Suggestions for network design (newbie)

[pyspilf]

First of all, hello to everyone, this is my first post here so be gentle with a newbie J

I am in the process of upgrading my home network and also adding some WIFI Ip cams, and I feel I need to move beyond the flat configuration I have presently, particularly in light of trying to improve bandwidth for the wireless cameras.

I would just like to hear what you would do, given this list of equipment and requirements:

- 1x Draytek 2910G router (this is used for connecting to my ISP and also has a WIFI interface)
- 1x D-Link DW2100 access point
- 2x D-Link DW3200 access point
- 1x Cisco Catalyst 2948G switch (scavenged from work…)
- CAT5 wired inside the house

I have the following:
- 2x home automation servers connected to LAN
- 1x media server connected to LAN
- 1x Smart TV connected to LAN
- Some devices connected to WIFI (laptop, iPhone, tablet, etc)
- 3x indoor cameras connected via WIFI
- 3x outdoor cameras connected via WIFI

I am starting to think I either need a VLAN for the outdoor cameras (I could, if need be, connect the inside cameras to LAN instead of WIFI) or maybe given that I have 3 access points, configure a different SSID for use with the cameras…

Most items need to be accessible on the internet, though I can use a server with BlueIris software for the cameras, so would only need that accessible…

Hope this is not too vague, will be more than happy to hear suggestions J

Thanks and regards

Sandro

 

[mammador]

How big is the switch (in port numbers)

I would say place everything on the switch, including the access points. There should be sufficient bandwidth to house all nodes.

Regarding the cameras, it depends on whether your router can accommodate more than one SSID. A VLAN for a very small network isn't really advisable (IMO, VLANs are best for very large/enterprise networks).

 

[pyspilf]

The switch is 48 ports.

I already have everything on the switch, though I am only using one access point, the D-Link DW2100.

My main issue currently is that with these 6 cameras, all VGA resolution and MJPEG, with usually 3 connected to the access point and the other 3 to the router WIFI, I struggle even to get a video stream at a meagre 1fps... I keep getting timeouts.

I have been around the outside of the house with inSSIDer and have seen there is average signal strength, nothing too high or low. I have assigned non-overlapping channels to the router and AP.

I can only think of a) making the SSID not hidden in case it has some bearing on this issue, and deploy the other two access points, each with a different SSID and so force each camera to connect to its nearest AP by using the appropriate SSID...

Is this a good way? Would it not make more sense to have the whole camera infrastructure on its own?

Cheers!

 

[imagoon]

The switch is 48 ports.

I already have everything on the switch, though I am only using one access point, the D-Link DW2100.

My main issue currently is that with these 6 cameras, all VGA resolution and MJPEG, with usually 3 connected to the access point and the other 3 to the router WIFI, I struggle even to get a video stream at a meagre 1fps... I keep getting timeouts.

I have been around the outside of the house with inSSIDer and have seen there is average signal strength, nothing too high or low. I have assigned non-overlapping channels to the router and AP.

I can only think of a) making the SSID not hidden in case it has some bearing on this issue, and deploy the other two access points, each with a different SSID and so force each camera to connect to its nearest AP by using the appropriate SSID...

Is this a good way? Would it not make more sense to have the whole camera infrastructure on its own?

Cheers!

The meager 1fps is likely a wifi issue. Do the cameras have Ethernet? If so connect it and test it to see the performance. That switch won't have a problem handling camera feeds and you can leave it as a flat network with all 1 ip range unless security is an issue with the cameras. If security is a major issue you can vlan out the cameras but would will need a router (not a cheapy home router either) to connect the camera network to the other one.

 

[pyspilf]

OK. I will try the 3 inside cams with a wired connection and report back. Got home from work too late for that today (it is 22:00 here in Spain...) so I will update tomorrow

Rgds

 

[pyspilf]

Still fidgeting with the WIFI side of things... one odd aspect I have noticed, by looking at the list of connected wireless stations to both the wifi router and the access point is that most of the time all cameras are connected to the access point. For some cameras, that means ignoring the router that is about 10m away with a wall in between, in favour of the AP that is at least 20m away with three walls in the way...

Both router and AP have same SSID, encryption and key (WPA2/PSK)

I am baffled...

Any ideas as to why this may be happening?

 

[pyspilf]

I have discovered some interesting facts...

Two particular outside cameras kept connecting to the farthest AP instead of the router, while the third one would connect to the router.

I found that my router does not support WPA2/TKIP but only WPA2/AES. I changed the AP to also use only WPA2/AES and completely lost connection to these cameras, it was only restored when I reverted the AP to WPA2/TKIP.

Looking at the cameras, the two that don't connect to the router (AES) but yes to the AP (TKIP) use a B-Link Electronic Limited NIC for WIFI and the one that connects properly with AES uses a VIA Networking Technologies for WIFI...

Wondering if it could be a "simple" case of incompatibility across different versions of firmware/hardware and encryption implementations...

Fascinating world this one, LOL!!!

 

[imagoon]

Wireless AP choice is entirely the decision of the device. I had to deal with this in large Aruba deployments. Basically the built in MS handler did a 1/2 decent job jumping as needed but the original Dell wifi app would lock on and not let go from any AP until it dropped. The end result was uninstalling all the Dell junk and then telling the AP's to not support 1 and 2 Mbps so the weaker connection dropped for stronger APs.

So yeah, it could be as simple as the camera sees both and the father one has a lower MAC or something so it picks it. WIFI devices tend to be fairly stupid / simply coded.