Planning To Upgrade My Home Network Equipment....

[kght22]

it has been over 8 years since i upgraded the main network equipment at my house, and i am just trying to probe for some opinions. networking is certainly one of my weaknesses, but at my house i dont have much equipment to worry about, just a cable modem and a router (we actually have two routers, but the second one is controlled by my cousin who is an mcsa, but i'm not asking him because he pays hardly any attention to hardware and the state of computing anymore, his router though is very similar to the linksys i list below, he has his own because he uses his ipad as a lap monitor for playing skyrim sometimes, and he needed better wireless that wasn't shared). i am trying to keep it pretty cheap but i know that i want at least wireless n from the router, and docsis 3.0 from the modem (that way by the time i need to upgrade again some form of fiber will be available where i live, i'm in kansas btw)

 

the products i have selected are:

MOTOROLA SB6141 SURFboard DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem

 

i've used surfboards for over a decade and have a good experience with them, but i am open to suggestions. (i actually have sort of loved them so far, my 8 year old surfboard is stilll doing great, but it can't manage the standard needed to use my recently upgraded 50mbit connection, it maxes out around 40mbit) but give me a heads up if the more resent tech has fallen off in quality.

 

Linksys EA3500-NP IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n, IEEE 802.3/3u/3ab SMART Smooth Stream Gigabit Dual-Band Wireless N750 Router

 

also once again a brand that i have had good experiences with, but in this case i have heard bad things (and good things) about the more recent generations of linksys hardware, so i really am a bit worried about this choice.

 

i also plan to replace all of the network cabeling in my house, i put it in back in 2001 and while i think it would work for gigabit networking, i think it is probably about time to replace it, there are deffinately mouse bites out of parts of it, but i'm not too worried about being able to choose cables =P

 

anyway any input on this would be appreciated, probably wont be doing anything until next fall but i like to plan ahead.

[Guest]

I'll chuck this in the networking area :)

If you're going to be replacing the cabling, I highly suggest either doing it yourself and getting it inspected or getting a professional in to do it. I don't know what the law is for you locally but here in Australia if you have a house fire, you won't have a leg to stand on if you did your own cabling and your insurance company won't pay out. 

 

I'm surprised to see networking equipment lasting 8 years :P

[kght22]

I'll chuck this in the networking area :)

If you're going to be replacing the cabling, I highly suggest either doing it yourself and getting it inspected or getting a professional in to do it. I don't know what the law is for you locally but here in Australia if you have a house fire, you won't have a leg to stand on if you did your own cabling and your insurance company won't pay out. 

 

I'm surprised to see networking equipment lasting 8 years :P

thanks for putting it where it should be. anyway here in the states we just run the cables ourself, and in my case it isn't being ran in the walls or anything, just through the crawl space and basement a 50m line (could be shorter, but i like having some room to work with), only the one long run (from the front of the house to the back) and that is the only one with any damage to speak of even after over a decade, used to have two, one to the basement and one to the back room, but 12 years is quite a bit of time, and things change. really it is a small network, i have two computers and a little 100mbit hub (which i don't use because i'm not using the second computer at the moment, but thinking about turning it into a folder) my mom's computer, my cousin's router/computer, and those are  are wired. other than my hdhomerun prime digital cable tuner which is also hooked up wired through the router everything else on my network is wirelss, and it sits next to the router. i could understand the idea of inspection on a large intricate network, but my setup is pretty simple.

 

 

EDIT: i would also like to mention that from 99 to 04 i worked as a pc repair tech at a retail store, deffinately doesn't make me a certified electrician, and as said in my original post networking is certainly one of my weaknesses, but i have ran my fair share of network cable both in the shop and on site, i have a bit of experience with that

 

EDIT2: now that i think about it, it think it is 50 feet not 50 meters, i could probably wrap a 50 meter cable around my house with some left over. been a long time since i bought it, or even thought about the lengths of cable that i need.

[kght22]

can i get any advice on those hardware choices? i have a pretty small network (3 computers on ethernet, a kindle fire, an ipad, an iphone, and a hd homerun prime cable card based tv tuner that runs over the network, and an older laptop that i am pretty sure is wireless g, and during high usage only 4 of them might be in use at the same time, 3 computers and the digital cable tuner). i am just wondering if there are better chocies available for both devices together in the price range of $225-250usd, and i am actually hoping for it to be a bit less so i can replace the cabeling too, although ethernet cables are pretty cheap, and i really only have one cable that needs replaced, the rest other than dust are as good as they were the day i installed them.

 

also i have an extra computer (3ghz amd x2 with 4gb of hyperx low latency 800mhz memory) would it be a good idea to just buy a couple gigabit nics and a gigabit switch and use that computer as the gateway/firewall for the network. i think i might prefer the simplicity of a generic router, but i wonder about the advantages of a real modular gateway, including being able to use it as a nas, but i would only do it if it can be done with minimal maintenance.

 

any information or opinions would be appreciated, networking is and always has been my biggest weakness. before i solidify what i choose to do i want to hear at least some positives and negatives about the options i am considering. i REALLY suck at network crap (although while i can barely call it networking, getting my hd homerun prime working felt like an accomplishment, cable companies HATE cable card devices)

[Commissar]

can i get any advice on those hardware choices? i have a pretty small network (3 computers on ethernet, a kindle fire, an ipad, an iphone, and a hd homerun prime cable card based tv tuner that runs over the network, and an older laptop that i am pretty sure is wireless g, and during high usage only 4 of them might be in use at the same time, 3 computers and the digital cable tuner). i am just wondering if there are better chocies available for both devices together in the price range of $225-250usd, and i am actually hoping for it to be a bit less so i can replace the cabeling too, although ethernet cables are pretty cheap, and i really only have one cable that needs replaced, the rest other than dust are as good as they were the day i installed them.

