Best setup for 8,000 sq ft house

[Stormin_Norm]

Great site. I've been reading over threads for a few days now.
I am going to build a network for a friends huge 8,000 sq ft house. The dsl line in is in one corner of the house and their bedroom on the other side.

I'm not looking for a lot of throughput for gaming. Mainly to get his wireless-g laptop connected to work from office (dsl drop), bedroom (opposite of end from dsl) or kitchen (below dsl drop). PLUS his wife is getting an Asus EEE, I assume a wireless-N. And visitors with their ipod touches.

What router would you recommend?
DLink DIR-655 / Linksys WRT610 / Netgear WNDR 3700 ??

I can't run additional cable to the other side of the house, but rather would do a range extender,
I found a lot of posts about wireless-G with high gain antennas. Most of these routers don't allow access to antenna? what other options???

THANKS!

 

[DaveMcLain]

The best bet would probably be to set up the router by the DSL drop and give it a try. If the signal is not strong enough configuring a repeater somewhere near the middle of the house would be helpful. I had to do this at a relative's house that's VERY large.

I used an existing WRT54G router and installed DD-WRT and a single high gain antenna. This helped but it would not give quite enough coverage. Probably it would have been ok if the router was in the middle of the house but moving it wasn't practical. Adding the repeater where the signal was reduced but still quite strong did the trick easily and it's been working well for the last couple of years.

A wired AP near the center of the house would probably be best for throughput, reliability and simplicity if that's an option.

 

[thiggins]

No single router is going to cover an 8,000 sq foot house.

I would not do a repeater. But instead, use a pair of powerline adapters to connect the primary DSL-connected router to a secondary router configured as an AP on the other side of the house. Use HomePlug AV (200 Mbps) adapters available from Cisco/Linksys, NETGEAR, etc.

There's really no benefit to using a dual-band N router if you're connecting to G clients. Get either G routers or single-band N. The DIR-655 used to be solid, but has had a series of flaky firmware releases. A Cisco/Linksys WRT160N should do you fine if you want a single-band N router.

 

[Stormin_Norm]

There's really no benefit to using a dual-band N router if you're connecting to G clients. Get either G routers or single-band N. The DIR-655 used to be solid, but has had a series of flaky firmware releases. A Cisco/Linksys WRT160N should do you fine if you want a single-band N router.

The WRT160 looks good.
I always thought it better to run a dual-band so you can split the N & G traffic, but since they have only one 'n' netbook, it should not be a bandwidth killer.

Just curious- Do you recommend an different external antenna?

I'll also check this website for a 'cheap' wireless monitor and walk around their house. I'll use my wifes mac, since it is the only 'n' client I have

 

[thiggins]

I always thought it better to run a dual-band so you can split the N & G traffic.

This works only if you have dual-band N clients that can be set to use the 5 GHz band. Dual-band N routers do not let you set both radios to the same band.

Just curious- Do you recommend an different external antenna?

No. Still not gonna cover 8,000 square feet with decent performance.

I'll also check this website for a 'cheap' wireless monitor and walk around their house. I'll use my wifes mac, since it is the only 'n' client I have

See
How To Fix Your Wireless Network - Part 2: Site Surveying

 

[Stormin_Norm]

I have to do some studying on dual band vs. single band

I see best buy has a good deal on both the linksys 160N and 400 & 610. Wouldn't it be worth the few extra dollars to bump to a 610?
This way the house is ready for dual-N band.

btw. thanks for the monitoring link. good stuff.

 

[thiggins]

Wouldn't it be worth the few extra dollars to bump to a 610?

That's up to you. Depends on how soon you're planning to use dual band. But 5 GHz doesn't go as far and there are new products coming all the time.

If you want to go dual band now, I'd go with the NETGEAR WNDR3700.