Upgrade Home Network

[FragYaL8R]

Hi, first time posting on the forum. Recently I added a whole lot of new toys to my network so I feel like I need to beef it up. Right now I have an Asus Dualband NT56 Router I'm using for the house and 4 computers. It covers about 80% of my 3 bedroom house. I'd like to have wifi out in the garage which isnt attached to the house. I also have an old Linksys router laying around somewhere. I have 4 Desktop's (2 for browsing, 1 gaming, and 1 htpc), 3 laptops, 2 tablets, 3 phones, ps3, and a sony set top box. I plan on adding more Desktops in the garage on occasion (4-5 for lan parties). Also I need something beefy for Steam Streaming. Right now everything is wired with ethernet cables and down the hallways. I guess what I'm asking is what should I upgrade, and what shouldn't I. I have no networking knowledge at all. Hoping for some feedback, thanks! My budget is around 200-300usd

also, whats the difference between cat5e and cat6. Will i notice any difference in speeds with file sharing using different types of cable?

[wpirobotbuilder]

Wired networking would be ideal for streaming and LAN parties.

 

Cat6 is technically better, there will be less crosstalk. However Cat5e is rated for full gigabit speeds.

[FragYaL8R]

thanks for the reply wpiro, now im one step closer to getting stuff done

[Darren]

Running a cable out to the garage and then adding a switch on the end would be a good idea, run it inside some conduit beneath the soil. Get something like an 8 port switch, one for uplink to the rest of your network plus 7 ports for LAN parties

[FragYaL8R]

I like that idea. I suppose if I add one to the garage, I might as well add one to house too or would my router now be sufficient enough for the house?

[JohnnyP]

I don't know the specs of the router but, the only real reasons to add a switch would be that you exceed the amount of ports. Or you want gigabit interconnectivity and your router does not have gigabit built in. IMHO

[LucaZ]

Cat6 is Shielded Twisted Pair. Like Cat 5e, each of the individual wires is wrapped foil to prevent and EMI/RFI. Since it's more exspensive than Cat5e.

[JohnnyP]

Regular cat 6 isn't shielded. It has a divider between the pairs that is plastic. Or the pairs are otherwise seperated.

[_Rogue]

If your running cable outside in an underground conduit, ensure that you can either pull a new cable down the road for upgrades or run cat6a now. Also you should probably run 2-3 cables no matter what just for convenience of not having to have to run another again.

[JohnnyP]

If you bury in rigid conduit you would be able to pull new cables later with out digging again