Help me fix my home network.

[Tmt97]

Ok, so I am not exactly a networking expert. In fact i'd go as far as calling myself a networking noob. But out of the 5 people I live with, I am the most tech savy person in my house, so I have been tasked with trying to fix the mess were in. The problem is that our wifi is slow, and irregular. Randomly it starts going faster, but usually it stays pretty slow for everyone. We seem to drop connection a lot, and then frequently have to reset the router and modem to fix it. Heres what we have on the network: 5 Iphones, 5 Ipads, 5 Laptops, 3 Desktops, 3 Rokus, 2 Apple TVs, two smart TVs, 2 Printers, and 1 Apple watch. Also keep in mind that atleast two of those desktops, and 1 of the laptops are being used pretty much 24/7. There is only one room in the house that has an Ethernet jack to plug into, and that’s in the basement. In the basement there is 1 Prosafe FS108 8 port Ethernet switch. On the main floor there is 1 D-link AC3200 Ultra Triband Wifi Router DIR-890L/R, and a Xfinity Arris TG862 modem. We currently have Xfinity extreme 105 service. My question is: what is the problem, and how can this be improved? We all want faster internet, and not to have to deal with the router/modem randomly dropping connection and having to be reset. Thanks in advance!

 

edit: if we need a new router, I kind of wanna take this opportunity to try out something like Linus did in this video where he made a pfSense router:

 

[Guest]

Best buy a new router and switch. if that doesn''t fix it rewire the house with cat e cable.

[Tmt97]

18 minutes ago, nzskiing said:

Best buy a new router and switch. if that doesn''t fix it rewire the house with cat e cable.

Ok, well if i build a new pfSense router, what parts should I use? I don't really know what resources a router uses... lot of ram? Powerful cpu? Fast storage?

[Robert.pvf]

What is running off of the switch? Do the wired devices go offline and experience the same problems as the wireless does? If so then the router may not be the issue (at least not the wireless part).  Also, how big is your house/apartment and how many floors do you expect the wireless to transmit to?

[Guest]

I just bought a prebuilt one it was an asus router. If I were you depending on your budget then buy one with in that. with lots of people using it you will need a switch too. Look for reviews see if you all can put 50-100 in and get a 600 router which would do well.

[Tmt97]

14 minutes ago, Robert.pvf said:

What is running off of the switch? Do the wired devices go offline and experience the same problems as the wireless does? If so then the router may not be the issue (at least not the wireless part).  Also, how big is your house/apartment and how many floors do you expect the wireless to transmit to?

The switch is connected to a laptop, an apple tv, and a smart tv. The wired devices are usually fine. The house is 2400 Square feet including all the floors, the wireless needs to transmit to 3 floors.

[Guest]

Just now, Tmt97 said:

The switch is connected to a laptop, an apple tv, and a smart tv. The wired devices are usually fine. The house is 2400 Square feet including all the floors, the wireless needs to transmit to 3 floors.

Your probably better to have the internet cable from the house coming in and going to the router. Then the main port on the router running to a switch with all the wired devices connected to that. If its 3 floors then you may be better to buy another extender or repeater to put on the top floor if the signal is bad, as a wifi signal is gonna sturggle going thorough all the timber metal etc. You could also get a network pro in and have them look at everything and tell you what to do lol.

[Robert.pvf]

1 minute ago, Tmt97 said:

The switch is connected to a laptop, an apple tv, and a smart tv. The wired devices are usually fine. The house is 2400 Square feet including all the floors, the wireless needs to transmit to 3 floors.

Depending on material in the building 3 floors is stretching it. Putting the router in middle floor should be alright but some building materials block wireless signals a lot and make multiple floor impossible. You can test the speed by using one device and going to every location and running a speed test at like speedtest.net. Make sure there aren't a lot of other devices accessing the network at that time though. 

[Guest]

Also at night with say 6 uses using the network it will be slow unless you get decent wiring etc.

[Robert.pvf]

2 minutes ago, nzskiing said:

Your probably better to have the internet cable from the house coming in and going to the router. Then the main port on the router running to a switch with all the wired devices connected to that. If its 3 floors then you may be better to buy another extender or repeater to put on the top floor if the signal is bad, as a wifi signal is gonna sturggle going thorough all the timber metal etc. You could also get a network pro in and have them look at everything and tell you what to do lol.

