Gigabit LAN performance in AC routers

[thefrencharmy]

I'm in the process of wiring up a two story townhouse. It's a fairly new unit, so it has a central hub/box located in the walk-in closet of the master bedroom on the top level. The box has the connections for coax and ethernet for each room (3 bedrooms, family room, living room)

The townhouse is has the bedrooms on the top level, and the living + family rooms on the downstairs level.

I currently have 105mbps Comcast service (speedtesting ~120mbps)

I have 3 desktop PCs located in the family room that I want to have wired networking, and wifi throughout the house for smartphones and laptops.

My original plan is to hook up a motorola SB6141 modem + a wired router inside the central box in the closet + wireless AP downstairs + wireless AP in one of the bedrooms for better signal coverage upstairs.

I looked into wired routers and they all seemed to be geared towards enterprise/business level needs and very expensive.

Then I read somewhere that most wireless routers' wired LAN performance is very similar to the wired only routers.

So my questions are:
1. If I want to maximize the wired performance from my 105mbps connection, do I need to buy the latest generation AC routers, or will any N600/750/900 router with gigabit LAN ports suffice for my needs?

2. What would you guys recommend as a cost-effective router to buy?

 

[azazel1024]

Just about any wireless router with gigabit ports is capable of greater than 120Mbps WAN to LAN and LAN to WAN.

All things considered with placement, unless that hub/box is metal, I'd just run the wifi router in it as a wireless access point as well for upstairs coverage. As a townhouse, I am assuming it isn't terribly large per floor.

Or if you just want it running as a router, dunno. Something inexpensive I guess, TP-Link WDR3600 fits the bill at $50. and pretty good for wireless performance as well if you wanted to go that route. Supports OpenWRT if you want an alternate firmware too.

 

[fistv]

You are going to need a switch in that box to connect the other network ports in the house. D-Link DIR-632 8 port wireless router or TP-LINK TL-R860 wired only router. That will bring the ports back to that closets control. For the family room I'd just get a decent wireless router and put in ap mode, you can use the remaining 3 ports on a 4 port router for the 3 PC's. The big question is will a wireless router in the master closet cover the other two bedrooms, you might have to stick an AP in one of those.

 

[thefrencharmy]

You are going to need a switch in that box to connect the other network ports in the house. D-Link DIR-632 8 port wireless router or TP-LINK TL-R860 wired only router. That will bring the ports back to that closets control. For the family room I'd just get a decent wireless router and put in ap mode, you can use the remaining 3 ports on a 4 port router for the 3 PC's. The big question is will a wireless router in the master closet cover the other two bedrooms, you might have to stick an AP in one of those.

The box has unconnected ethernet cables labeled by room and I figured I would plug in 4 of them to the 4 LAN ports of the router I end up getting, and use a gigabit switch in the family room coming out of the wall to give access to the 3 computers.

It would look like:

INTERNET -> modem -> router -> wall hub -> wall plug in family room -> switch -> 3 PCs

 

[fistv]

The box has unconnected ethernet cables labeled by room and I figured I would plug in 4 of them to the 4 LAN ports of the router I end up getting, and use a gigabit switch in the family room coming out of the wall to give access to the 3 computers.

It would look like:

INTERNET -> modem -> router -> wall hub -> wall plug in family room -> switch -> 3 PCs

If you put a 8 port router in the cabinet, wired only or wireless all the ports plugged in will have GB at the wall plug, then in the family room if you put in a 4 port or 8 port wireless router in access point mode and have 4 extra wired ports for other uses, plugged into port 1 you can plug in the 3 pc's to the remaining ports, in AP mode you don't use the WAN port. That gives you a 3 port switch and wireless in the same box. The big question is do you want a wired only or wireless router in the closet. You could also put in a wireless 8 port router in access point mode, plug in the 3 PC's, your blue ray player, AV receiver and TV if you have that kind of setup in the family room. There are a few ways to do this, I'm just trying to eliminate extra boxes.

Internet > modem > 8 port router with all ethernet plugs plugged in> family room > 8 port wireless router in access point mode> 3pc's, av receiver, tv, blueray player, streaming device all wired.

 

[azazel1024]

The TL-R860 would limit your internet connection however as it only has 10/100 ports.

 

[fistv]

The TL-R860 would limit your internet connection however as it only has 10/100 ports.

Yea, that's why I was leaning towards the D-Link DIR-632, that would give wireless in the master bedroom provided everything is not going to closed up in a metal box. I don't know if the 632 has detachable antennas for putting them outside. I'd like to see a picture of that cable box the builder put in, wondering it it's one of those levitron 10lbs in a 5lb box setups.

 

[thefrencharmy]

I will post some pictures of the box when I get home today.

So I think it boils down to if I want to bite the bullet and buy an AC66U or something similar and hope it gets me enough coverage upstairs, or a cheaper one and buy 1-2 wireless APs for upstairs.

My main worry is the router being able to broadcast properly if it's stuffed inside the box inside the walk-in closet, especially if both closet and room door are closed

 

[fistv]

I mis-read the router specs, the lan ports are 10/100, [goes back to drawing board] dam.....

