Home network question

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SomePostman

139 posts

Master Geek

#204541 6-Oct-2016 10:24

Hi,

I have a new-ish home, but the company that built it only went part way down the fibre ready route. I only have one RJ45 port in 4 locations, which doesn't seem anywhere near enough. No idea what type of cable they used. At the moment, I have the ONT patched to one of the central network ports and the router situated there. So everything is on WiFi, which isn't cutting it. The next room over is my PC and TV with playstation 4, which I'd want to have connected via cable. But how can I best do this?

I'm thinking I should put my router back in the box thingy in the garage, so that I can connect all four of the LAN ports on the router to the patch panel. Then get a wireless AP for the room the PC and PS4 are in, and run ethernet cables from the ports on the AP to each. The wifi wouldn't be as well placed in my house, but at least my PC and PS4 should be getting considerably better speeds?

I wondered if I could use the four ports on the ONT, but I have read that only one is 'live' and also considered a switch off the ONT, but I don't think that would work because it can't assign IPs?

Thank you in advance for your help!

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387 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1646426 6-Oct-2016 10:32

You're on the right track. Here's some tips:

1. Only have one DHCP server. Currently this will be your router and it can stay that way. Don't enable DHCP on any other devices you add.

2. As per 1, a switch would be fine in the room with the TV and PC. As far as TCP/IP is concerned, a basic switch will not interfere with this, and will simply pass DHCP requests back to your router.

3. If you buy a standalone AP, it will most likely have one network port. In the room with your PC and PS4, you could put in a switch, and connect it back to the router, to the AP, and to the PC and PS4.

4. If you end up setting up multiple AP's, or leave wireless enabled on your router, you can set them up with the same SSID and Password, just make sure they don't overlap channels by using something like Wifi Analyzer. By using the same SSID, devices will switch to the strongest signal seamlessly.

ghettomaster

387 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1646436 6-Oct-2016 10:34

Oops - misread the last bit. As you say you can't run a switch off the ONT or plug multiple devices into it. You need the router to do routing, giving you one WAN side port to connect to the ONT.

SomePostman

139 posts

Master Geek

#1646442 6-Oct-2016 10:41

Thank you for your quick reply!

I thought about a simple/cheap switch for the PC/PS4 room, but as my router is down in my garage the Wifi coverage would be bad. So it seems like an AP with at least 2 LAN ports would be good? Something like this maybe? I've never tried to get two devices to work as part of the same WiFI coverage... but I'm sure I could figure it out

ghettomaster

387 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1646444 6-Oct-2016 10:47

That device will do the job but only has one ethernet port which most AP's will. The only way you'll get an access point with multiple ports is if you buy a wireless router, which would be fine if you just disable the DHCP on it.

If you buy that AP and a switch, you'll be sorted.

evnafets

537 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#1646448 6-Oct-2016 10:51

Maybe showing my ignorance here, but does the Wireless AP need to be in the same room with the Switch/PC?

Could it be on one of the other ports in the house and connect back to the router that way?

ghettomaster

387 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1646450 6-Oct-2016 10:52

Also just to be clear I am envisioning you plug the switch into the wall going to the garage, as well as into the AP, the PC and PS4. This would mean the connection back to the garage is by wire, and the AP would serve wireless devices at that end of the house.

If you ensure you match the SSID and password settings for the AP in the room and the router in the garage, you may find between the two of them you'll have a fair bit of your house covered for Wifi, and it'll just work.

ghettomaster

387 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1646458 6-Oct-2016 10:56

evnafets:

Maybe showing my ignorance here, but does the Wireless AP need to be in the same room with the Switch/PC?

Could it be on one of the other ports in the house and connect back to the router that way?

Oh I see what you're saying. Connecting the AP like that should be fine.

What you are running, as you don't have expensive managed switches, is a "flat lan". This means everything apart from the WAN connection between the ONT and router, is on one network. Anything you connect will just talk so long as the IP addresses are in the same subnet. If you ensure you only run one DHCP server (your router), everything should just get an IP and work.

Sharesies

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SomePostman

139 posts

Master Geek

#1646568 6-Oct-2016 12:24

Could I use an old router hanging around from DSL days?

If I can't find one, is there a way I can avoid buying both an AP and switch?

trig42

5816 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#1646580 6-Oct-2016 12:39

You could use an old router for you AP and switch. Just make sure you turn off DHCP in that router before you connect it.

You could put your Fibre Router in the garage with the ONT, run a cable from the Garage Router to the wall port then from the wall port in the bedroom to a port on the spare router (any of the LAN ports, not WAN) and then the router will operate as a Switch, and the WiFi on the router will work also (off the original Routers DHCP).

NzBeagle

963 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#1646610 6-Oct-2016 13:09

I had this problem in the last house and had 3 routers with custom firmware installed doing different tasks. 1x TP Link running Gargoyle to connect to the main Uni Fi AP, then feed over Lan to multiple devices. 2x Linksys running dd-wrt connected to the network via LAN providing Wifi and switching capability. All were fed off of a Fritzbox which did all the DHCP.

Fritz Wifi Off
- UniFi
- TP Link Bridge
- 4x LAN ports
- Linksys
- Wifi AP
- 3x LAN ports
- Linksys
- Wifi AP

Could be an option if you have old items hanging around, but it's not overly pretty.

ghettomaster

387 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1646643 6-Oct-2016 14:07

If you do end up having to buy a switch, something like this would do the job

http://pricespy.co.nz/product.php?e=254585

There are cheaper options around if you don't want gigabit.

SomePostman

139 posts

Master Geek

#1646682 6-Oct-2016 14:46

Any suggestion for a cheap but decent AP for Wi-Fi? Or if a cheap router exists that I can turn the DHCP off on? I just really want to get my 100mbps fibre internet to my pc and ps4...Wi-Fi just doesn't cut it for those

DarthKermit

5346 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#1646695 6-Oct-2016 15:07

Do you have any ability to run more ethernet wiring around your house?

SomePostman

139 posts

Master Geek

#1646734 6-Oct-2016 16:07

What about something like this? (Rather than get a switch and AP, seems better to have one device that does both and seems cheaper than i can get both for. The lan is only 100 mbps, but so is my internet connection.

https://www.mightyape.co.nz/product/tp-link-wr940n-450mbps-wireless-n-router/26013961

SomePostman

139 posts

Master Geek

#1647245 7-Oct-2016 12:59

I hope this isn't a stupid question, but given my internet speed is nominally 100Mbps, would a 100 Mbps switch/router allow me to get my full internet speed? Or would a gigabit switch still somehow work faster?

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