Home network setup help pls...

[stillrobaroo]

I have a house full of teenagers sucking the life out of my internet connection. Therefore i figure its time to setup a new network. Really need your help pls.

I currently have a Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi router which ive had a few years now so i have just ordered the newer version Netgear Nighthawk X4s R7800. Currently all Lan cables are Cat5E so i figure they will need upgrading too.

My current connection is 1000/60 mbit (Joys of living in Scandinavia)

I have drawn a rough diagram of my house setup. This doesnt include playstations, mobile phone which use the WIFI.

Can i get as much advice as possible pls?

Did i choose the right router?
Do i upgrade my cables to Cat 6E?
Did i miss something in general?
Looking to create a fast network. Especially on my main gaming pc which is 20m away from the router 🙁

Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

 

[bill001g]

There is no such thing as cat6E. You can get cat6a but it buys you nothing if you do not have 10gbit ports. Cat5e is rated to run 1gbit at 100 meters. Plugging cat6a cable into 1gbit jacks still only runs at 1gbit. The length of the cable means nothing as long as you are under 100meters.

You may see no improvement on your wireless at all with the new router. Router manufacture try to con people into larger numbers is always better.

They talk about feature like 4x4 mimo or MU-mimo. 4x4 mimo requires the end device have 4 antenna which is extremely rare. MU-mimo is also not supported by many end device so the feature will not be used.

In most cases the issues with wifi are the end device and not the router causing the problems. Many end devices have small antenna and low power radios to save power and size. To really get the high speeds you need to use cards that only go into desktop machines. Many times you can get wired connections to desktop machines so it becomes a mute point that they can run the fancy wifi standards.

 

[wpengu]

Bill is on point. You could get a Cat6 cable. I wouldn't recommend it. It's just a slightly better cable, but not enough to improve it.

The issue of the speed would be the Internet speed you're paying for. That is what makes the real difference.

I will disagree kind of with the whole router manufacture try to con people. The newer router's wifi speeds are normally more consistent. Also if you're playing a game, it's best to not play on WiFi, if you want the best connection. Bill, pretty much explained why.

 

[punkncat]

Go into your router and set "limits" and/or a schedule on the kids devices. Give your own device priority on the network.

 

[bill001g]

Go into your router and set "limits" and/or a schedule on the kids devices. Give your own device priority on the network.

He has a gbit connection it is almost impossible to use that much bandwidth without someone intentionally being abusive. Only something like a bit torrent can use it for long periods of time.

The problem is if he sets any of the QoS limitation features his maximum speed will likely drop into the 250-300mbps range. All the traffic must then be processed by the CPU.

Routers that can run gbit connections have a hardware acceleration feature that is disabled if you try to use many of the fancy features.

You generally don't learn about this issue until you get a internet connection that can run faster than 300mbps. You end up trading advance features for the high speed.

 

[Eximo]

Separate devices into 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz where appropriate. That will reduce traffic on the frequencies. 2.4Ghz for long range, 5Ghz for short range. Run as many cables as possible. The less on the airwaves the better.

If you have close neighbors they can also be using the available wireless bandwidth. Not by connecting to your router, but just broadcasting on that frequency. WiFi only really lets one device transmit at a time. You can use some tools to help you change your settings to maximize bandwidth. https://www.netspotapp.com/wifi-channel-scanner.html

 

[wpengu]

Go into your router and set "limits" and/or a schedule on the kids devices. Give your own device priority on the network.

He has a gbit connection it is almost impossible to use that much bandwidth without someone intentionally being abusive. Only something like a bit torrent can use it for long periods of time.

The problem is if he sets any of the QoS limitation features his maximum speed will likely drop into the 250-300mbps range. All the traffic must then be processed by the CPU.

Routers that can run gbit connections have a hardware acceleration feature that is disabled if you try to use many of the fancy features.

You generally don't learn about this issue until you get a internet connection that can run faster than 300mbps. You end up trading advance features for the high speed.

Yeah, my bad I skipped right over the part where he said his speed.

 

[failboat]

What performance issues are you running into? Do you actually get the full 1Gbs speeds or is the line oversold? once you get your pcs wired your internet will be much better if everything is on wifi now.

