Home Network!

[radCAT]

Hey guys,
I'm just after some advice on how i should set up my home network.
I live in a 2 storey house and i'm downstairs. The modem, however, is upstairs and is currently connected to a fairly cheap netgear wireless router (10/100mbps).

I've managed to run ethernet cables downstairs to connect to my computer/laptop and it's connected to a cheap TP/Link switch (also 10/100mbps). Also connected to this switch is a My Book Live (A fairly expensive NAS which is supposed to allow gigabit speed transfers, but it runs like shit right now - barely even works it's so slow).

So i'm in obvious need to upgrade to gigabit connections as well as an upgrade to my wireless network.

I have this router in mind for upstairs to connect to the modem: TL-WR2543ND - Welcome to TP-LINK

And i haven't looked too much into switches but i understand they're quite cheap to get a gigabit switch with about 5 ports.



Any assistance is greatly appreciated!
Thanks very much

[hyudsjk]

You need to make sure the NIC on your desktop/laptop is gigabit otherwise this whole exercise will be a waste of time and money.

With that being said, gigabit switches are indeed cheap. Here's a 5 port TP-Link gigabit switch you can get from PCCG for $35 - TP-Link SG1005D 5 port Unmanaged Gigabit Desktop Switch [TL-SG1005D] - $35.00 : PC Case Gear

I'd personally invest a little more money and get something from a better brand but it all comes down to your budget.

[radCAT]

You need to make sure the NIC on your desktop/laptop is gigabit otherwise this whole exercise will be a waste of time and money.

With that being said, gigabit switches are indeed cheap. Here's a 5 port TP-Link gigabit switch you can get from PCCG for $35 - TP-Link SG1005D 5 port Unmanaged Gigabit Desktop Switch [TL-SG1005D] - $35.00 : PC Case Gear

I'd personally invest a little more money and get something from a better brand but it all comes down to your budget.

That's such a good price :')

I'm running a macbook pro so i can only assume it has a gigabit port.
I thought TP-Link was actually a pretty decent brand. Can you suggest something better?

Thanks!

[Ivo]

ASUS GX-D1081 Power Saving 8-port Gigabit Switch [GX-D1081] - $59.00 : PC Case Gear
or something else advertising good frame sizes

[radCAT]

ASUS GX-D1081 Power Saving 8-port Gigabit Switch [GX-D1081] - $59.00 : PC Case Gear
or something else advertising good frame sizes

I like it!
I might get that one, although i don't really need the 8 ports :P

There's no such thing as a wireless switch is there? It'd have to be a bridge which extends the rage of an existing wireless network, am i right?

I'm considering attempting a broadcast of the NAS on a wireless network so i can access it from my laptop without having my laptop plugged in, but my current router does not support gigabit and is only very slow wireless transfer speeds. What are your thoughts on this router?
TP-Link TL-WR2543ND Dual band Wireless N Gigabit Router [TL-WR2543ND] - $99.00 : PC Case Gear

Or should i stick with Asus and get something like this?
ASUS RT-N16 Gigabit Wireless N Router [RT-N16] - $135.00 : PC Case Gear

Thanks ivo

[Ivo]

I like it!
I might get that one, although i don't really need the 8 ports :P

There's no such thing as a wireless switch is there? It'd have to be a bridge which extends the rage of an existing wireless network, am i right?

I'm considering attempting a broadcast of the NAS on a wireless network so i can access it from my laptop without having my laptop plugged in, but my current router does not support gigabit and is only very slow wireless transfer speeds. What are your thoughts on this router?
TP-Link TL-WR2543ND Dual band Wireless N Gigabit Router [TL-WR2543ND] - $99.00 : PC Case Gear

Or should i stick with Asus and get something like this?
ASUS RT-N16 Gigabit Wireless N Router [RT-N16] - $135.00 : PC Case Gear

Thanks ivo

If your router support 5ghz band, you might want to go with the tp-link; otherwise, the asus has an extra usb port and application support. You'd need to look up reviews for their practical performance.

[radCAT]

If your router support 5ghz band, you might want to go with the tp-link; otherwise, the asus has an extra usb port and application support. You'd need to look up reviews for their practical performance.

Why would it matter if my router supports 5ghz band if i'm just gonna buy a new one? D:
I'm also not too interested in the USB port as i'm fairly sure it only supports storage devices, which is useless to me considering i have the NAS!

I'll start looking up reviews now

[Ivo]

Why would it matter if my router supports 5ghz band if i'm just gonna buy a new one? D:
I'm also not too interested in the USB port as i'm fairly sure it only supports storage devices, which is useless to me considering i have the NAS!

I'll start looking up reviews now

Sorry, I meant laptop.

But if your router did, you could possibly (not sure) bridge them at a high speed as well.

[radCAT]

Sorry, I meant laptop.

But if your router did, you could possibly (not sure) bridge them at a high speed as well.

ohh okay, i'm actually not sure how to find out on OSX whether it does support 5ghz. I don't suppose you know? either way i'll do a bit of research and find out

My current router is a bit of a piece of crap so i'll probably end up just upgrading it as well, just to make sure i'm getting top network speeds


EDIT: laptop supports 5ghz