wrote: »

YaYa wrote: »

Pantshandshake wrote: »

*ahem*
Powerline Adapters to run your internet bits through your existing electrical infrastructure.

wait

what

explain!

http://thewirecutter.com/reviews/the-best-powerline-networking-adapter-trendnet-tpl-401e2k/ decent article explaining them and a pick for one to get. But basically it uses your houses electrical wires to send data.

It depends on your homes wiring quality, distance, and how many different circuits it passes through on whether you would get faster speeds than a wireless network.

For what it's worth, I tried that once only to discover that my electrical system is shit and should probably be replaced. Unfortunately I figured hiring an electrician was still more expensive than a wireless option, so I just gave up on using a Powerline adapter.

StrifeRaZoR

Wireless connections do not have as much crosstalk as you'd expect. To fix your main issue of the one TV having a sluggish connection, you could set a static IP for that TV, but that will not directly reduce the latency or increase the bandwidth. It will just reduce the amount of traffic conflicts that the TV experiences when requesting information over the network. Find your DHCP server range within your router (I use a Belkin and the range is 192.168.2.2 - 192.168.2.100). That can be easily changed, but I doubt you have 98 devices. Set a static IP on the TV (Not within the router) that lies somewhere within that range. Once it's connected to the router and pulling a solid gateway, DNS, and Subnet, you can then DMZ the TV. DMZ is Demilitarized Zone. It removes a single device from the NAT filtering and allows unfiltered access to the internet. This usually solves port problems and sluggish speeds. To DMZ the TV, just go to the DMZ setting in your Belkin and put the same IP you put for the static address.

YaYa

turns out the power line adaptor isn't really working consistently enough for it to be an option, which sucks

I've put the TV in a DMZ with a static IP, which seems to have been an improvement, but still not great

thanks for all the help so far, guys, if anyone has any further suggestions I'll be happy to take them

Foomy

I would really look to see what your house layout is, and if you could find a way to just run ethernet cable.

Even if you could get a single cable run to somewhere closer to your downstairs tv, and then just place a second wireless access point.

Monoprice sells some 100ft lengths of flat cable, that you can pretty easily run behind baseboard, so if you can figure out a place that you can drill down through the floors without being seen you can do it all without any visible cabling. Cold air returns on a central furnace system are also ok to run cable through.

Jebus314

StrifeRaZoR wrote: »

Wireless connections do not have as much crosstalk as you'd expect. To fix your main issue of the one TV having a sluggish connection, you could set a static IP for that TV, but that will not directly reduce the latency or increase the bandwidth. It will just reduce the amount of traffic conflicts that the TV experiences when requesting information over the network. Find your DHCP server range within your router (I use a Belkin and the range is 192.168.2.2 - 192.168.2.100). That can be easily changed, but I doubt you have 98 devices. Set a static IP on the TV (Not within the router) that lies somewhere within that range. Once it's connected to the router and pulling a solid gateway, DNS, and Subnet, you can then DMZ the TV. DMZ is Demilitarized Zone. It removes a single device from the NAT filtering and allows unfiltered access to the internet. This usually solves port problems and sluggish speeds. To DMZ the TV, just go to the DMZ setting in your Belkin and put the same IP you put for the static address.

I don't see why putting the apple TV in the DMZ would improve speeds. Ideally you should bring the apple tv close to the modem/router for testing to confirm it is working properly. Then when you move it back you can focus on connectivity problems that are only related to the distance. That way you don't have to put it outside of your firewall and decrease the security of your network.

If you can't run cables or use the powerline, you're pretty much stuck with wireless. You can get a different modem/router, or more likely just a router since it's cheaper, with an emphasis only long range capabilities. You can potentially flash any router that you do have with DD-WRT, or another opensource firmware, and try and boost the signal that way (not all routers have an option for boosting the signal even with an opensource firmware). Also, If you have an old router laying around you can make a network bridge, where you take advantage of the larger antenna on the router to receive signals, and pass the information along a cable to the apple TV. This might be the cheapest option as you could get an old linksys wrt-55g, or whatever they are called, for decently cheap. Flash it with DD-WRT and set up a network bridge. I do this with my printer which is in the back of my apartment far from the router, and while I do think it extends the range a bit, I can attest that is kind of pain in the ass to setup.

Essee

You know, speaking of getting a different modem or router (rereading the thread), I really don't ever hear anything positive about Belkin's router offerings. I have personal experience with one of their routers that left me thoroughly disillusioned with them, so that doesn't help, but everything I've ever seen other people say about them online in recent years indicates that they're a pain in the butt. Not saying you can't still maybe use your existing Belkin router in some way, just... you know... you really might get better overall results if you change out that router for something different.

corky842

A good router would help the most. I can personally recommend the Asus rt-n66u or the newer version with the latest wifi standards, the rt-ac66u.

I used to have a Belkin router with a big button on it that would restart the router, so that should tell you something about how reliable they are.