How should I setup my home internet/wireless network?

Question

Here is what I have...Netgear R6200 and Linksys EA4500. I have a desktop in my office at the moment with the EA4500 (primary router) in the same room. Wired connection to desktop, Xbox 360 and a wire through my home (walls and all) to our master bedroom cascaded with the R6200 (secondary router) as LAN-LAN. I am wanting to know if this is the best way to do it or not. I have been researching the heck out of this. Should I switch the routers to make the R6200 the primary? Should I use LAN-WAN?

The other thing is that I have a smart tv in my living room that I currently use Wifi connection on, but I am a man and want the best picture. Should I hardwire with Ethernet powerline extenders from primary router? Or should I get a second modem, uncascade the two routers, keep one modem/router in the office and the other modem/router next to the tv, thus having two separate router setups?

My overall plan is to build a media server from scratch to have EVERYTHING on it and be able to stream to any device, including the TV. This will allow me to get rid of blu ray player, cable and all my external hard drives. Just have one centralized media server. Which leads to one last question, how can I stream stuff from the server to the smart TV? Media Extender? I want to be able to control it with remote. I do not want to display mirror.

Any and all information and help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Alright Mr. KR, you get to move to the 2nd row of the class! Nicely Done, sir!



BigE was correct in asking the DHCP question because you didn't originally mention how R2 was configured. I saw your reply to him but I have one more item on that matter: Hopefully you gave R2 a static IP so that you can get back into it. And the IP shouldn't be in the DHCP range R1 is handing out. If you configured R2 correctly then you successfully created 1 network for your house and every device has a chance to see every other device.



- Ethernet/Cat 5e+ connections are preferred over Wi-Fi connections.

- If your TV can handle a Cat 5e cable -- I say go for it.

- You may need a small switch at some point in the future.



The next few questions I had were:

- Did you use 2 different SSIDs or try to use the same SSID (and password) on each Wi-Fi signal?

- Is everything working as designed, so far?



As for using a media center set up -- I've got no info on that. I use a Fire Stick on one TV; a Roku box on the 2nd; and a ChromeCast on a 3rd. Hopefully your TV's new enough that it'll 'see' a connected hard drive and pull media from it.



Good luck!



-- Update --

Read your comments... and Welcome to the ThunderDome! :) Well, I think the part where you mentioned using a 2nd modem got you in a bit of hot water. Under normal circumstances a home only gets to use 1 modem on their ISP connection.



Of course there are always exceptions -- for example, if your 1st ISP connection is via DSL you could conceivably purchase a Cable ISP connection and get a 2nd modem that way. So when we hear someone say, "I want to connect a 2nd modem" -- it naturally sounds like they want to daisy-chain (or 'cascade' in your lingo) 2 modems together -- which you cannot do. I simply chose to ignore that bit of your story since the other parts sounded correct (and since the gang had already mentioned the issue).



Lastly, if you're not already an IT tech you did a nice job connecting your equipment and getting it to work correctly. You've got some pretty good researching skills.



And there's definitely a learning curve to asking questions in here. If you keep in mind that the advice is free then you'll be (sort of) prepared for the wide variation in answers that you'll sometimes receive.



Cheers.

Answer 2

Totally wrong. You are lucky it works at all. You should wire directly from the main router to the computers. If there are not enough ports for that you add a network switch, NOT a router. You can NOT use two modems on the same line it will stop your connection. From the mess you are getting yourself into you should get someone who knows at least something about computers and networking to help you.

Answer 3

The problem with questions such as yours is that noone here knows your layout, your home/ap floorplan, nor your current/future intended use.



Are you a game-junkie that has to have to fastest response time when playing? Are you an audiophile that throws a fit when/if your movies begin to buffer? Do you have children or a spouse in the home that have a habit of changing your network setup without your knowledge? Is there a business server you plan on setting up later on? The questions appear benign but are actually important... to you.



