Router/wireless questions

[TubsAlwaysWins]

So I will be moving soon, and as far as I can tell I will be in the basement. From what i know, WIFI on an upper floor isn't to great in basements, so I need a solution. My plan is to put an 8-port switch onto the line the internet comes into and then run 1 cable to the basement and 1 to the upstairs Router. In the basement I will have a 24 port switch that it plugs into. From the switch I will have my own router or wireless access point. So should I go for a PFSense router or hope that we get something like a Google OnHub for upstairs and take our Linksys WRT1900AC?

 

1. Can you make a wireless PF sense router

2. Do you make said wireless PF sense router by just putting in a wireless card?

3. If you cannot make a wireless PFSense router and I do not get our WRT1900AC what is a cheap alternative (whether thats just a wireless access point). I would have like 10 devices MAX at a time (probably average 3) connected to it.

[Oshino Shinobu]

1. Yes, you can. 

2. There's some requirements that the wireless NIC must meet, and some configuration. 
3. By the sounds of things, you don't need anything special for your uses. Is there any particular reason you're wanting to go for pfSense? It seems a lot of people have been trying to build pfSense routers just because Linus did a video on it. I personally use an Asus RT-AC68U and it does everything I need it to do just fine. 

If you need to extend your wireless coverage, then just adding access point around the network is a good solution. If you're going to have switches around the house, you can add access points to those to have wireless coverage on all floors. 

Also, you're going to want to have your router before the switch on the line in. It should go line in > modem > router > switch. 

[TubsAlwaysWins]

40 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

1. Yes, you can. 

2. There's some requirements that the wireless NIC must meet, and some configuration. 
3. By the sounds of things, you don't need anything special for your uses. Is there any particular reason you're wanting to go for pfSense? It seems a lot of people have been trying to build pfSense routers just because Linus did a video on it. I personally use an Asus RT-AC68U and it does everything I need it to do just fine. 

If you need to extend your wireless coverage, then just adding access point around the network is a good solution. If you're going to have switches around the house, you can add access points to those to have wireless coverage on all floors. 

Also, you're going to want to have your router before the switch on the line in. It should go line in > modem > router > switch. 

I wanna go PFSense because I have a server just laying around and I don't wanna spend money if I dont have to

[Oshino Shinobu]

1 minute ago, TubsAlwaysWIns said:

I wanna go PFSense because I have a server just laying around and I don't wanna spend money if I dont have to

If it's just lying around, then I would suggest converting it into a NAS or something similar. You could have a go at setting up pfSense on it, but it's more hassle than it's worth if you ask me. 

[TubsAlwaysWins]

2 minutes ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

If it's just lying around, then I would suggest converting it into a NAS or something similar. You could have a go at setting up pfSense on it, but it's more hassle than it's worth if you ask me. 

Well i cant buy new drives for a NAS. It uses SCSI, and is pretty old (2x Pentium III's). Its some OG Compaq one

Edit: Or I have an Athlon X2 machine laying around.

[beavo451]

Yes, PFSense supports wireless. No you shouldn't use wireless on the PFSense device.

 

If you really want to use PFSense, then you should use access points with it to handle the wireless.

[TubsAlwaysWins]

15 minutes ago, beavo451 said:

Yes, PFSense supports wireless. No you shouldn't use wireless on the PFSense device.

 

If you really want to use PFSense, then you should use access points with it to handle the wireless.

Ok so basically just buy an access point then. Thanks