Quote:
Originally Posted by flamesrule_kipper34
I really appreciate this. Tbh, I definitely want to learn hence I'm willing to go a bit above and beyond than just the pure wireless wifi mesh sort of system routez genuinely curious to understand what I can do with the existing infrastructure and maximize what's doable and try to learn a ton along the way.
That being said, once I create this map would it make sense to move everything down to my utility room?
ISP modem, hook up the gateway/router to it and then the switch to that (along with what I've now identified appropriately as the useful unterminated wires capped with RJ45 connectors)?
At that stage I may just do one AP hooked into the second or third level and see where that gets me and if needed as a second AP to the other location.
Does the above approach make sense?
And sorry when you say back-up, what do you mean?
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Whatever you decide... god speed. There's so many things you will have to figure out for your home infrastructure. Sometimes I feel networking professionals vs IT professionals are basically like the vets vs doctors comparison.
I think he means a firmware backup with your settings configured into it? That way if you mess up your systems, you can reload/restore and start over rather than try and reverse navigate your way out of the mess. I consider myself a novice/slightly advanced for things tech and I enjoy challenges, but networking just wasn't really fun to learn for me. It's a crazy combination of different layouts, different hardware, different software/interfaces and different "options". There's hundreds of ways to do it well, hundreds of ways to do it stupidly but functional and hundreds of ways to do it bad and non-functional. I thought I'd like it, but it honestly I just felt straight up stressed and successes felt like a sigh of relief rather than a sense of accomplishment. I'd only suggest taking on that big of a project only if you won't be killed by someone needing internet at all times and if you have a few days of basically uninterrupted time to do, debug and optimize. I don't feel you can dabble in networking stuff. You have to be all in hell or high water. Things are very different now than when we used to flash Tomato on a router.
I like computers as much as the next guy, but when it comes to networking stuff, that's a whole different ball game of complexity and interconnectivity navigation. I honestly don't bother with the stuff I do not know unless I have a networking guru buddy nearby with a few hours/a weekend to burn. But that's just me.
My concern is that you're potentially trying to learn too many things at once. Unlike other things, you can typically only afford a few hours of networking problems at a time without pissing off yourself and/or technology illiterate individuals. Myself, I would prefer learning one segment at a time vs learning them all at the same time, but there are others who think it's easier to learn all of them at the same time.
How I would probably approach your situation might be something like this:
Layout:
1. Map out the wiring and terminate them into a patch panel.
2. Shaw modem to bridge mode
3. Modem to Router
4A. Router to patch panel (if only sending up one or two connections)
4B. Router to switch in utility room/patch cables to patch panel plus additional items such as smart hubs, server etc.
5. Switch(es) at upstairs panels for ethernet (ie: entertainment room, office etc.)
6. AP at a strategic location (ie: at panel or with switch).
7. Devices at the end (into switches or panels)
Hardware:
1. What type of switch to use (number of ports, POE, speeds etc.)
2. What router/AP or Mesh system to use (ie: Brand, router-router, router-AP, wireless bridge etc.)
3. Server? NAS?
4. What devices are being plugged in? (ie: Hubs, computers, consoles, etc.)
Software/firmware/settings:
1. Not always is the latest firmware the greatest. You might have to figure out which is the potential "LTS" you want to roll with. Flash to appropriate firmware/software updates to limit security vulnerability.
2.You have to figure out which settings and features you actually can benefit from in the network settings and figure out the optimum settings. This can take hours to do. If you don't know what it is, don't touch it. Ask or do crazy research before tinkering with it.
3. Multiple network layers/"design"? (ie: SSID for smart devices different than main network, private SSID for you, SSID for everyone else etc.)
4. Other software/interfaces to set up for additional hardware in the network. Things like NAS/Server OS, Plex, Smart hub(s), casting, audio, sharing etc.
... etc.
Personally, if possible, I'd start out with a set and forget mesh network for the networking stuff kinda like training wheels. Once I figure out how everything else is going and am happy with the way it's chugging along, I'd upgrade the mesh routers with the set up you really want.
Honestly, I'm not even going to say that what I suggested is actually completely "accurate" and/or "efficient". I'm sure others might disagree with my concerns about the complexity. I'm quite certain my own set up at home is more "stupid but functional" rather than a well designed and optimized set up and that's with the dead easy AmpliFi routers hooked up and additional hours and hours of tinkering with things and solving random issues.