Need help to set up large(!) home network

winnoe

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Hi everyone,

Would really appreciate all the Seniors & Brothers advice.
I am a little lost when it comes to Networking, and I've searched HWZ forums, reddit and cant seem to find the right information i need.

Long story short, uncle renovated his house, invited my family to stay and take whole 2nd floor, brother & family takes whole 3rd floor, uncle (bachelor) stays on 4th floor. Then we can both rent out our HDB for some passive income.

Since he is so generous, I am taking it upon myself to sponsor the whole house Internet/Wifi/AP/etc as a show of gratitude. :)

Let me give the breakdown of users/devices:

4th floor (Uncle - Gamer)
Wired devices : 3 (2 TVs and 1 PC)
Wifi devices : 5 (1 x laptop, 3 x mobile devices, 1 x wireless speaker)

3rd floor (brother, his wife and 2 teens girls)
Wired devices : 3 (1 TV, 2 PC)
Wifi devices : 5 (5 mobile devices)

2nd floor (me - Gamer, my wife, 2 young kids)
Wired devices : 4 (1 x NAS, 1 x PC, 2 x TV)
Wifi devices : 7 (1 x printer, 1 x laptop, 1 x Wireless IP camera for baby, 4 x mobile devices)

1st floor (living room/dining room)
Wire devices : 4 (1x internet fridge, 2x TV, 1x Video Conference room)
Wifi devices : 4 (2x sets of speakers, 1 x alexa +6 philips Hue bulbs +motorized blinds, 1 x helper's phone)

So that's ermm.... like 14 individual LAN connections (not including the wifi mesh or access points that i need to connect), and upto 22 devices in use at any one point in time.

OMG, i've only ever set up home network of:
Viewqwest ONR ---> Asus AC68U ---> PC + TV.

i'm probably going with Viewqwest again.


Can the experts here recommend me :
- Should i use wifi Mesh? Maybe Asus Aimesh... I heard Netgear Orbi (which my brother has) only supports up to 3 satellites only, which given how huge the property is (3800sqft land and 8200sqft built up), i doubt Orbi can fully cover the house.)

- I probably need at least 4 AP/Wifi Mesh throughout the house, right? I prefer to have ethernet backhaul on the mesh.

- Or maybe i should go with Viewqwest 2gbps line with a link aggregation router and then plug in a 24 port gigabit switch to that and plug all the devices & AP to it?

- I have no idea if i need PoE ports on the switch, but i think uncle's video conference room has a Polycomm phone.

- Uncle and myself are big on gaming, he's still got his reflexes, at 57 he sometimes smokes me in COD and Titanfall 2 still. The rest of the household are just into TV and streaming and online shopping. Would we need a router with QoS prioritization? If so, which router?

- The OpenNet FTP is in the storeroom under the stairs, which is hidden behind a giant granite feature wall that swings open.It's usually shut. So am i correct to assume little to no signal will escape that area? I think walls/structure is mainly concrete + steel bars, very little bricks used. How do i get a powerful router that can maximize the 2 x 1gpbs link aggregation without wasting the wifi?

arghh... please help! So many things to consider, getting dizzy... lol :s22:

thank you for reading my lor soh post. :s13:
 

winnoe

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I'd add LAN points throughout the house and go with Ubiquiti.

Thanks! As i understand, each of the 9 bedrooms have 1-2 R45 faceplates installed already, except for helper's room which has only normal power socket (no LAN).

But Ubiquiti is a "non-commercial" system right? meaning I'd need some kind of networking knowledge to set up. My knowledge of networking starts at power on, plug in LAN, and stops at reboot until it works.
 

winnoe

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Thank you... i'm reading your blog now. For Google Mesh, it doesnt support MU-MIMO, which I guess is fine if i put 2 mesh in each floor (8 total).

Do you happen to know what is the max "meshes" that the Google Mesh system can support? If it is 8 or more, might go for that.

Would probably still need a QoS router though, my household streams a lot of HD and 4K, i think we have like total 3 spotify premium, 1 tidal account, and 3 netflix premier accounts.
 

dryteletubby

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Get a unifi USG (router) connect it to a 24 port unifi PoE switch

Get either a ceiling mount unifi AP
or wall mount unifi AP for each room or floor depending on your house layout. A cloud key to run the controller software is optional as you can run the software on a PC once just to set it up and update. Unless you require a captive portal or data logging then you have to run the controller 24/7.

