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Complex home network
Captain Vash
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Okay.
I have 4 computers, two 360s, and 1 PS3, and I'd like to get them all online with my single cable internet connection.
I need the DHCP ability of a router, and I'm thinking at least 8 ports.
What should I do and how should I do this?
The obvious answer; wifi is no good, for our purposes just assume my walls are made of lead shielding stolen from nuclear reactor cores.
I have 4 computers, two 360s, and 1 PS3, and I'd like to get them all online with my single cable internet connection.
I need the DHCP ability of a router, and I'm thinking at least 8 ports.
What should I do and how should I do this?
The obvious answer; wifi is no good, for our purposes just assume my walls are made of lead shielding stolen from nuclear reactor cores.
Captain Vash on
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Most consumer level routers come with 4 ports, though you can find them with 8.
I'd recommend getting a standard router (wireless or wired) that has 4 ports on it, then getting a separate 8 port switch. You should be able to get an okay 8 port 10/100/1000 switch for under $60.
Edit: Something like this or this for the switch. Maybe something like this for the router. Of course shop around for good deals. If you don't need/want gigabit speeds on the local network you can definitely get away even cheaper with just 10/100 switches and routers.
So in a Router -> Switch setup the router is still going to assign an I.P. to each of my devices behind the switch?
Put the router near your cable modem and run Cat5 to the devices as necessary. Take advantage of things like heating/air conditioning ducting where possible. A wire fish can help run wire horizontally through ducting in places gravity can't assist you. For verticle runs, take the grates off two vents that are vertically aligned, tie some weight to one end of the cat5 and drop it in the top vent. Not much else to it.
If money is no object, you can hire people to wire up your house with ethernet wall jacks and a patch panel in a central location where the router & modem will sit.
EDIT: There's really no reason to buy a router and then plug it directly into an 8 port switch and plug all your devices into that switch. You're just adding a bottleneck at the switch, and 8 port residential class routers are really not that expensive.
If many of your devices are all in the same place (bunch of computers in 1 room, xbox & PS3 in one room), you could buy a 4 port router, and run a single cable out to the room where multiple devices sit, and put a switch by them. The cheapest option will (probably) be an 8 port router and a bunch of cable to run singly to each device, rather than buying a router and multiple switches. That solution will also have the most cable running around your house though, so it depends how much work you're willing to go through on cable management.
Yes, you're just investing money in 2 networking devices instead of 1 and some cable.
The Cable/DSL Router features such advanced functions as dynamic and static port routing, DMZ hosting, filtering and forwarding, and Quality of Service capabilities. And all of these functions can be easily configured through any net-worked computer's web browser.
Package Contents:
One Instant Broadband Cable/DSL Router
One AC Adapter and Power Cord
User Guide and Registration Card
Features:
SNMP Provides Port Security, Packet Filtering, IP Multicast, and Filters Internal User's Access
Identify Up to Four Ports for High or Low Port-Based Prioritization
QoS Capabilities Based on 802.1p and IP TOS/DS Greatly Reduces the Chance of Data Loss Based on Weight Round-Robin (WRR)
Dramatically Speed Up Your Gaming and Multimedia Connections
Full Wirespeed Layer Two Switching on All LAN Ports
1K MAC Address Table Means Both Auto Address Learning and Aging
Configurable Through Any Networked PC's Web Browser
Acts as a DHCP Server
Administrators Can Block Specific Internal Users' Internet Access
Supports WinSock 2.0 and Windows 2000 Smart Applications
Technical Support - 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week in North America
1-Year Limited Warranty
Specifications:
Standards: IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.3u
Protocol: CSMA/CD
Ports:
LAN: Eight 10/100 RJ-45 Port
WAN: One 10BaseT Uplink Port
Cabling Type:
10BaseT: UTP Category 3 or Better
100BaseTX: UTP Category 5 or Better
Topology: Star
Speed:
LAN: 10Mbps (10BaseT Ethernet) or 100Mbps (100BaseTX Fast Ethernet)
WAN: 10Mbps (10BaseT Ethernet)
LEDs Power:
LAN: QoS, Link/Act, Full/Col, 100
WAN: Diag, Act, Link
Dimensions: 7.31" x 6.16" x 1.88" (186mm x 154mm x 48mm)
Power:
Output: External, 5V DC, 3A
Input: 100-240VAC 1A 50/60HZ
Certifications:
FCC Class B
CE Mark Commercial
Operating Temp.: 0ºC to 40ºC (32ºF to 104ºF)
Storage Temp.: -20ºC to 70ºC (-4ºF to 158ºF)
Operating Hum.: 10% to 85% Non-Condensing
Storage Hum.: 5% to 90% Non-Condensing
I like the way you think, stranger.
