How to best setup my network in a Townhouse

[ob187]

I just purchased a three story Townhouse and am ready to setup my wired and wireless network.

I found that there are ethernet ports on all three levels. There is a cat5 patch panel one of the bedrooms on Level 3.

I just bought the following:
- Motorola Surfboard SB6141 Cable Modem
- Asus - Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router with 4-Port Ethernet Switch
- Linksys - 5-Port 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet Switch

On the 1st floor is where my office will be so I'd like to have my Desktop computer connection via ethernet.

On the 2nd & 3rd floor is where I'd like to have my wireless connection be active.

Should I hook up my Cable Modem and Wirless Router on the 3rd floor to the Patch Panel?

Or should I hook it up on the 1st floor and just connect my desktop in the 1st floor office to the Wireless router via an ethernet cable and hope the 2nd and 3rd floors will be able to access the wireless router?

Do I even need the Linksys - 5-Port 10/100 Mbps Fast Ethernet Switch? My wireless router has a four point ethernet switch (the Patch Panel only has four ethernet ports to it)

 

[corroded]

no, you do not need the switch... it is old tech anyways... Is your ASUS router 's LAN port Gigabit?

based on the distribution I'd say put the router and modem on the floor that will use the wifi most since your PC will be wired.

 

[ob187]

I'm not sure if it's LAN port Gigabit. How do I tell?
- It's a ASUS RT-N66R

The only problem with putting the cable modem and router on the 2nd floor is I wouldn't be able to take advantage of the Cat5 patch panel which is on the 3rd floor.

 

[corroded]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320091
"Four Gigabit Ethernet Ports"

Then put it at the distro panel and play with the antenna for best reception on the second floor... my home is a virtual Faraday cage, I have a wifi router and an access point to cover the whole house.

 

[ob187]

Yes, that is the one I have with Four Gigabit Ethernet Ports.

So if I put the cable modem and wireless router at the cat5 panel, where would I need an access point?

And how do I connect the cable modem and wireless router to the cat5 panel so each room has internet via ethernet?

 

[corroded]

Cable outlet connect to cable modem

ethernet out from cable modem to router's WAN / Internet port

patch cord to each floors port from LAN port of router.

Wiring Done

As long as the cable modem is initialized from the provider, turn it all on and configure the router via the wizard it comes with.

You can fiddle with the routers antenna to get the best coverage on the second floor. You may not need an access point...

 

[ob187]

If I need an access point, where would I put it?

The setup you described sounds pretty easy....is it a simple set up?

 

[corroded]

pretty much...

the way to check if you need an access point is to use a WiFi analyzer. I use one on my Android phone and tablet, there are quite a few out there. I normally use "WiFi Analyser" from the Play store. If you have a "Jobs phone" the App store will have one as well, just get the free one.

In it, you are looking for the signal strength around the house. the settings are in dBm, negatives.... you want the signal to be greater than -70 dBm. Start in the same room as the router, the signal should be awesome, -10dBm and such. The meter refreshes about 3 or 4 time a minute... Move around to places you would sit with a tablet, phone or laptop and wait for the tool to refresh. If you get to the sescond floor and run into real low signals, under -70dBm, PM me and we can talk about fixing it.

 

[Pooneil]

It sounds like someone thought this through when building the structure.

Put access points anywhere you have wired Ethernet. Within the limits of excessive interference with each other or the neighbors WiFi. Positioning will depend on your needs on each floor. You can probably have one on the top floor and one on the bottom floor and still get good coverage on the middle floor as long as they are in opposite corners of the house.