You probably don't want to use consumer grade hardware like asus, netgear etc as they are unlikely to be able to handle/scale up to your use case.

Also you don't need 2Gbps of internet speed. Gaming and IoT devices does not use up that much bandwidth.

Personally I use about 3TB of bandwidth a day on my 500Mbps M1 broadband plan.

This series should help you understand how to set up a unifi network
 
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petetherock

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Thank you... i'm reading your blog now. For Google Mesh, it doesnt support MU-MIMO, which I guess is fine if i put 2 mesh in each floor (8 total).

Do you happen to know what is the max "meshes" that the Google Mesh system can support? If it is 8 or more, might go for that.

Would probably still need a QoS router though, my household streams a lot of HD and 4K, i think we have like total 3 spotify premium, 1 tidal account, and 3 netflix premier accounts.

Usually six
https://support.google.com/wifi/answer/7183150?hl=en

You don’t really need two per floor
I have one one each floor, I get 7-800 mps on Wifi
For mission critical stuff, I use the Lan points.
I place the AP at the landing between rooms.
Seamless.
There are newer Mesh products, you can consider them too. I just find google mesh simple. Kinda like Mac.
 

emo_121

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I'd add LAN points throughout the house and go with Ubiquiti.

I second this. Consumer hardware wouldn't be able to handle your needs. Especially if you both are gaming at the same time. I am on Viewquest 1Gbps with netgear 24port switch, business hardware not consumer's.

You mentioned the rooms are already equipped with the RJ45 ports
Perhaps tell us more about how the Rj45 Ports are wired?

What type of wire is used?
I assume 1 port per room? or 2 ports per room?
Where are the termination points for the RJ45 wall ports?

Are you planning on separating the networks? Like 4th floor is 4th floor network. 3rd floor is 3rd floor network.
OR
Mesh it all out as "one house" Network? My personal preference is to separate out the NAS from the network unless you intend to share.
 

SyncGuy

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Aiyo... What's the budget?

If limitless, then I would just slap on the Asus AX110000 router with 2.5Gbit Port onto every access point and mesh it all.. LoL!

Oh, wired mesh off course..
 

yusoffb01

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Since the house is already rj45 wired, you just need a router, connect a switch to increase lan ports for all the rj45 in the house, then google mesh to have 1 wifi network.

Alternatively you can have separate networks by getting 4 routers, 1 for each floor, the other 2 connect via the rj 45 in each floor. This will be faster than mesh
 

squarepipe

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Don't choose any home level mesh like Google mesh or orbi unless you want to be disappointed. Your home requirements is way above what those brands can provide.

Go for ubiquiti gear at least.
 

winnoe

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Aiyo... What's the budget?

If limitless, then I would just slap on the Asus AX110000 router with 2.5Gbit Port onto every access point and mesh it all.. LoL!

Oh, wired mesh off course..

Basically i hope to get the whole house wired up, connected with good, fast, lag free, seamless internet under $3600 on purely just equipment alone (not including Viewqwest subscription).
 

winnoe

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Usually six
https://support.google.com/wifi/answer/7183150?hl=en

You don’t really need two per floor
I have one one each floor, I get 7-800 mps on Wifi
For mission critical stuff, I use the Lan points.
I place the AP at the landing between rooms.
Seamless.
There are newer Mesh products, you can consider them too. I just find google mesh simple. Kinda like Mac.

TS
May I suggest read up on the pros and cons
You already have LAN points and can make use of the Ethernet backhaul in Google WiFi
You will also be up and running in 30 mins
Just get hold of a decent 24 port gigabit switch.
I’m using such a system with great success and smoothness.
https://justclickappliances.com/amplifi-hd-vs-google-wifi-differences-explained/


Thanks Petetherock.... lemme read through your suggestions. The attractiveness of setting up everything within 1hr is tempting! I will consider it as one of my options, still researching your links + other links/information all the kind seniors and brothers have provided.
 

winnoe

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I second this. Consumer hardware wouldn't be able to handle your needs. Especially if you both are gaming at the same time. I am on Viewquest 1Gbps with netgear 24port switch, business hardware not consumer's.

You mentioned the rooms are already equipped with the RJ45 ports
Perhaps tell us more about how the Rj45 Ports are wired?

What type of wire is used?
I assume 1 port per room? or 2 ports per room?
Where are the termination points for the RJ45 wall ports?