As for buying cables make sure to buy riser cable if it's inside a wall, plenum cable in a plenum. Don't buy CCA. certifications like UL are a plus. If it's not certified it's quality claims are meaningless. Only buy UTP (unshielded). shielded wires carry extra risks if installed wrong. foiled isn't really worth it either. the gauge of the cable should be low enough for POE+ if you ever want to run access points using POE. crimping low gauge cable with riser jackets is very difficult, which is why I suggest keystones and patch panels. cat6a isn't a lot more expensive for a small install +$100 total. the cable, patch panel, and keystones need to be the same spec and certified. monoprice is a good place to buy from.

If they are in the wall use keystones and run everything from a patch panel. buy patch cables in bulk. avoid cascading switches to get more ports at one location. just run the amount of wires you need and use a big enough switch at the patch panel location. access points for wireless are the way to go in my opinion. unifi ones are very nice.

 

[punkncat]

Paying attention to the little drawing he made us indicates that there are 5 smart TV using internet, there are 5 computers. This makes no mention of further number of gaming consoles that are referenced in the post, nor does it indicate how many mobile devices are going, or number of teens using them.
I can tell you from my own experience that two teens video chatting with several of their friends while simultaneously watching Netflix, while converting a YouTube, running a torrent, etc will eat bandwidth like nothing. I had to set up something similar to what I suggested to even be able to use my internet, even recently. I would suppose that if he is mentioning the issue, he is 'feeling' it too. That's a lot of devices on a home network.
My bet would be (and this is much according to where he is) that if the kids are running torrents or Kodi boxes, it's highly probably that the ISP is throttling him anyway.

Go into your router and set "limits" and/or a schedule on the kids devices. Give your own device priority on the network.

He has a gbit connection it is almost impossible to use that much bandwidth without someone intentionally being abusive. Only something like a bit torrent can use it for long periods of time.

The problem is if he sets any of the QoS limitation features his maximum speed will likely drop into the 250-300mbps range. All the traffic must then be processed by the CPU.

Routers that can run gbit connections have a hardware acceleration feature that is disabled if you try to use many of the fancy features.

You generally don't learn about this issue until you get a internet connection that can run faster than 300mbps. You end up trading advance features for the high speed.

 

[bill001g]

Paying attention to the little drawing he made us indicates that there are 5 smart TV using internet, there are 5 computers. This makes no mention of further number of gaming consoles that are referenced in the post, nor does it indicate how many mobile devices are going, or number of teens using them.
I can tell you from my own experience that two teens video chatting with several of their friends while simultaneously watching Netflix, while converting a YouTube, running a torrent, etc will eat bandwidth like nothing. I had to set up something similar to what I suggested to even be able to use my internet, even recently. I would suppose that if he is mentioning the issue, he is 'feeling' it too. That's a lot of devices on a home network.
My bet would be (and this is much according to where he is) that if the kids are running torrents or Kodi boxes, it's highly probably that the ISP is throttling him anyway.

Go into your router and set "limits" and/or a schedule on the kids devices. Give your own device priority on the network.

He has a gbit connection it is almost impossible to use that much bandwidth without someone intentionally being abusive. Only something like a bit torrent can use it for long periods of time.

The problem is if he sets any of the QoS limitation features his maximum speed will likely drop into the 250-300mbps range. All the traffic must then be processed by the CPU.

Routers that can run gbit connections have a hardware acceleration feature that is disabled if you try to use many of the fancy features.

You generally don't learn about this issue until you get a internet connection that can run faster than 300mbps. You end up trading advance features for the high speed.

Although it is unlikely his connection is fully used your solution will not work for him. Your internet connection must be under 300mbps or you would have found the hardware acceleration limitation.
When you use QoS all traffic must pass through the CPU and even the fastest router cpu can barely get to 300mbps. You have to use a actual pc or a commercial router to get enough CPU power to pass traffic and do the NAT at high rates of speed.

Pretty much QoS or any other form of traffic limits are a worthless feature when you use consumer routers on high speed internet connections.

 

[punkncat]

Hey Bill, can you link me some reading on what you are talking about. Obviously, I don't get internet like that here so this is an area I am apparently unfamiliar with, am lost.

Thanks.

 

[failboat]

Ignore my other post. I didn't realize you already had cables. You should be fine with what you have.

Monitor the network when you are getting lag and try and figure out who is swamping it.
You can max that upload pretty fast if people are streaming on twitch or seeding.

You can limit their internet in various ways. You can force them down to 100Mbs fairly easily by changing duplex on their port.
The router may have limiters which should be able to keep up with your connection. You could also add in something downstream with all of them plugged into it and limit it there. I don't see how you could fill that connection unless you aren't actually getting that or it's on the upload side.