Also, if you don't want to run cable or use repeaters, you can check out powerline adapters which run over your electric wiring. I've successfully used those before. Getting 30Mbps on a 150' power line between buildings. But yes your topology should be Modem -> Router -> switch & wireless

[Tmt97]

16 minutes ago, nzskiing said:

Your probably better to have the internet cable from the house coming in and going to the router. Then the main port on the router running to a switch with all the wired devices connected to that. If its 3 floors then you may be better to buy another extender or repeater to put on the top floor if the signal is bad, as a wifi signal is gonna sturggle going thorough all the timber metal etc. You could also get a network pro in and have them look at everything and tell you what to do lol.

 

14 minutes ago, Robert.pvf said:

Depending on material in the building 3 floors is stretching it. Putting the router in middle floor should be alright but some building materials block wireless signals a lot and make multiple floor impossible. You can test the speed by using one device and going to every location and running a speed test at like speedtest.net. Make sure there aren't a lot of other devices accessing the network at that time though. 

The router and modem are on the main floor, so maybe a couple of repeater/extenders would help. Theres only three devices connected directly to ethernet, the rest is on wifi. Still dunno what to do about the router/modem randomly having to be reset...

[Guest]

If you can run as many devices as possible via Ethernet. As the speeds and less work for the signal etc.

[Tmt97]

14 minutes ago, Robert.pvf said:

Also, if you don't want to run cable or use repeaters, you can check out powerline adapters which run over your electric wiring. I've successfully used those before. Getting 30Mbps on a 150' power line between buildings. But yes your topology should be Modem -> Router -> switch & wireless

I think I should have explained better how things are layed out. Lemme try again. I know I said theres 1 ethernet jack, but theres actually 2. I made a mistake when first explaining. One is on the main floor. Connected to that one is the modem and the router connects to the modem. In the basement there is a second one, and the switch is connected to that one, with 3 devices connected to that switch over Ethernet.

[Tmt97]

17 minutes ago, nzskiing said:

If you can run as many devices as possible via Ethernet. As the speeds and less work for the signal etc.

That really doesnt work for anyone... As I said theres two ethernet jacks. One in the basement, and one on the main floor. The only device usually used on the main floor is a smart tv in different room from where the ethernet jack is. In the basement, we have as many things as possible connected, but the vast majority of our electronics are on the top floor which has no ethernet to speak of... We also had someone give a rough estimate of how much it would cost to rewire the house to have more ethernet, and its out of all our price range...

[Guest]

That's what the switch is for. You plug the switch into the router. That's why you need to run Ethernet cables through the walls to the top floor. Like I said rewire the Ethernet cable of the house. buy cat 6 e and put ports in each room.

[Tmt97]

15 minutes ago, nzskiing said:

That's what the switch is for. You plug the switch into the router. That's why you need to run Ethernet cables through the walls to the top floor. Like I said rewire the Ethernet cable of the house. buy cat 6 e and put ports in each room.

Running ethernet cables to the top floor of the house(or anywhere in it for that matter) would be way too expensive for us. Apparently they would have to tear up so much of the house that it would be seriously expensive. We just need to get the router/modem so that it doesn't randomly stop working... ( and is a little faster )

[Guest]

Just now, Tmt97 said:

Running ethernet cables to the top floor of the house(or anywhere in it for that matter) would be way too expensive for us. Apparently they would have to tear up so much of the house that it would be seriously expensive. We just need to get the router/modem so that it doesn't randomly stop working...

Then buy a expensive router and hope for the best lol. Maybe buy some repeaters if the signal is bad.

[Tmt97]

14 minutes ago, nzskiing said:

Then buy a expensive router and hope for the best lol. Maybe buy some repeaters if the signal is bad.

Can you recommend a good repeater? Also is there any way to narrow down whether its the router or the modem that's causing them to randomly need to be reset?