Are you planning on separating the networks? Like 4th floor is 4th floor network. 3rd floor is 3rd floor network.
OR
Mesh it all out as "one house" Network? My personal preference is to separate out the NAS from the network unless you intend to share.

Is it the JGS524PE Netgear Prosafe 24-port that has Link Aggregation? That was the switch i was considering.

The storeroom where the FTP is located has about 19 x Cat 5e cables terminating in RJ45 connectors, each of those cables are connected to a RJ45 faceplate throughout the house.

1st floor
3 faceplates

2nd floor
5 faceplates (2x in Jr Masterbed Room, 1x in family room, 1x bedroom 1, 1x bedroom 2)

3rd floor
5 faceplates (2x in Main Masterbed Room, 1x in family room, 1x bedroom 3, 1x bedroom 4)

4th floor
3 faceplates (2x in attic, 1 x bedroom 5)

Some faceplates only have 1 connector, some have 2.

I would like the entire house to be on 1 network, so that way all household members can go anywhere they like seamlessly. I dont think we need to segregate network by floors. You're right about the NAS, maybe i'll password protect it, but it's not critical.

For a house that big, Ubiquiti is the way to go.
I know this is going to sound super noob of me... but up until 2 weeks ago, I never heard of Ubiquiti... so I still need to do my due diligence in researching.

Since the house is already rj45 wired, you just need a router, connect a switch to increase lan ports for all the rj45 in the house, then google mesh to have 1 wifi network.

Alternatively you can have separate networks by getting 4 routers, 1 for each floor, the other 2 connect via the rj 45 in each floor. This will be faster than mesh
Before I started this thread, my intention to get a JGS524PE Netgear Prosafe 24-port switch, then use 4 x Nighthawk AX8 8-Stream AX6000 to act Router and AP, and call it a day. Now that I think about it, seems wasteful to use such a powerful router as an AP.

Don't choose any home level mesh like Google mesh or orbi unless you want to be disappointed. Your home requirements is way above what those brands can provide.

Go for ubiquiti gear at least.

Thanks, seems many of you network experts like Ubiquiti.. I'm going to put this Ubiquiti as my final contender.


Seems like i am really too inexperienced in this field, thanks for everyone's comments!
 

petetherock

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Basically i hope to get the whole house wired up, connected with good, fast, lag free, seamless internet under $3600 on purely just equipment alone (not including Viewqwest subscription).

That’s an impressive budget. You can get excellent equipment
It may seem that your rate limiting factor is that your LAN is cat 5e
So unless you rip that out, you will be hovering around gigabit speeds. I find that plenty, but YMMV
I stream 4K around my home and lossless music. No issues but I’m not a gamer.
I spend under $500
On the mesh, switch and some short cat 6 cables. But I had already wired up my home with cat 6 - similar number of LAN points.

Rewiring is very costly- maybe can see if the current cables meet your needs. And if the higher end Mesh is really needed.

https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/...ifference-between-cat5-cat5e-and-cat6-cables/
 

athenodorus

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Usually six
https://support.google.com/wifi/answer/7183150?hl=en

You don’t really need two per floor
I have one one each floor, I get 7-800 mps on Wifi
For mission critical stuff, I use the Lan points.
I place the AP at the landing between rooms.
Seamless.
There are newer Mesh products, you can consider them too. I just find google mesh simple. Kinda like Mac.

i'm actually skeptical about the claims on 7-800mbps (that's almost as fast as lan speed?) on mesh wifi, especially with lower end ones like google wifi. i have never heard of such results for mesh wifi (max is also 500-600).

could you share more on this with screenshots etc? and do u achieve such result consistently at everywhere of the house?
 
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Henry Ng

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That’s an impressive budget. You can get excellent equipment
It may seem that your rate limiting factor is that your LAN is cat 5e
So unless you rip that out, you will be hovering around gigabit speeds. I find that plenty, but YMMV
I stream 4K around my home and lossless music. No issues but I’m not a gamer.
I spend under $500
On the mesh, switch and some short cat 6 cables. But I had already wired up my home with cat 6 - similar number of LAN points.

Rewiring is very costly- maybe can see if the current cables meet your needs. And if the higher end Mesh is really needed.

https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2013/...ifference-between-cat5-cat5e-and-cat6-cables/
Avoid rewiring by planning it properly and future proof your house. May be every room put at least 2 LAN cables (cat.6) instead of one cable.
 
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