Could you please validate my (simple) network recommendation to a friend?

Forums › LAN (ethernet/Wifi/routers/Bluetooth) › Could you please validate my (simple) network recommendation to a friend?

dwilson

162 posts

Master Geek

#273023 31-Jul-2020 10:47

Hi all,

A friend has a $1000 budget and wants a reasonable solution for her new house. She values setting up the network one time and having it relatively hassle-free.

She has:
- ONT in the front room and has a NAS and two computers in that room. All needing wired connections.
- Three computers in the rear of the house, all needing wired connections.
- Multiple devices throughout the house needing seamless wifi.

Constraints:
- Only 2 CAT6 cables join the front room to the rear of the house. There is no way to increase this number.

Could I please get some feedback on what I am about to recommend:

1. Connect standard Spark router (Huawei something) to ONT.
2. Router connects to 5 port switch.
3. 5 port switch, covers all front room wired devices.
4. 2 cables connect front to rear of house.
5. (Some sort of) mesh device network deployed to cover entire house wifi devices.
6. Another 5 port switch at rear of house, covers all rear of house wired devices.

What do you think?

Thank you.

timmmay

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#2531956 31-Jul-2020 10:57

How big is the house? One centrally located WAP ideally up high might cover the whole house.

Not sure why you would need two cables from the front to the rear of the house. One cable to the second switch seems fine. A basic switch costs about $30. The standard Spark router might have enough ports without having the first switch.

Rounding up: $50 (switch) + $200 (good WAP) should about do it.

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dwilson

162 posts

Master Geek

#2531969 31-Jul-2020 11:20

timmmay:

How big is the house? One centrally located WAP ideally up high might cover the whole house.

Not sure why you would need two cables from the front to the rear of the house. One cable to the second switch seems fine. A basic switch costs about $30. The standard Spark router might have enough ports without having the first switch.

Rounding up: $50 (switch) + $200 (good WAP) should about do it.

Thank you for the suggestions.

- House is big old villa, current owner complains that one whole side of the house gets terrible wifi coverage.

- The two cables are already installed connecting front to rear of house, they weave up and down walls, so impossible to drag another through. But yes, good point, 1 cable to connect a rear house switch is job done for that piece. I only mention the 'two cables only' constraint because a couple of people here at work said, "run 1 more cable and drop the 2nd switch".

Your simple WAP idea has legs I think, if I adapted it to the following I think it might overcome the house size issue:

- 1 WAP at front of the house.

- Another WAP at rear of house.

So essentially I drop the "multiple mesh devices" idea and replace with two WAPs.

What would you recommend as a couple of WAP devices I can buy, install, setup as a WPA secured network that work together, as opposed to two separate networks?

The use case here is, my friend wants to seamlessly walk through the house and have her devices work from either WAP without any nonsense like "my device is still connected to rear-of-house WAP and has 1 bar, and has not automatically connected to front of house WAP because it can get 4 bars"

It is that more natural house coverage is why I started putting in a 3 device Google thing (nest or something?) that just works.

Thank you again.

EDIT: Fixed some errors

davidcole

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#2531972 31-Jul-2020 11:35

You could look at something like the covr: https://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=21956 while it can be a mesh device, it does also take wiring.

Not sure about the Unifi Amplifi if it takes an ethernet as well.

Or all the way up to to some unifi APs with a controller....which is a bit less plug and play, but works well (I use it)

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wellygary

8253 posts

Uber Geek

#2531973 31-Jul-2020 11:35

Running Cables in Old Villas is actually not that hard, ( especially if you can either get under the floor or into the roof)

The lack of insulation and Nogs actually makes it comparatively easy compared to a new place...

hio77

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#2532079 31-Jul-2020 12:46

i'd probably swap on the hg659b you currently have for a spark smart modem, use a spark smart mesh unit at the other in of the house (other Ethernet) and stick an 8 port gbit switch at both sides.

the smart mesh opperates as a full mesh product, so you don't need to roam, Modem will decide when a device should switch onto the Mesh node. (going sepearete WAP route will give the whole device stays attached issue depending on the end user device)

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dwilson

162 posts

Master Geek

#2532200 31-Jul-2020 15:31

hio77:

i'd probably swap on the hg659b you currently have for a spark smart modem, use a spark smart mesh unit at the other in of the house (other Ethernet) and stick an 8 port gbit switch at both sides.

the smart mesh opperates as a full mesh product, so you don't need to roam, Modem will decide when a device should switch onto the Mesh node. (going sepearete WAP route will give the whole device stays attached issue depending on the end user device)

Looks like she'd need to move back to Spark to get the Spark Smart modem or buy one off trademe. She's with Bigpipe atm, I guess it's a little cheaper.

But you have made this very easy for me to get her through, thank you.

Is there any synergy to Spark modem/mesh she can get by a particular set of switches at all? Brand? Model? Any personal recommendation for this setup?

Thank you very much.

timmmay

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#2532206 31-Jul-2020 15:43

If you don't want to put a central WAP in, just get two good quality WAPs and put one at each end of the house. You need to manually choose your WAP if you move around the house, as phones don't tend to hand off given the different SSIDs, but it's cheap and easy.

hio77

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#2532213 31-Jul-2020 15:46

dwilson:
hio77:

i'd probably swap on the hg659b you currently have for a spark smart modem, use a spark smart mesh unit at the other in of the house (other Ethernet) and stick an 8 port gbit switch at both sides.

the smart mesh opperates as a full mesh product, so you don't need to roam, Modem will decide when a device should switch onto the Mesh node. (going sepearete WAP route will give the whole device stays attached issue depending on the end user device)

Looks like she'd need to move back to Spark to get the Spark Smart modem or buy one off trademe. She's with Bigpipe atm, I guess it's a little cheaper.

But you have made this very easy for me to get her through, thank you.

Is there any synergy to Spark modem/mesh she can get by a particular set of switches at all? Brand? Model? Any personal recommendation for this setup?

Thank you very much.

Oh. In that case she can get one from bigpipe :)

#include <std_disclaimer>

Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.