Student house of gamers. (Networking knowledge needed!)

[Keen_Interest]

So next year I'm moving into a house with 4 other gamers/computer users (torrenting, Netflix, ect). I'd also like to be able to start using steam stream for living room gaming ect.

I'd like to set up a good internal network, I think wired would be best for it.

Essentially, I know very little about networking.

SO! That said, I'm an electrical and electronic engineering student, so I'm looking for adept networking people to tell me what is best to do as far as router, modem, switch. But also explain the choices, if you could.

Our internet with be virgin media 120MBs.

Please don't hesitate to ask anything.

Thanks!

[DarrenP]

So next year I'm moving into a house with 4 other gamers/computer users (torrenting, Netflix, ect). I'd also like to be able to start using steam stream for living room gaming ect.

I'd like to set up a good internal network, I think wired would be best for it.

Essentially, I know very little about networking.

SO! That said, I'm an electrical and electronic engineering student, so I'm looking for adept networking people to tell me what is best to do as far as router, modem, switch. But also explain the choices, if you could.

Our internet with be virgin media 120MBs.

Please don't hesitate to ask anything.

Thanks!

Okay so do you want to run Cat6/5E through the walls? Or on the floors? Or just use wireless? I'm sure in a small house, you could just get away with Wireless if you guys had decent wireless cards, and decent Router. 

 

My suggestion would be to make wired outputs in the walls for Cat6, and you'd be fine, just get something like a 24 port switch, and wire from the switch to the room. Networking isn't hard, it's just a pain in the ass. 

[Ssoele]

What is your budget for this?

[Ssoele]

Okay so do you want to run Cat6/5E through the walls? Or on the floors? Or just use wireless? I'm sure in a small house, you could just get away with Wireless if you guys had decent wireless cards, and decent Router. 

 

My suggestion would be to make wired outputs in the walls for Cat6, and you'd be fine, just get something like a 24 port switch, and wire from the switch to the room. Networking isn't hard, it's just a pain in the ass. 

 

For gaming, Wireless is a no-go, even if you have decent equipment, there are too many variables to consider.

You can have Wireless, but not as the main route.

[DarrenP]

For gaming, Wireless is a no-go, even if you have decent equipment, there are too many variables to consider.

Wireless is cheaper though, Sounds like he's in school. You do with what you have when you're in school. 

[MisterZero]

Wireless is cheaper though, Sounds like he's in school. You do with what you have when you're in school. 

 

Indeed, but then you need to have a very good wireless router to be able to have a decent bandwidth for each the 4 computers, and still be able to use steam's in home streaming.

[DarrenP]

Indeed, but then you need to have a very good wireless router to be able to have a decent bandwidth for each the 4 computers, and still be able to use steam's in home streaming.

http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTAC68U/

[Ssoele]

http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTAC68U/

 

That thing will not be able to handle 4 users hammering the network.

[MisterZero]

http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTAC68U/

 

Yep, something like this

[DarrenP]

That thing will not be able to handle 4 users hammering the network.

Works fine for us at work. When we're all downloading and working. It works perfectly fine. 

[Ssoele]

Lets break this down in some categories:
 
Wiring
Having CAT6 cable to each room would be good, if you have the option for wall sockets is even better.
 
Routing
I'm guessing the internet will be hammered quite often, so you want a decent back-bone.
Cheap consumer stuff will be out of the question on this one. I recommend something like this, it is not so expensive and will be better then any combo unit you can buy.
As for the routing to the different places, you will need a switch, this depends on for how many places you need a cable. If it is less then 7 places, something like this would do fine.

Wireless

Wireless is great for your phone, tablet or laptop, but not as primary source of the internet. Look at something like this. It will be miles better then combo units and is easy to manage.

You can deploy multiple if you want to cover a larger area, but 1 will probably do. Or if you want something faster, you can step up to this, but that will set you back a lot more.

 

 

Total cost: ~140 GBP (+ wiring)

[Vitalius]

If budget isn't too strict, AND you want to be lazy, buy 5 powerline adapters. They work really well. Just make sure the one connected to the router has a gigabit ethernet port, or it's sort of pointless to have at all.

[Ssoele]

If budget isn't too strict, AND you want to be lazy, buy 5 powerline adapters. They work really well. Just make sure the one connected to the router has a gigabit ethernet port, or it's sort of pointless to have at all.