Only 65 bucks through Newegg too. :winky:
Great minds, great minds.
I can't get super excited about that 10Mb WAN port. I mean, we're getting into the realm of people having faster internet connections than 10Mbps.
I agree, but it's hard to find a reasonably priced 8+ port router with a 100mbit WAN port. It depends on the OP's ISP really, if he requires over 10 mbit for his WAN interface.
Vash, would you happen to know what speed you get from your ISP?
I don't know if this applies to you.
Yeah, I touched on that briefly. It somewhat depends on if cost is an issue as well. It's generally cheaper to make multiple cable runs than to buy a switch and run a single cable to it, but then you have a lot more cables to run and hide. It all very much depends on the OP's particular situation.
making multiple cable runs is no problem.
I've got 1000ft of cat5 and all the ends I could need. and a crimper.
Of course, if you rarely push large amounts of traffic (or just very very large files) through your local LAN then it really won't be an issue.
You'll still need to evaluate router suggestions, obviously.
I'm really just looking for a good suggestion on an 8 port router that's at least 10/100 on all ports, 10/100/1000 would be far better.
I've done this and I love it. I also did the wiring and jacks myself (well my dad helped). I have a smallish condo but it only took a day and half.
Yeah, you're definitely going to be looking at more expensive gear if you want a router that's got a 100 Mb WAN interface.
This is what you should do. You will get gigabit LAN and WAN. You will have draft N wireless. The "performance hit" from using switches is next to nothing when you're comparing it to the cost of getting EXACTLY what you want.
You will not find an 8 port router with 10/100/1000 ports that doesn't cost $Texas.
If he's going to go that route, he should buy this, instead. Since he said in the OP that wireless won't work in his place, Wireless N DRAFT 2!!! is as useless to him as tits on a bull.
Yes, if he doesn't want gigabit on his local network he should get something like that.
The one I linked was a reasonably cheap gigabit router that just happened to be wireless. Wired routers are becoming less common because it's pretty cheap for the manufacturer to just include wireless as well. If he can find a cheaper, non-wireless, gigabit router than I would certainly recommend it since he doesn't need the wireless functionality.
Uh, no. His LAN will be running on the switch, which will be capable of Gigabit speeds. The Router's handling the WAN/LAN transmission, which won't be exceeding 32 Mbps.
A Gigabit router is a waste of money, because the WAN port will never negotiate that fast.
Unless he also wanted to use some of the LAN ports on the router for devices that are close together and may be close to his internet connection (like the PS3 and Xbox.)
In other news I know how I'm going to cable things when I move out of this apartment...
Movie Collection
Foody Things
Holy shit! Sony's new techno toy!
Wii Friend code: 1445 3205 3057 5295
and I don't think my house is more than 600ft from end to end so no real problem there. the switch'll be centralized.
Movie Collection
Foody Things
Holy shit! Sony's new techno toy!
Wii Friend code: 1445 3205 3057 5295
Just for consistancy?
Everything will be behind the switch except the internet which caps out at well below 100mb/s
This a "..." moment for me.
But given that you're getting an 8-port switch, I don't know why you would do that, unless you wanted to DMZ one of your devices and wanted to exclude the switch.
will I want cat6 for my gigafast connections? or will that matter?
-I've heard that putting PVC pipe in the wall and running cable through that is a good way to go, especially if you have to pull it back out.
-Going under the carpet is surprisingly easy, and shouldn't really be noticeable unless you have a lot of wire in one spot or unusually thin carpet.
I have dual Ethernet ports on my PC, and if I connect to 2 routers at the same time it seems like one of them takes control of my internet connection and the computer refuses to talk to the other router.
How do you have the router networks configured?
Can I get a 'lol wut'?
I believe this is exactly what the problem is.
Thank you.
is making one 192.168.1.1 and the other 192.168.0.1 enough?
or should i go for a completely different ip like 176.168.1.1 for the second?
Yeah. wut lol.
don't they use the exact same wiring diagram even?
The standard wiring for cat6 is identical to cat5e, though technically you can pin out your RJ45's any way you please, as long as it's the same on both ends.