[Guest]

TBH i have had terrible experiences with repeaters. I have one at my mums house and it's horrible. At my dad's we have an asus router and that's dodgy as fuck lol. I guess look for reviews I have the asus RT-AC3200

[Tmt97]

16 minutes ago, nzskiing said:

TBH i have had terrible experiences with repeaters. I have one at my mums house and it's horrible. At my dad's we have an asus router and that's dodgy as fuck lol. I guess look for reviews I have the asus RT-AC3200

So since most of the electronics are on the top floor where there is no ethernet(nor will there ever be ethernet unfortunately...) would it be a good idea to use a powerline adapter to get an ethernet connection on the top floor, and connect the router/modem to that? Then use a repeater or two for the bottom two floors where there isnt as many devices using wifi?

[Robert.pvf]

15 minutes ago, Tmt97 said:

That really doesnt work for anyone... As I said theres two ethernet jacks. One in the basement, and one on the main floor. The only device usually used on the main floor is a smart tv in different room from where the ethernet jack is. In the basement, we have as many things as possible connected, but the vast majority of our electronics are on the top floor which has no ethernet to speak of... We also had someone give a rough estimate of how much it would cost to rewire the house to have more ethernet, and its out of all our price range...

I'm curious where those jacks connect to. If you have the modem connected to one and a switch connected to the second how can you get internet through the jack that doesn't go through the modem? Or did I not understand your explanation? Also, for repeaters I would recomend looking at reviews on newegg and amazon for the most popular ones. I've never used a repeater. Check out powerline stuff though as a backup.

[Tmt97]

 

33 minutes ago, Robert.pvf said:

I'm curious where those jacks connect to. If you have the modem connected to one and a switch connected to the second how can you get internet through the jack that doesn't go through the modem? Or did I not understand your explanation? Also, for repeaters I would recomend looking at reviews on newegg and amazon for the most popular ones. I've never used a repeater. Check out powerline stuff though as a backup.

It does go to the modem through the ethernet cable in the wall.

18 minutes ago, JaredM54 said:

Look at access points from Ubiquiti, specifically the AC line. The best option would be two or three in different ends of the house. Don't even consider repeaters, and building a Pfsense box probably won't help. If you do want to build one any just for the sake of it, please don't look at Linus' videos. If you can't get ethernet to where APs would be best place powerline adapters would be a good option.

Ok, so would it be a good idea to move the router to the top floor and connect it to a powerline adapter? Since most of the devices connecting to wifi are up there?

[Robert.pvf]

16 minutes ago, Tmt97 said:

 

It does go to the modem through the ethernet cable in the wall.

Ok, so would it be a good idea to move the router to the top floor and connect it to a powerline adapter? Since most of the devices connecting to wifi are up there?

I too recommend Ubiquiti to get wifi around your situation. Refer to bellow on powerline which you would have to use to connect one of their AP's upstairs. 

 

So the ethernet cable in the wall plugs directly into the modem? If so, does your modem give out IP addresses or is it in passthrough mode? If it gives out addresses I would recommend shutting down all the routing functions (sometimes you have to contact ISP to do this) as they are generally cheap devices and that could be your issue with the restarting. If you do that then make sure the Ethernet in the wall connects to your router. 

 

You would have to test the powerline adapters in your place as they can be affected by other devices using electricity. Best is to use non-GFI circuits and nothing with a lot of transformers (ex the black boxes on end of power cables). I would recommend buying a cheap pair (usually $20-30) and doing some testing. Check the specifications for how many of a certain type can be run simultaneously on one circuit but I would recommend installing one to a switch upstairs and then connecting at least desktop or whatever to that. 

[Robert.pvf]

Also, I personally don't think your router needs to be replaced. Most likely your issue is wireless which is hard to pin down without an in-depth survey but could be interference (recommend using 5Ghtz not 2.4 and auto channel), signal propagation or maybe too many clients connecting at a distance. Even though you have a pretty good wireless router, if all of your devices are near the edge of it's signal reach you may experience issues handling all at once.

[skywake]

6 hours ago, Tmt97 said:

Ok, so would it be a good idea to move the router to the top floor and connect it to a powerline adapter? Since most of the devices connecting to wifi are up there?

Ideally you'd do something like this, with the bold bit being the additions:

 

Top floor - Ubiquiti AP

- Ethernet, powerline if Ethernet isn't an option-

Main floor - Router/Modem

- Ethernet - 

Basement - Wired devices connected to switch