 

With powerline, you have to take the wiring of the house into consideration. With old houses, the connection will be pretty much crap of the wiring hasn't been updated.

[alpenwasser]

I'm not really up-to-date on the current routers and the latest and greatest WiFi

thingies, but I recently rewired our apartment with Cat5e.

For making the cables, I watched Eli's instructional video. It's pretty thorough,

and cabling really isn't that hard.

I kept our network pretty simple. Since our apartment was not built with enough

outlets at the right places, we just drilled some holes through our walls and

routed our cables along the floor/wall edge with some cable channels. Not as neat

as having them inside the walls, but it's brick and concrete, so there isn't much

that can be done on that front.

Leaving out wall sockets also has the advantage that you don't need the punchdown

tool, just a crimper for the 8P8C connector. I also didn't buy any testing equipment

and just used our PCs to test the cables and connections (wouldn't recommend this

professionally, but for home use it's adequate enough IMO).

The cables all come together in one room and go into a Cisco SG100-16 switch. Depending

on how many PCs you have, an 8-port switch might also suffice (you can always expand

later if really necessary).

Also, as long as you don't need to do any enterprise-grade network management (traffic

shaping, for example), an unmanaged switch will suffice.

That's pretty much it: Drill holes, route cables, crimp connectors, connect switch,

PCs and router, done.

EDIT: For the time being we don't have a patch panel, which would also require

a punchdown tool. Might still put one in, TBD.

[Vitalius]

With powerline, you have to take the wiring of the house into consideration. With old houses, the connection will be pretty much crap of the wiring hasn't been updated.

My house is 60 years old. It's never been updated. 

I can understand a frat house or something being ancient (i.e. from the 1900's), but still. Odds are, the wiring will be just fine.

[Keen_Interest]

Okay so do you want to run Cat6/5E through the walls? Or on the floors? Or just use wireless? I'm sure in a small house, you could just get away with Wireless if you guys had decent wireless cards, and decent Router. 

 

My suggestion would be to make wired outputs in the walls for Cat6, and you'd be fine, just get something like a 24 port switch, and wire from the switch to the room. Networking isn't hard, it's just a pain in the ass. 

 

 

What is your budget for this?

 

 

Indeed, but then you need to have a very good wireless router to be able to have a decent bandwidth for each the 4 computers, and still be able to use steam's in home streaming.

 

 

If budget isn't too strict, AND you want to be lazy, buy 5 powerline adapters. They work really well. Just make sure the one connected to the router has a gigabit ethernet port, or it's sort of pointless to have at all.

 

 

OKAY! Sorry about that guys, had some problems with my account, wouldn't let me stay signed in for a while.

 

I am a uni student. My budget is fluid, I should be able to get a good amount of work over summer, and I am possibly getting a scholarship next year. I would like some wireless, like you said, for mobiles.

 

Its a rented house, so I'll probably have to run wires around the edge of carpet, unless I can get permission to drill holes. (Doubt it.) And the house is old, so power line probably won't work. There will be a minimum of 5 different places that need a connection. 

 

I think that answered everything. Please do point out anything I missed. 

 

And thanks for all the help!

[Keen_Interest]

I'm not really up-to-date on the current routers and the latest and greatest WiFi

thingies, but I recently rewired our apartment with Cat5e.

For making the cables, I watched Eli's instructional video. It's pretty thorough,

and cabling really isn't that hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-azkafrgrw

I kept our network pretty simple. Since our apartment was not built with enough

outlets at the right places, we just drilled some holes through our walls and

routed our cables along the floor/wall edge with some cable channels. Not as neat

as having them inside the walls, but it's brick and concrete, so there isn't much

that can be done on that front.

Leaving out wall sockets also has the advantage that you don't need the punchdown

tool, just a crimper for the 8P8C connector. I also didn't buy any testing equipment

and just used our PCs to test the cables and connections (wouldn't recommend this

professionally, but for home use it's adequate enough IMO).

The cables all come together in one room and go into a Cisco SG100-16 switch. Depending

on how many PCs you have, an 8-port switch might also suffice (you can always expand

later if really necessary).

Also, as long as you don't need to do any enterprise-grade network management (traffic

shaping, for example), an unmanaged switch will suffice.

That's pretty much it: Drill holes, route cables, crimp connectors, connect switch,

PCs and router, done.

 

I'd like to run QoS so we can prioritise gaming, and also, router and modem advice? 

