Upgrading to Gigabit (and maybe 5 GHz Wi-FI)... On a tight budget.

[TukangUsapEmenq]

In a nutshell, I've got a small network that includes a server using an old laptop (Acer Aspire 4253). My whole connection only relies on a TP-Link TL-WR840N running on WISP, which took internet from my boarding home network that's using CPE AP, and all of which runs darn great on my use case so far (CasOS, Jellyfin for 1 user, Home Assistant, etc)......

 

Until if I downloaded something darn huge on my server (after I remote my server to download things remotely on my laptop that runs 24/7) and I have to move things between my PC and my server. To be fair, my current router is indeed darn good to do it's job, heck, kept it saturated with near-max of 100 Mbps.

 

Spoiler

But of course, we wouldn't like that much on both the router and my sanity.

 

In a nutshell of required and potential upgrades:

• 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps, required, of course.
• My TP-Link router actually runs on the same channel with the CPE AP: which sometimes causing little-to-some issues that I have to disconnect-reconnect internet of my phone.
• It's 2.4 GHz, so sometimes my Wi-Fi actually got some issues when I turn on my Bluetooth on my soundbar (welp, my phone just like disconnects and have some hard time to reconnect). Idk why, but I suspect the Wi-Fi interferes with Bluetooth. Optional, but preferable if I could get 5 GHz off the Linksys router below, if it's worth it.
• Lately, I would have 4-6 IoT devices (ESP8266s/ESP32 using ESPHome, with Home Assistant), one of them is constantly feeding data every 10 sec. Idk if this could crowd my current 2.4 GHz network that much that it'll disturb my phone/laptop while I'm using it.

 

And, yes, all of my devices supports gigabit or 5GHz wifi.

 

Here's three picks for the upgrade so far. And yes, they all are secondhand, as the title suggest.

 

https://www.tokopedia.com/yogyatronik/d-link-dgs-1005c-switch-hub-gigabit-5-port-10-100-1000-mbps

Welp, good-ol' 5 port gigabit switch.

 

Yet, if I just add 1-2 bucks to it, I could've get either of these:

https://www.tokopedia.com/empat6/router-gpon-ont-dasan-h660gw-f660-gigabit-broadband-access-like-f609

https://www.tokopedia.com/aryaputrateknik/cisco-wrt320n-dualband-wireless-n-gigabit-router

 

 

And with little shematics that I made.

Spoiler

The Dasan are actually seems interesting, but I don't know if the ex-GPON router could've do switching if I use it as a AP. Could simply set it to an unused local AP and let it do it's job, yet idk if the router supports it. Yet, only 2.4 GHz. I tbh kinda want that 5GHz, yet..... Below.

 

The Linksys seems interesting because of dual-band. Yet, I can only use one of the band, and plus, it's a router that came from 2008-2009-ish, which the router could've an early implementers of WI-Fi 4. Saw the reviews of the router, speed wasn't that good for today's standards perhaps.

 

 

So... Which one? Welp, any answers is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Falcon1986]

6 hours ago, TukangUsapEmenq said:

• 100 Mbps to 1000 Mbps, required, of course.

For LAN speeds, I imagine. Your speed test shows that you're using a gigabit-capable NIC which is topping out at 100Mbps. The bottleneck here could be your wireless bridge (not surprising; most old wireless bridge antennae are from the "Fast Ethernet" days) or the WR840N which has port speeds of 10/100Mbps.

 

6 hours ago, TukangUsapEmenq said:

My TP-Link router actually runs on the same channel with the CPE AP: which sometimes causing little-to-some issues that I have to disconnect-reconnect internet of my phone.

Wireless bridge links need to run on the same channel for the link to work, so I wouldn't worry. But using 2.4GHz for the link is prone to interference from other 2.4GHz broadcasts.

 

6 hours ago, TukangUsapEmenq said:

It's 2.4 GHz, so sometimes my Wi-Fi actually got some issues when I turn on my Bluetooth on my soundbar (welp, my phone just like disconnects and have some hard time to reconnect). Idk why, but I suspect the Wi-Fi interferes with Bluetooth

Bluetooth uses the same band, so no surprise when it comes to interference.

 

6 hours ago, TukangUsapEmenq said:

https://www.tokopedia.com/yogyatronik/d-link-dgs-1005c-switch-hub-gigabit-5-port-10-100-1000-mbps

Welp, good-ol' 5 port gigabit switch.

Looks OK.

 

6 hours ago, TukangUsapEmenq said:

Yet, if I just add 1-2 bucks to it, I could've get either of these:

https://www.tokopedia.com/empat6/router-gpon-ont-dasan-h660gw-f660-gigabit-broadband-access-like-f609

https://www.tokopedia.com/aryaputrateknik/cisco-wrt320n-dualband-wireless-n-gigabit-router

I'd stay away from ONTs. They're intended to be used at ISP termination points in the home. It's very rare that they can be used as just a router or AP.

 

The WRT320N had good reviews in its day. But, as you said, you can only use either the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz band, not both at the same time. The wireless performance is average, but 5GHz performance might be less than what you're expecting. If LAN-to-WAN and WAN-to-LAN speeds are important to you, you're not going to get over 165Mbps for either, even with gigabit ethernet ports.

[TukangUsapEmenq]

6 hours ago, Falcon1986 said:

The WRT320N had good reviews in its day. But, as you said, you can only use either the 2.4GHz or the 5GHz band, not both at the same time. The wireless performance is average, but 5GHz performance might be less than what you're expecting. If LAN-to-WAN and WAN-to-LAN speeds are important to you, you're not going to get over 165Mbps for either, even with gigabit ethernet ports.

Welp, won't be adding additional 2.4G Wi-Fi anymore, the boarding house already have all of the non-overlapping channel (1, 6, 11) since they're using three APs. Hence why I'm getting 5GHz.

 

Perhaps the biggest data that I would stream via Wi-Fi is when I watch something on my local Jellyfin, and my collection consists between 720p - 1080p videos. I wouldn't mind about LAN-to-WAN speeds too much (yet still matters for better streaming performance via Jellyfin at least) as I won't transfer huge data via LAN-to-WAN anyway, I've got spare Cat 5e for that.

 

Yet. I found this with only around $2 additional price lol

https://www.tokopedia.com/dibawahlangit/router-tenda-ac9-dualband-gigabit-ethernet-bekas

[Needfuldoer]

Can you stick a cheapo gig switch between your computers and your wireless bridge?

[UeeVii wireless bridge]

14 hours ago, Needfuldoer said:

Can you stick a cheapo gig switch between your computers and your wireless bridge?

Should be a more stable solution to run ethernet cable since it is not a long distance!

[TukangUsapEmenq]

On 8/8/2023 at 6:50 PM, Needfuldoer said:

Can you stick a cheapo gig switch between your computers and your wireless bridge?

 

On 8/9/2023 at 9:15 AM, UeeVii wireless bridge said:

Should be a more stable solution to run ethernet cable since it is not a long distance!

 

That's actually the main point of the upgrade, for speed, even listed on one of the marketplace lists above.

 

Yet. I've got myself an used Tenda AC9 router. Which.... Came from China Telecom/things. Yet it works: I do have Gigabit LAN and 5Ghz now.

 

Even better, the Wi-Fi 5 works as expected for me to at least dramatically increase my wireless bandwidth.