Dad Needs Advice on New Wired + Wireless Components

[adumbass]

Hi All;

BACKGROUND
A few years ago, I built my house and installed cat5 runs in nearly every room... but all I did was the wiring going to/from a home run. Now, my family's growing up and they want me to get after it and get their PCs networked. Some want wired for gaming, some want wireless, some want to be able to do both. I'd like to be able to stream content to the tv's at some point in the future (wired or wireless). The network will start with 4 wired PCs, 2 wireless laptops (one's a Mac), and one wired printer... I expect it may grow some. The home's 2-story -- about 3700sf. Most of the neighbors have wifi. I don't mind spending $ for decent components.

ISSUE
I'm not really sure which components I should buy to get all this going, and you fellas seem to have quite a bit of knowledge concerning these things, so I'm hoping for some good feedback. Here's the questions:
- Exactly how would you set this up (e.g. go wireless and add a switch, get a router and add access points, or something else)?
- What components would you select (make/models)?
- Will I need a couple locations for wireless access points, or does one usually do it for a home?
- Broadband modem recommendation?

Thanks in advance for your time!

 

[TwoBills]

Networking noob here, but I've got a few thoughts on your wiring.
I'm guessing your homeruns terminate in a utility room in the basement. If that's the case, then I would configure it in such a way as to get the wireless router in a centralized spot on the top floor. This'll give you the best signal strength.

 

[adumbass]

Thanks for your response Bill. The home run already terminates in the middle of the house on the first floor (under the stairs). You have any equipment suggestions?

 

[kevnich2]

My advice, get one large switch, either a 12 port or 24 port switch off of newegg and terminate every single one of the CAT5's into the switch. Then get two wireless routers and put one on top of the switch and connect it to another one of the port's. Put the other wireless router and turn off DHCP & Firewall and put it on the top floor. For a modem, use whatever the ISP gives you and connect it up to the WAN port of the router. For specific hardware, I would go with an Asus WL-520GU as it can be flashed with DDWRT and you can essentially forget about it once their configured. Depending on your house, that should cover it for wireless. If you have any dead spots, just get another router, turn off DHCP & Firewall and put it next to the dead spot. For a switch, check this one out: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16833122058

 

[adumbass]

That's a response closer to what I was looking for, Kevnich2! So... don't get caught up in 802.11n? Does DDWRT really make it much better/less painless than going to 802.11n?

The ISP (Charter cable) gave me a piece of junk, and was thinking about perhaps a motorola SB5120, but I'm not sure its worth the cost.

 

[kevnich2]

The modem the ISP gives you is the one they can troubleshoot and support. Why do you think it's a piece of junk? DDWRT is the software on top of the hardware. Most negative reviews of SOHO routers isn't because the hardware is bad but because the software/firmware isn't written very well. DDWRT takes care of that, as long as the hardware will support it. A lot of routers I see before I put DDWRT on there will have intermittent issues (wireless goes out every few minutes/hours, internet stops ever so often and you need to power cycle the router, etc). With DDWRT, once it's configured you can literally set it there for months without ever worrying about it, it runs very smoothly. I wouldn't get 802.11n until it's actually finished being ratified and that could be atleast another year, possibly two. It's all marketing, they want to milk the pre-N stuff for all it's worth and as long as people keep buying that, the longer it'll take to get the ACTUAL 802.11n here and I, like others, doubt it'll all be compatible so you'll have to buy all new hardware again if you want 802.11n..

 

[adumbass]

OK... I understand now. Thanks so much for the information/direction!! I'll start reading up.

The current modem is "junk" because I have to reset it a lot, and Charter charges me on a per month basis (I don't see leaving broadband any time soon). Thus, I thought that in terms of both those issues, it'd be more clever to simply buy a new one. There are many recommended cable modems on Charter's website -- I just don't know which might be the best option.

 

[c3p0]

There are many recommended cable modems on Charter's website -- I just don't know which might be the best option.

Probably doesn't matter much as long as it's DOCSIS 2.0 compliant. I am using one like in the link below.

MOTOROLA SURFboard SB5101

c3p0
:beer:

 

[kevnich2]

Can you give a list of the recommended cable modems on their website? I have yet to have a problem with any of the Motorola Surfboard modems. You really shouldn't ever have to reset the cable modem, I'm just wondering if it's not actually the cable modem but rather the SOHO router that's causing the problems.

 

[EtherealDragon]

I used a D-Link DCM-202 modem when I had cable service for a year and a half, and NEVER had a problem with the modem... it's pretty small compared to other modems I have seen.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16825112104

 

[adumbass]

First, thanks everyone for your responses -- super help!

Charter's compatible modem list is as follows:
Ambit Microsystems Corp. CM U10C018
Ambit Microsystems Corp. U10C019 Wireless Cable Gateway
Arris CM550A
D-Link Systems DCM-202 Ethernet/USB Cable Modem
Linksys WCG200 ver.2 Wireless-G Cable Gateway
Linksys BEFCMU10 Version 4
Linksys CM100
Motorola SURFboard 5120
Motorola SURFboard 5100
Motorola SURFboard 5101
Motorola SURFboard 5102
Motorola SBG900
NetGear CG814WGv2
NetGear CG814WGv2-CMR
RCA DCM425
Scientific-Atlanta DPR2320
Scientific-Atlanta DPR2325/DPR2325R3
Scientific-Atlanta DPC2100 <---- this is the one Charter is renting to me
Scientific-Atlanta DPC2100r2
SMC Networks SMC8004CM
Thomson DCM425
Toshiba PCX2500
Toshiba PCX2600
Zoom Telephonics 5241

Because of the re-sets, I've been thinking about just buying the surfboard 5120 (fast up & down), but I'm not sure if its worth it... that d-link has pretty fast downstream speed.

 

[kevnich2]

My recommendation would be the arris, any of the Motorola's or the Toshiba (I really like the Toshiba modems), I don't know about the rest. What modem do you have now? Also, downstream speeds really don't matter a lot, that's set by your ISP and I have yet to see any cable ISP in the states at anything above 100mbit.

 

[adumbass]

I have the Scientific-Atlanta DPC2100

 

[kevnich2]

I would say the Arris, Motorola or Toshiba cable modems would be just fine for you.