Home network help.

[KiKaZz74]

Sorry. I'm not into IT so just bare with me. This is all new to.me. but I think I have it figured out. I'll post a pic later of what I have picked out and let u see what you think.

Thanks everyone who has helped me.

[audiofanaticz]

There is an app on the phone that will test 2.4 and 5ghz traffic for interference and other devices on said frequency range.

So you may be best off switching to a different channel on your router until you find something that is not causing said interference.

Your router is meh.

No idea how good the signal strength could be with it considering there are no external antennas, and it looks like it is a compact size to boot yet.

You should be able to use your router after a switch, I dont think it would be no different than me having 3 routers in my house, all daisy chained off of each other to make my network bigger for when Im outside or in the garage, plus I also give my tenant free wifi too. However my new router seems to almost do what my old 3 did except that the signal is a tad weak in my garage.

Im not seeing your need for a switch unless I didnt read through enough.

Id say that you should just go buy a nice gigabit router, and if anything daisy chain your current router off that in another location for increased range.

This is what Im using, and love it. Was weary at first though.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124531

[KiKaZz74]

I'd love to get a nice router but as it sits that single router is more expensive than everything I have to wire everything up. I'm not able to get anything onto the 5ghz channel except maybe one phone. The channel I'm lost on. All of them are kind of cluttered around me. And a few people have routers than are spanning 2 or all 3 zones. I chose the channel with lowest use. Used to have really good signal. Like usable 500ft away but now its good for maybe 200ft. Not sure why.

[hifonix]

George Jefferson, KiKaZz74 is not trying to extend his wireless coverage. He is trying to remove devices from his wireless network by hard wiring them.

The amount of devices using the same bandwidth, and only one radio for transmission is the root cause of his problem. As I said before when using wireless only one device can talk to the router at a time, in KiKaZz74's case this leaves 6-7 other devices waiting for their turn.

There are two fixes for this:

1. Add new router that has MIMO support ( multiple radios so more than one device can talk at a time) ~$200 This will not completely fix KiKaZz74's issues as you would still have about 2-4 devices per radio, but it would allow more devices to talk at once.

2. Hard wire the devices you can to remove them from the wireless network.

KiKaZz74

The channels recommended for 802.11G are 1,6, and 11 anything else overlaps and should not be used most routers default to 6. You could try and change to those channels and see if it clears up may or may not help.

Post any pictures you get and we can go from there KiKaZz74

The router can be on a different floor, this is not a problem. Your switch will need to get its internet connection from the router to share with the other wired devices.

Think of the switch as a RCA Y adapter it turns one port into 5,8,12,24,36 ports, but the signal still has to come from somewhere - in this case the router.

A switch is a dumb device that does not know how to route traffic, this is why the router must feed the switch.

Keep in mind this is all a simplified explanation without a lot of technical jargon that would just confuse/hinder the situation!!

[KiKaZz74]

So I can't run the cable from the modem to the switch? Has to go through the router?

Here's some pics of where it is. Where I will put the new setup and some WiFi stats.

If u need anything else let me know. We do have a spare modem router combo that our isp sent us and we never used. Not sure where it is right now tho.

[hifonix]

Yes modem to router then to switch. Depending on your version of the wndr-3400 looks like DD-WRT will flash on to it, you could then turn it into a wireless access point. Then you could use the spare modem/router combo to switch and put the Netgear on a different floor. You dont want ethernet cable running next to electrical lines if at all possible. Looks like you have several routers around you on channel 1 and yours is on channel 1 try going to channel 6 see how it works, you could also disable the 5ghz radio since you not using it. Looking at the graphs looks like you and MXracer might have some interference since they both drop off at the same time go to channel 6.

http://www.howtogeek.com/99001/htg-explains-routers-and-switches/

Good reading there with pictures may help explain better than just me typing words

[KiKaZz74]

I was actually able to get farther into my phone. The 3 normal phones are switched onto the 5ghz channel. And I could try that router modem combo right with the switch. And then would the netgear be wired in? Or just have it stand alone and use as a repeater? I'll change to ch6 to see if that'll help for the mean time. I'll post what I have picked to see what u think in a bit. Making sure I'm not forgetting anything. I'll also draw out a plan of what I'm thinking to help

[hifonix]

Ideally you would run a wire to the netgear. You could do it wireless but with the signal issues you are already having it probably wouldn't work out.

This would require you to flash its bios with DD-WRT and configure it as a wireless AP, if the netgear software wont do it. Do you have anything on the netgear that says repeater or AP (access point)?

After doing some reading DD-WRT would be the better option... I havent messed with DD-WRT in years but their help section is pretty good and we could most likely get through it.

On the netgear router does it say version 1 or 2 should be on a sticker on the bottom or on the main page when you login.

[KiKaZz74]

Yes it does have a built in section for it. Here's what it's like. This is for the netgear. In not sure about the combo one. Never have used it yet. I also have the plan I'll get the cart figured out and post it also.

[hifonix]

Nice drawing looks like you have the right ideas and understood exactly how it will be hooked up.

Order a couple extra of each jack type and cables just in case.

Im not 100% on how the repeater function works on that netgear. Let me talk to some buddies and get a better idea of what we can do with it.

At some point you will want to replace the modem router combo with a gigabit router but doesn't have to be now.

Make sure switch is 10/100/1000 on all ports.