Extend wireless network in a very old home

[mrdaniels]

Hello all

I would like to extend my network in my 135 year old farmhouse.

I came across an article at this URL; How to Extend Wireless Internet for Full Coverage in Large Homes | Audioholics.

Great article btw, just what I was looking for!

I have a question on 3C - cascading routers.

Just under the diagram, the paragraph begins as follows; "Disconnect your computer from the main network~~~~".
Is this referring to the existing PC already connected to the existing router?

Thanks and Cheers
MrDaniels

 

[blcskate]

Yes. Example:

You have a desktop/laptop that is hard wired to your original/main router. You would unplug it from that router and hard wire it to your new/2nd router. Make sure wireless is turned off on the machine if it has wireless. Hard wiring to the 2nd router gives you the option to log directly into that router and set the settings as this article is explaining.

This process is simple if you think about it logically. When you hard wire to the first router you go into the settings of that router. When you start to set up the 2nd one you need to hard wire to it and tell it how to operate. This process is repeated no matter how many you are setting up. I have 3 wireless routers in my home (5200 sqft). They are all full blown routers that i simply set to run cascading.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

From experienced IT guys perspective - our CEO has VERY old duplex with very thick walls.

Long story short Ethernet-over-Power to Wifi access point did not work very good due to old wiring.

The solution came from 4-5 Apple network devices working as bridges. That solved issue very effectively and I stopped getting any complains about wifi ...
The only real issue is that apple stuff is not cheap, but if you scour ebay you could find great deals.
Also configuring them from pc (vs mac) is annoying as well, but you'd need to do it only once

 

[blcskate]

From experienced IT guys perspective - our CEO has VERY old duplex with very thick walls.

Long story short Ethernet-over-Power to Wifi access point did not work very good due to old wiring.

The solution came from 4-5 Apple network devices working as bridges. That solved issue very effectively and I stopped getting any complains about wifi ...
The only real issue is that apple stuff is not cheap, but if you scour ebay you could find great deals.
Also configuring them from pc (vs mac) is annoying as well, but you'd need to do it only once

From what he is saying. He is planning on 3C. That option is Ethernet hard wiring from one router to the second. If your gigabit hard wiring your APs it is the best possible solution. I would not recommend using method 2 on this list either. Powerline is great for single hard wired connections (esp if your house is <15 yrs old). However, sending multiple connections through a wireless AP and then to a powerline you will likely see bottlenecks. Your adding delay at too many steps and the input lag climbs with each.

As with any network solution. It is only as good as the equipment you put into it. I only buy top of the line routers, cat 6 cables, and I always use my own modems vs the crap that the ISPs provide. If you buy 3 trendnet APs for 20 bucks a piece you will probably have a lot of rebooting in your future.

My specialty in IT is not networking. I have my own software development company, but I still have to deal with these kinds of things a lot. I have used just about every solution there is and to date hard wiring APs and cascading them is the best option I have found. There is a reason it is how just about all businesses set up their networks. If they can run 200 RF devices off 3 APs in a warehouse then you will be fine running your iPads off them in your house If you absolutely cannot hard wire your APs then there are viable options, but they will all be a sacrifice in speed and reliability.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

From what he is saying. He is planning on 3C. That option is Ethernet hard wiring from one router to the second. If your gigabit hard wiring your APs it is the best possible solution. I would not recommend using method 2 on this list either. Powerline is great for single hard wired connections (esp if your house is <15 yrs old). However, sending multiple connections through a wireless AP and then to a powerline you will likely see bottlenecks. Your adding delay at too many steps and the input lag climbs with each.

As with any network solution. It is only as good as the equipment you put into it. I only buy top of the line routers, cat 6 cables, and I always use my own modems vs the crap that the ISPs provide. If you buy 3 trendnet APs for 20 bucks a piece you will probably have a lot of rebooting in your future.

My specialty in IT is not networking. I have my own software development company, but I still have to deal with these kinds of things a lot. I have used just about every solution there is and to date hard wiring APs and cascading them is the best option I have found. There is a reason it is how just about all businesses set up their networks. If they can run 200 RF devices off 3 APs in a warehouse then you will be fine running your iPads off them in your house If you absolutely cannot hard wire your APs then there are viable options, but they will all be a sacrifice in speed and reliability.

the issue with multiple Wifi AP (ether wired fed or wireless bridges) is always going to have an issue with wireless signal collision - more APs - the bigger the issue is. While 3C COULD provide best of the worlds solution, but only if you CAN run ethernet cable to APs and B) this setup is designed to work together as a team - most home model are lacking the second - which is mostly limited to very expensive Enterprise level APs - I'm talking about handing-off and signal collision issues.

These are the reason I recommended Apple's stuff. They are actually design to work as a team and handle nicely both issues above.
The reason you can run 200 RF devices from 3 hard wired AP's in A warehouse is there is centralized piece of code which is orchestrating this setup. Without it - such setup would be impossible.
As I had mention - only enterprise level wifi hardware have such capability (with sole exception is Apple network devices)

 

[mrdaniels]

Thanks!1

the issue with multiple Wifi AP (ether wired fed or wireless bridges) is always going to have an issue with wireless signal collision - more APs - the bigger the issue is. While 3C COULD provide best of the worlds solution, but only if you CAN run ethernet cable to APs and B) this setup is designed to work together as a team - most home model are lacking the second - which is mostly limited to very expensive Enterprise level APs - I'm talking about handing-off and signal collision issues.

These are the reason I recommended Apple's stuff. They are actually design to work as a team and handle nicely both issues above.
The reason you can run 200 RF devices from 3 hard wired AP's in A warehouse is there is centralized piece of code which is orchestrating this setup. Without it - such setup would be impossible.
As I had mention - only enterprise level wifi hardware have such capability (with sole exception is Apple network devices)

Thanks for all the replies; you all answered my question and provided additional advice.

Cheers
Mrdaniels
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans" (John Lennon 1940 - 1980)