Generally speaking the average home user should use a LAN-LAN configuration. They should use a switch instead of a secondary router (for simplicity). You should hard-wire where you can and use wireless only if necessary. That said...



The most "powerful" router should be used as the primary if using multiple routers. Wifi extenders are nothing more than wireless repeaters with less ethernet plugs, so if you going to throw money away then buy a wireless router with a repeater capability. If you have MULTIPLE devices that are too far away to hard-wire then that is generally when you want to use a repeater. If you have a large house with multiple floors, cement basement, or outside structure (gazebo, unattached garage, workshop, poolhouse etc) then that is a different conversation.



You do not need to up-end your setup just for your SmartTV. Most of these devices can function just fine with a minimal G-mode or N-mode client which are both commonplace at this point. As long as the TV is relatively close to the wireless router you should be fine. Most modern routers have built in streaming capabilities so you may only need an external harddrive where you can place your movies to play them to your devices. As someone else mentioned your SmartTV may have streaming features that allow you play movies between it and your other devices with very little intervention.



The reason you would want to use LAN-WAN is if you were wanting to isolate your home office traffic away from your leisure traffic (i.e. if you were running a web server that people outside your home use or if you work from home with a larger organization that uses a VPN service). Another reason would be if you had wife/kids at home and you wanted to isolate their traffic, monitor their traffic, and/or want add an extra layer of security between your sub network and theirs. LAN-WAN also allows you to set up multiple WLAN (i.e. separate wireless networks) and multiple DHCPs. Despite what many say about the drawbacks of LAN-WAN there are benefits to its use, especially if you properly set up static routes between the routers. It is not as difficult as people make it out. The key thing to remember is devices behind the secondary router can see out but devices in front of it (connected to the primary) cannot see in. So in the case of your media server, you would have to set it up behind the primary in order to stream movies to devices behind the secondary.



I, for example, run a "softmodded" original Xbox using XBMC/Kobi streaming behind a LAN-WAN. At the top-level there is a Belkin streaming service built-in the primary router. The main media server for our home is set up on the primary router. I use the XBMC modded Xbox to play my personal movies to my PC or my Xbox 360. A low traffic web-server runs at the secondary-level via port forward.

Answer 4

"Should I switch the routers to make the R6200 the primary? Should I use LAN-WAN?"



LAN-LAN has the advantage that all the devices share the same subnet. This will allow you to share files and use printers, etc spread across the two routers. With a LAN-WAN connection, computers on the primary router will not be able to access devices connected to the secondary router. Secondary router computers can reach the primary router computers, but opening the connections tends to be much more complicated. Stick with LAN-LAN. Also, port forwarding for connections coming in from the Internet are much easier with LAN-LAN dual router networks. For example, if you have a security camera on your home network you might need port forwarding if you want to view the camera's image when you are away from home.



Unless there is a good reason for swapping the two routers over, leave them as they are.



"I have a smart tv in my living room that I currently use Wifi connection on, but I am a man and want the best picture. Should I hardwire with Ethernet powerline [adapters] from primary router?"



You can use Powerline adapters connected to either router. I use the following adapters for my TV.



http://www.tp-link.us/products/details/cat-18_TL-PA4010KIT.html



I also have an extra adapter to provide connection from my desktop PC in another part of the house. Powerline networks typically can have 6 or 7 adapters in the network.



"should I get a second modem, uncascade the two routers, keep one modem/router in the office and the other modem/router next to the tv, thus having two separate router setups?"



You can only have one modem connected to your ISP line. Connect a second modem and the connection will die with ADSL. With cable, you might be able to connect a second modem, but your ISP will charge you for two Internet connections.



"My overall plan is to build a media server from scratch to have EVERYTHING on it and be able to stream to any device, including the TV. This will allow me to get rid of blu ray player, cable and all my external hard drives. Just have one centralized media server."



The LAN-LAN set up is the best way to achieve a complete network streaming from a single media server.



"Which leads to one last question, how can I stream stuff from the server to the smart TV?"