 

Thanks for your help.

[Keen_Interest]

Lets break this down in some categories:

 

Wiring

Having CAT6 cable to each room would be good, if you have the option for wall sockets is even better.

 

Routing

I'm guessing the internet will be hammered quite often, so you want a decent back-bone.

Cheap consumer stuff will be out of the question on this one. I recommend something like this, it is not so expensive and will be better then any combo unit you can buy.

As for the routing to the different places, you will need a switch, this depends on for how many places you need a cable. If it is less then 7 places, something like this would do fine.

Wireless

Wireless is great for your phone, tablet or laptop, but not as primary source of the internet. Look at something like this. It will be miles better then combo units and is easy to manage.

You can deploy multiple if you want to cover a larger area, but 1 will probably do. Or if you want something faster, you can step up to this, but that will set you back a lot more.

 

 

Total cost: ~140 GBP (+ wiring)

Running with the Router and 8-port switch you suggest, would it be worth running dual gigabit in, from the router to the switch, and having 6-out? Would that work and help to prevent bottle-necking?

[Ssoele]

I'd like to run QoS so we can prioritise gaming, and also, router and modem advice? 

 

Thanks for your help.

 

The modem depends on your connection with your ISP, Virgin Media uses COAX if I'm not mistaken. They should supply the modem. They will probably try to install a combo unit, do not let them, ask for the modem only version.

 

QoS is not recommended, as it can introduce extra latency and often doesn't work correctly. With a 120Mbps connection, you shouldn't need QoS in the first place.

[alpenwasser]

I'd like to run QoS so we can prioritise gaming, and also, router and modem advice?

Hm, the Cisco SG200 series allows QoS according to its user manual (pdf).

Then again, depending on which router you buy (sorry, can't give good advice on

that one as we bought our Linksis E4200 a while back and I haven't looked into

routers and hotspots since then) you might have QoS in that, so you would not need

it in your central switch.

EDIT:

Then again, there's that:

QoS is not recommended, as it can introduce extra latency and often doesn't work correctly. With a 120Mbps connection, you shouldn't need QoS in the first place.

(I've never needed QoS, so I can't really speak about its qualities).

[Ssoele]

Running with the Router and 8-port switch you suggest, would it be worth running dual gigabit in, from the router to the switch, and having 6-out? Would that work and help to prevent bottle-necking?

 

No, as your connection to your ISP is only 120Mbps, so it would only use 120Mbps from the router to the switch anyways. (Side note, unmanaged switches do not support teaming)

[Keen_Interest]

No, as your connection to your ISP is only 120Mbps, so it would only use 120Mbps from the router to the switch anyways. (Side note, unmanaged switches do not support teaming)

 

 

Hm, the Cisco SG200 series allows QoS according to its user manual (pdf).

Then again, depending on which router you buy (sorry, can't give good advice on

that one as we bought our Linksis E4200 a while back and I haven't looked into

routers and hotspots since then) you might have QoS in that, so you would not need

it in your central switch.

EDIT:

Then again, there's that:

(I've never needed QoS, so I can't really speak about its qualities).

 

 

Okay, thanks very much all, I think that's everything I need to know for now.

 

All your help is very much appreciated!

[alpenwasser]

(Side note, unmanaged switches do not support teaming)

Another side note: Teaming also doesn't just increase your bandwidth under

all circumstances. At least if I've understood the research I did for our

network correctly.

[Ssoele]

Another side note: Teaming also doesn't just increase your bandwidth under

all circumstances. At least if I've understood the research I did for our

network correctly.

 

This depends also on the protocol used, you can take advantage from it with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 for file transfers, but again, only under limited circumstances.

[alpenwasser]

This depends also on the protocol used, you can take advantage from it with Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 for file transfers, but again, only under limited circumstances.

Yeah, hence my 'under all circumstances'. I was considering using port teaming

to increase the bandwidth between our machines (instead of going the still uber-

expensive 10G route), but when I looked into it it turned out things don't quite

work as I would have liked them to.

What I've done now is set up different VMs on the server for different purposes

(media, business, my personal one) and giving each a dedicated LAN port (nicely

enough, the Supermicro board I'm using has 4 full-fledged Intel gigabit ports),

so I can still shuffle data to my VM at full speed while my dad is communicating

with his VM and the media VM is streaming content to various devices.

The upside is I can forego a switch with teaming capabilities, which saves some

money.