Home Business Networking Problem
Hi All,
I believe this is a two part question so will be focusing on the infrastructure hardware part first.
So, I have a two level (floor area is roughly 45ft x 60ft on each) home business network that I created with the following hardware:
The following hardware is available but not in use:
Devices in the network are as follows:
Despite investing heavily my hardware, I am continuously experiencing the following issues:
1. Wireless devices intermittently switch between the 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks;
2. In some cases, the 2.2ghz network does not broadcast its SSID causing devices to loose their connections;
3. Gaming consoles (PS4 in particular) fails to detect and connect to the 2.4ghz network;
4. Throughput is way slow. Example, the best uploading speed I can get on my NAS is around 5mbps, worst is less than 1mbps and average is 1.7mbps;
5. Genie backup software on local pc's cannot detect NAS as external storage location;
To help experts willing to assist, I have included a basic drawing that outlines my setup.
Without major interior modification, does anyone have any idea on a better approach for this setup to achieve maximum throughput and stability?
Thanks in advance.
hnet.jpg
I believe this is a two part question so will be focusing on the infrastructure hardware part first.
So, I have a two level (floor area is roughly 45ft x 60ft on each) home business network that I created with the following hardware:
1 x Netgear D6200 Dual Band Router
1 x TP Link TL-WPA4220 Power Line Adapter
1 x TP Link TL-WPA4220 Power Line Adapter
The following hardware is available but not in use:
1 x Netgear WiFi Range Extender (N300)
1 x Linksys WRT1900AC
1 x Linksys WRT1900AC
Devices in the network are as follows:
1 x QNAP Turbo NAS TS420 (dual Ethernet ports)
1 x Desktop PC with Ethernet
2 x laptop computers (WiFi)
2 x smartphones (WiFi)
2 x smart televisions (WiFi)
2 x gaming consoles (WiFi)
1 x MFC brother printer (WiFi)
1 x Desktop PC with Ethernet
2 x laptop computers (WiFi)
2 x smartphones (WiFi)
2 x smart televisions (WiFi)
2 x gaming consoles (WiFi)
1 x MFC brother printer (WiFi)
Despite investing heavily my hardware, I am continuously experiencing the following issues:
1. Wireless devices intermittently switch between the 2.4ghz and 5ghz networks;
2. In some cases, the 2.2ghz network does not broadcast its SSID causing devices to loose their connections;
3. Gaming consoles (PS4 in particular) fails to detect and connect to the 2.4ghz network;
4. Throughput is way slow. Example, the best uploading speed I can get on my NAS is around 5mbps, worst is less than 1mbps and average is 1.7mbps;
5. Genie backup software on local pc's cannot detect NAS as external storage location;
To help experts willing to assist, I have included a basic drawing that outlines my setup.
Without major interior modification, does anyone have any idea on a better approach for this setup to achieve maximum throughput and stability?
Thanks in advance.
hnet.jpg
ASKER
Hey thanks for the tips.
I have changed the settings to "connect even if not broadcasting" on my devices.
I am tinkering with the 5ghz range as you suggested to see if I can get some improvements. However, I was led to believe that the 5ghz range is faster. Is that correct?
As for the routers, if you read my post correctly, you will see that I have a Linksys WRT1900AC but you have not made any reference to possibly exploring an exchange of the routers. Is this something worth considering?
Lai
I have changed the settings to "connect even if not broadcasting" on my devices.
I am tinkering with the 5ghz range as you suggested to see if I can get some improvements. However, I was led to believe that the 5ghz range is faster. Is that correct?
As for the routers, if you read my post correctly, you will see that I have a Linksys WRT1900AC but you have not made any reference to possibly exploring an exchange of the routers. Is this something worth considering?
Lai
Your highest performance will be devices that are connected directly to the router thru wired, not wireless, connections. Both Wifi and power-line networks are timeshared which means as you add more and more devices to those networks they slow down. The NAS in particular should be at the router. And I would put the printer there also. If you can run a network cable to the second floor, that would be a good place to use the Linksys WRT1900AC.
ASKER
So, it would seem that even with all the equipment I have at my disposal, I will not be able to achieve a high speed home network setup without wiring large items such as my NAS, printer and desktop pc which are all located on level two.
I cannot relocate my office downstairs and installing a cat5e cable to run from downstairs to the upper level is certainly not ideal. I guess my expectations are way too high!
Lets say I did run a cat5e to the second level where the NAS, printer, and desktop is located, would I be replacing the Netgear D6200 with the Linksys 1900AC router or not and if so, would I operate it on both the 2.4 and 5 ghz networks?
Lai
I cannot relocate my office downstairs and installing a cat5e cable to run from downstairs to the upper level is certainly not ideal. I guess my expectations are way too high!
Lets say I did run a cat5e to the second level where the NAS, printer, and desktop is located, would I be replacing the Netgear D6200 with the Linksys 1900AC router or not and if so, would I operate it on both the 2.4 and 5 ghz networks?
Lai
5Ghz is faster but does not travel far but since you are extending wifi, that means even the 2.4 is not wide enough in range. Your wireless router is about 300Mbps shared by 9 devices. You should still be able to get decent speed if the signals are strong everywhere.
There are routers that offer more wireless throughput, especially game aware routers.
If you're running cable directly, your existing gear should suffice assuming it has enough physical port
There are routers that offer more wireless throughput, especially game aware routers.
If you're running cable directly, your existing gear should suffice assuming it has enough physical port
I don't see much difference between the Netgear and the Linksys though Netgear has worked better for me. I would run the CAT5e cable to the second floor to a Gigabit ethernet switch and connect the printer, NAS, and computer to it thru cables. That would speed up all of them. I have several wireless routers here but all my stuff is wired. I have up to 56 other wireless networks active here at one time that would contribute interference.
ASKER
Thanks guys.
Dave just to clarify, you say "I would run the CAT5e cable to the second floor to a Gigabit ethernet switch and connect the printer, NAS, and computer to it thru cables"
Does this mean that I would need to invest in a switch and leave the Netgear router connected to my main fibre port downstairs?
Also, for range extenders, when configuring them, do I really have to give them all a unique name, or can I just simply name them all the same as the SSID of the main router? For example, my routers 2.4 SSID is "Hi2", when extending it using extenders, each one suggest using a unique name, such as "Hi2_EXT" and so forth.
Lia
Dave just to clarify, you say "I would run the CAT5e cable to the second floor to a Gigabit ethernet switch and connect the printer, NAS, and computer to it thru cables"
Does this mean that I would need to invest in a switch and leave the Netgear router connected to my main fibre port downstairs?
Also, for range extenders, when configuring them, do I really have to give them all a unique name, or can I just simply name them all the same as the SSID of the main router? For example, my routers 2.4 SSID is "Hi2", when extending it using extenders, each one suggest using a unique name, such as "Hi2_EXT" and so forth.
Lia
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Does this mean that I would need to invest in a switch and leave the Netgear router connected to my main fibre port downstairs?Yes. I just bought a pair of Netgear GS308 GigaBit switches for $22.49 each from Amazon. I was having trouble with an older Linksys 8 port switch and these work great.
The last time I used one of those Netgear range extenders, I believe I just pushed a button and it took care of the naming. I think it just adds a letter or something to the original name. I believe it tells you in the documentation.
ASKER
Excellent help. Used WirelessMon to identify the bottlenecks and reassigned the channels. Many thanks for all for the help.
you're welcome
Check the specs on your wireless router for throughput. You may need to disable the 5ghz range since you even need extender for wider coverage.
Your bottleneck I would say is your wireless router. You may want to research more robust routers