 

also i have an extra computer (3ghz amd x2 with 4gb of hyperx low latency 800mhz memory) would it be a good idea to just buy a couple gigabit nics and a gigabit switch and use that computer as the gateway/firewall for the network. i think i might prefer the simplicity of a generic router, but i wonder about the advantages of a real modular gateway, including being able to use it as a nas, but i would only do it if it can be done with minimal maintenance.

 

any information or opinions would be appreciated, networking is and always has been my biggest weakness. before i solidify what i choose to do i want to hear at least some positives and negatives about the options i am considering. i REALLY suck at network crap (although while i can barely call it networking, getting my hd homerun prime working felt like an accomplishment, cable companies HATE cable card devices)

yes. pfsense is made jsut for that. based off of freebsd.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfsense

took me about 20 or 30 minutes to dig this one up:

[dylandylandylan]

yes. pfsense is made jsut for that. based off of freebsd.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfsense

took me about 20 or 30 minutes to dig this one up:

 

That's a super interesting video, thanks for that!

[kght22]

yes. pfsense is made jsut for that. based off of freebsd.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pfsense

took me about 20 or 30 minutes to dig this one up:

thanks for taking the time. you have convinced me to look closer at using an old computer of mine as the router/firewall/gateway, i think this is format i will use for the core on my next network config. i will try this software, but my cousin who has an mcsa has his own little prize pig to do this job (i cannot remember what it is called at the moment, but it is also linux based) so i will likely try that too, but having lots of extra parts from decades of playing around with computers will make this a fun and hopefully pretty cheap project. i expect that i will have to buy at least one gigabit ethernet card (is onboard gigabit ethernet acceptable for this application?) and a wireless card (i might even go for a wireless ac card, i still need to do more research on the pricing mainly, because my house owns nothing that uses wireless ac yet). i am thinking though that in the long run i might get a more stable and controllable network in the long run (cheaper maybe too) by converting my old athlon x2 6000+ machine into a router/nas, and just getting a good gigabit switch for the internal network.

 

i am still of course interested in anything that people might have to say about my plans. i won't be doing anything until early to mid june.

[Commissar]

thanks for taking the time. you have convinced me to look closer at using an old computer of mine as the router/firewall/gateway, i think this is format i will use for the core on my next network config. i will try this software, but my cousin who has an mcsa has his own little prize pig to do this job (i cannot remember what it is called at the moment, but it is also linux based) so i will likely try that too, but having lots of extra parts from decades of playing around with computers will make this a fun and hopefully pretty cheap project. i expect that i will have to buy at least one gigabit ethernet card (is onboard gigabit ethernet acceptable for this application?) and a wireless card (i might even go for a wireless ac card, i still need to do more research on the pricing mainly, because my house owns nothing that uses wireless ac yet). i am thinking though that in the long run i might get a more stable and controllable network in the long run (cheaper maybe too) by converting my old athlon x2 6000+ machine into a router/nas, and just getting a good gigabit switch for the internal network.

 

i am still of course interested in anything that people might have to say about my plans. i won't be doing anything until early to mid june.

that is exactly what I meant. onboard nic will do just fine. quad nics are expensive....

although, if you're linus, (aka mr. 10gbit lan) expensive doesn't seem to matter much, lol

but you're not, so a gbit switch is probably your best option

[Ghastlyqwert]

If you are going to have the network for a long time, you have to remember that the power usage of a regular router is much lower than the power usage of a cutom router.

[Commissar]

If you are going to have the network for a long time, you have to remember that the power usage of a regular router is much lower than the power usage of a cutom router.

meh. not really. not a router with all the stuff that pfsense has. soo many people overstate the power useage of computers; they relly don't use THAT much....

[WALK3R]

meh. not really. not a router with all the stuff that pfsense has. soo many people overstate the power useage of computers; they relly don't use THAT much....

I have to agree with you there, most stuff these days is super optimized for power usage its not like the network gear from 6 years ago.

[kght22]

actually using my leftover pc as a router i have actually planned to severely underclock it and of course have it running without even using the old nforce onboard video during normal operation (or any video at all), while a 6000+ is a 120watt cpu, and a board running it usually would use 50-100 watt's itself (especially using nforce video) i think i can likely get it down to about 80watts for both without any real storage (an 8 gig thumb drive for the os) and if i use it as a nas i can likely toss in 2 or 3 1tb or newer mechanical drives and still have the unit run at under 250 watts, maybe under 200. and even two or three terabyte redundant storage on the network would be great for me, quite simply do not produce enough unique data here for one or two tb of data to feel restrictive when it comes to things that the people who use the home network, between the computers on the network we have about 9tb of storage, be no central backup, which is part of why i am thinking about building this unit., well not really building it, other than a couple parts it is already built.

[kirashi]

I don't have any experience with DOCSIS modems other than the surfboard ones shaw gives out, but in terms of routers the 3500 Linksys should do you fine if you are still thinking of using a dedicated router instead of pfSense. I've been through many a DD-WRT forum and they do recommend that router for the number of devices you have and the performance.

If you're not aware of DD-WRT yet give it a Google search. Basically it takes a decent hardware router and replaces the stock firmware with something based on Linux that's more reliable and customizable. Not all routers can do it though so research first.