Networking help

[Christopher Stolworthy]

Does anyone know of newsgroups or websites where I can get some good info,
and possibly ask some questions, about how best to setup a network in my new
home? So far all the newsgroups I have seen seem to be less than active and
I can't seem to find a good website / forum.

Thanks,
-Chris

 

[Pongo Potts]

Does anyone know of newsgroups or websites where I can get some good info,
and possibly ask some questions, about how best to setup a network in my
new home? So far all the newsgroups I have seen seem to be less than
active and I can't seem to find a good website / forum.

Thanks,
-Chris

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/qa/qa20040722.shtml

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318030

http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/windowsnetworkin1/ht/findaddrwinxp.htm

http://www.michna.com/kb/WxNetwork.htm

http://www.notebookforums.com/archive/index.php/t-24525.html

 

[Christopher Stolworthy]

http://www.practicallynetworked.com/qa/qa20040722.shtml

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=318030

http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/windowsnetworkin1/ht/findaddrwinxp.htm

http://www.michna.com/kb/WxNetwork.htm

http://www.notebookforums.com/archive/index.php/t-24525.html

Sorry I should have been more specific. I mean finding out things like the
best network switch / router setup to get. I will be wiring the house with
Cat6, and I have some specific things I want, but I need help with what
hardware would be best.

-Chris

 

[pen]

Sorry I should have been more specific. I mean finding out
things like the best network switch / router setup to get. I
will be wiring the house with Cat6, and I have some specific
things I want, but I need help with what hardware would be best.

-Chris

Ask here and maybe someone will help you. Your question is so
vague
that one can only guess what you're talking about. Wired only or
wired and wireless? Size of home?Internet connection?

 

[Christopher Stolworthy]

Ask here and maybe someone will help you. Your question is so vague
that one can only guess what you're talking about. Wired only or
wired and wireless? Size of home?Internet connection?

Ok.
The house is about 5.1k square feet. I will be wiring, at a minimum 14 cat6
jacks. Atleast one jack per room. Most rooms will have between 2 and 4
jacks. I will be using Linksys WRT54G routers flashed with the DD-WRT
firmware to broadcast and rebroadcast the wireless signal in the house. The
routers will be wired to the network in places with < 50% wireless signal so
I have good saturation. All of the cat6 will be wired into a central room
in the basement which will contain a 10/100/1000 switch (I need advice on a
good make / model). There will also be a cable internet connection into
this room. I have yet to decide if I will use a hardware based router, or a
dummy computer running either linux / windows 2003 to route the internet and
provide firewall etc. (Comments on this too please)

The other thing I need advice on: I am going to have each bedroom (there are
5) wired using either a modded xbox, or some sort of home theater setup.
This way I can setup a network share of movies, music etc. Should I use a
rackmount computer, network storage, and rackmount switch? Or should I use
a seperate switch, and build a computer with huge hard drives?

In the end what I am looking for is a setup that will have a computer in
each room in the house, along with an entertainement setup in each bedroom.
I want to have wireless access through the whole house and across the yard,
the entertainment centers should be able to stream movies easily and
reliably, I should be able to setup a bittorrent client on one of the PC's
to populate the network share without clogging the network (yes I cap
bittorrent. 10K up, 400K down). I am willing to pay what it takes to get
this done, and have it done right the first time.

Any input is appreciated.

-Chris

 

[pen]

Ok.
The house is about 5.1k square feet. I will be wiring, at a
minimum 14 cat6 jacks. Atleast one jack per room. Most rooms
will have between 2 and 4 jacks. I will be using Linksys WRT54G
routers flashed with the DD-WRT firmware to broadcast and
rebroadcast the wireless signal in the house. The routers will
be wired to the network in places with < 50% wireless signal so
I have good saturation. All of the cat6 will be wired into a
central room in the basement which will contain a 10/100/1000
switch (I need advice on a good make / model). There will also
be a cable internet connection into this room. I have yet to
decide if I will use a hardware based router, or a dummy
computer running either linux / windows 2003 to route the
internet and provide firewall etc. (Comments on this too
please)

The other thing I need advice on: I am going to have each
bedroom (there are 5) wired using either a modded xbox, or some
sort of home theater setup. This way I can setup a network share
of movies, music etc. Should I use a rackmount computer, network
storage, and rackmount switch? Or should I use a seperate
switch, and build a computer with huge hard drives?

In the end what I am looking for is a setup that will have a
computer in each room in the house, along with an entertainement
setup in each bedroom. I want to have wireless access through
the whole house and across the yard, the entertainment centers
should be able to stream movies easily and reliably, I should be
able to setup a bittorrent client on one of the PC's to populate
the network share without clogging the network (yes I cap
bittorrent. 10K up, 400K down). I am willing to pay what it
takes to get this done, and have it done right the first time.

Any input is appreciated.

-Chris

Since you're planning on using multiple routers as access points(I
assume)
I would suggest you try the *alt.internet.wireless* group.
Several knowledgeable
wireless types hang out there.

If any of your computers are Dells then I would suggest
*alt.sys.pc-clone.dell*
as a few home networking/video distribution geeks hang out there,
but using Dell
computers.

You could also try the *smallnetbuilder.com* web site for
router/switch information
and general networking comments.

 

[Mike Walsh]

Read the hardware reviews at pcmag.com and pcworld.com
Download the manuals for the routers you are interested in to see if they have the features you want.

 

[Ken Maltby]

--

Read the hardware reviews at pcmag.com and pcworld.com
Download the manuals for the routers you are interested in to see if they
have the features you want.

Mike Walsh
West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A.

"Best" is a very elusive target.

Once you have particular components you are considering, you
might get some responses that you can use, either those pointing
out problems with your choice or suggestions for something
"better".

You seem to have a decent plan for the basics. (But the
wireless where you will have Gigabit over copper available
seems overdone.)

There are plenty of good switches available, especially if
you have the kind of budget your project implies. It will be
the switch that forms the main backbone for your setup. It
would be a good idea to get the most flexible switch you
can. It should have Auto MDI/MDIX on all ports. It should
support full-duplex on all ports. It should support Jumbo
Packets (up to 9K, at least). But, unlike a router, you want
the switch to be lean and simple in function, no added
"Features" that complicate its operation.

( You can find such a switch, even for cheapskates like
myself. I use a SMC "EZ Switch" SMC8508T, for my
much more modest home Gigabit LAN.)

A router can be implemented in a great many ways. To
include a Linux box, which could be more adaptable than
a hardware appliance. (You might be able to have it also
provide a NAS function for your LAN, for instance.)
Personally, I like to consider the router as just a device
to share a firewalled connection to the Internet through a
modem. For that you only need the one output to your
switch.

You should be able to plop down "Wireless Access
Points" in whatever pattern you need to cover the area
you mention, just by running them to your switch. There
could be places where a "Wireless Extender" would be
useful as well.

If you want suggestions for these "specific things' you
want", then you will have to spell them out.

Luck;
Ken