Many smart TVs provide a streaming capability from a media server on the same subnet. For other TVs then you might be able to find a media server add-on unit that will provide the same functionality including remote control as a smart TV can provide.



As a slight tangent to this question, for many of the catch-up TV services and for services such as Netflix, I use a Chromecast dongle plugged into a HDMI port on the TV. This gets its connection to my network by WiFi, but handles full HD movies without any flicker or breaks in the stream. The TV/Chromecast is about 7 metres from my router. I use my Android smart phone, or a Windows laptop or a Chromebook laptop as the remote control for the shows via the Chromecast. There are extension apps for the Chromebook that act as a media extender. Sometimes I use either of the two laptops (above) with the TV so that the whole family can watch when I visit specific sites on the Internet.



Once set up, a Chromecast dongle can be managed from an Ethernet connected computer on the same subnet.



I hope this helps.

Answer 5

First, if it is LAN-LAN, the secondary router is not being used as a router, it is an Access Point. That one better have DHCP and other services turned off. DId you set it up? Sounds like you don't understand how it is setup at all.

Answer 6

the problem with questions such as yours is that noone here knows your layout, your home/ap floorplan, nor your current/future intended use.................................................................................



are you a game-junkie that has to have to fastest response time when playing? are you an audiophile that throws a fit when/if your movies begin to buffer? do you have children or a spouse in the home that have a habit of changing your network setup without your knowledge? is there a business server you plan on setting up later on? the questions appear benign but are actually important...................................................................................................... to you.................................................................................



generally speaking the average home user should use a lan-lan configuration................................................................................. they should use a switch instead of a secondary router (for simplicity)................................................................................. you should hard-wire where you can and use wireless only if necessary................................................................................. that said.....................................................................................................................



the most "powerful" router should be used as the primary if using multiple routers................................................................................. wifi extenders are nothing more than wireless repeaters with less ethernet plugs, so if you going to throw money away then buy a wireless router with a repeater capability................................................................................. if you have multiple devices that are too far away to hard-wire then that is generally when you want to use a repeater................................................................................. if you have a large house with multiple floors, cement basement, or outside structure (gazebo, unattached garage, workshop, poolhouse etc) then that is a different conversation.................................................................................



you do not need to up-end your setup just for your smarttv................................................................................. most of these devices can function just fine with a minimal g-mode or n-mode client which are both commonplace at this point................................................................................. as long as the tv is relatively close to the wireless router you should be fine................................................................................. most modern routers have built in streaming capabilities so you may only need an external harddrive where you can place your movies to play them to your devices................................................................................. as someone else mentioned your smarttv may have streaming features that allow you play movies between it and your other devices with very little intervention.................................................................................



the reason you would want to use lan-wan is if you were wanting to isolate your home office traffic away from your leisure traffic (i.................................................................................e....................................... if you were running a web server that people outside your home use or if you work from home with a larger organization that uses a vpn service)................................................................................. another reason would be if you had wife/kids at home and you wanted to isolate their traffic, monitor their traffic, and/or want add an extra layer of security between your sub network and theirs................................................................................. lan-wan also allows you to set up multiple wlan (i.................................................................................e....................................... separate wireless networks) and multiple dhcps................................................................................. despite what numerous say about the drawbacks of lan-wan there are benefits to its use, especially if you properly set up static routes between the routers................................................................................. it is not as difficult as people make it out................................................................................. the key thing to remember is devices behind the secondary router can see out but devices in front of it (connected to the primary) cannot see in................................................................................. so in the case of your media server, you would have to set it up behind the primary in order to stream movies to devices behind the secondary.................................................................................



i, for example, run a "softmodded" original xbox using xbmc/kobi streaming behind a lan-wan................................................................................. at the top-level there's a belkin streaming service built-in the primary router................................................................................. the main media server for our home is set up on the primary router................................................................................. i use the xbmc modded xbox to play my personal movies to my pc or my xbox 360................................................................................. a low traffic web-server runs at the secondary-level via port forward.................................................................................