Lets see,
Internet > modem > GB router > 8 port GB switch > GB to each outlet >

 

[thefrencharmy]

Lets see,
Internet > modem > GB router > 8 port GB switch > GB to each outlet >

Do I need that switch there? Can't I just connect 4 of the ethernet outlets to the 4 LAN ports of the GB router? That way those 4 wall plugs will be essentially plugged into the LAN ports of the router itself no?

 

[thefrencharmy]

I took some pictures of the network hub/box as I previously mentioned

 

[fistv]

I took some pictures of the network hub/box as I previously mentioned

What are the blue wires and what are the green wires ?More to the point what is that block the blue wires are plugged into ? Is that a router or switch that the green wires are plugged into ?

 

[azazel1024]

Well, for router I'd either go something nice and low powered, like a TP-Link WDR3600, or else I'd look at getting a small fan and AC to 12V DC power supply, drilling some holes for ventillation and installing it in the box (with other ventillation holes to allow the air to be blown out).

Not sure the power draw of anything else in the box currently, but it looks like no ventillation and a number of the higher end routers pull >10w. Stuck in an enclosed box with no ventillation you are probably looking at boosting the temperature by an easy 20-30F...which would not be so good.

I can't speak for all 11n routers, because some ARE very high power draw, but the WDR3600 is 3.5w with the WAN and LAN ports unplugged, 4.5w with LAN and WAN port plugged in (one of each). I used one for several months as my router and it did an awesome job with a FIOS 75/35 connection. Pretty darned good wireless coverage too.

For antennas outside of the box, if the box is centrally located, I wouldn't bother. It appears plastic all around, so it isn't going to do a whole lot to the signal. Likely no worse degredation than putting the antennas on pig tails to get them through the cover.

If you are going to go for an 11ac router for there (which is fine), I'd look at something with a QCA/Atheros/Qualcomm (same difference). Also try to find power consumption numbers. Broadcom chipset/radio routers seem to run kind of power hungry/hot compared to QCA stuff. At least in 11ac for some limited testing I have done and some stuff I have found round about the internet you are looking at 7-9w for QCA 11ac gear and around 12-16w for Broadcom gear. Ignoring the finger full of dollars per year in power consumption, its an issue of heat in a closed box. Sitting on a shelf it would really make little difference

 

[fistv]

After staring at that box for a while I would put a router and switch outside, speed wise on the router side, Ubiquiti ERLite-3, 7watts, then add a 8 port gb switch, 12w, netgear has one that powers down unused ports. I would still go with a gb port wireless router in access point mode in the family room though. That would give you wireless and wired at the same place with the gb speeds you want. To me the advantage of a wireless router in ap mode over a dedicated wap is the added advantage of having extra wired ports if you need them. I could not find an 8 port gb wireless router. I know you said 3 pc's in the family room but what else ? TV, AV receiver, roku, blueray, etc... In which case it might be better to just go with a 8 port switch with a dedicated AP in the family room.

My current setup at home is a wrt1900ac that feeds a 16 port tp link gb switch that feeds all my wired connections in the basement, entertainment center main floor and upstairs bedrooms. The 1900 provides wireless for my iphone, wifes droid and her nexus plus various laptops anywhere in the house.

 

[thefrencharmy]

Thank you guys for such detailed responses.

I will most likely put the modem and router outside the box, since I was skeptical about fitting both a modem and a router in there, and have room to breathe. I'll probably buy a little side table or shoe rack to put the modem+router underneath the hub/box to eliminate the clutter.

I think I will go the route of the ~$50 TP-LINK WDR3600 and run openWRT on it.

Hopefully it has enough coverage to take care of the upstairs. If not, I'll grab a cheap AP to put in one of the other rooms to boost coverage.

 

[azazel1024]

Thank you guys for such detailed responses.

I will most likely put the modem and router outside the box, since I was skeptical about fitting both a modem and a router in there, and have room to breathe. I'll probably buy a little side table or shoe rack to put the modem+router underneath the hub/box to eliminate the clutter.

I think I will go the route of the ~$50 TP-LINK WDR3600 and run openWRT on it.

Hopefully it has enough coverage to take care of the upstairs. If not, I'll grab a cheap AP to put in one of the other rooms to boost coverage.

If it is rather centrally located, at least on 2.4GHz, it should comfortable cover 2,000sq-ft or so, so long as you are talking 2x4 construction (more if you don't mind a weak signal in the further areas). 5GHz of course less, but should still cover at least 1,000sq-ft, if not better depending on how many walls you are talking.

Mine easily covered my 1,000sq-ft basement, with it sitting in the far corner of the basement, I still had very good reception across the basement in the storage room through several walls on 2.4GHz and fair reception on 5GHz.

My upstairs is another thing because I have a 4ft thick masonry fireplace blocking my other WDR3600 from the rest of the house. Still, if I disable the basement WDR3600, the upstairs one will provide connetion across 35ft of house, through the chimney and 3 interior walls and still have 2 bars of reception, about -76dBm signal strength and able to do about 3-4MB/sec. On 2.4GHz of course.

 

[fistv]

Wall mount shelf suggestion
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DCEOHH8/?tag=snbforums-20