help needed to build a good home network setup

[suman]

Dear visitors and geniuses,

I am Suman from Basel, Switzerland. I am a biologist with very less knowledge about computers or networking. However, being an enthusiast I scan through new technologies and try to learn the advantages and disadvantages.

I have a very minimal home-network setup right now with internet connection (500 Mbps download, 50 Mbps upload), UPC cablecom modem/Router (Hard disk memory: 500 GB, SmartCard: No (virtual smart card), Number of tuners: 6 (4 for parallel recordings), DOCSIS module: Puma 5, WiFi: 802.11 a / b / g / n, Frequency: 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz (parallel operation)). Sony Bluray player and smart LG TV are hooked to the router/modem through Ethernet cable. Since the router/Modem is also an access for the tv channels, it is connected to the TV with HDMI. Also the blue ray is connected to the tv via HDMI.

I have a large multimedia library currently on an external hard drive and I attach it to the TV via USB, whenever I want to see any movie or listen to songs.

I would like to improve my home network to be able to watch high definition movies, play songs, regular backup, photos etc. I would like to have high speed (highest possible) home network to enjoy my library which includes blueray rips as well. Also I would setup plex for streaming media with transcoding on at least 2-3 devices in parallel. I should mention at this point that I am willing to put the required finances to get the best setup available.

I just ordered QNAP TVS-871T-i7-16G: Quad-core Intel® Core™ i7-4790S 3.2GHz to store my media and use it as a plex server. Since I do not have enough Ethernet ports in the router, I am considering to buy a switch or new router. QNAP NAS has 2x 2 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet port which I would like to use for the traffic.

I plan to connect the network switch with the router, the NAS and the TV with the switch. I would try to do link integration for fail safe and high speed.

Can anyone please help me find out if this is a viable thought ? If this will help me increase the traffic between the NAS and the TV through plex ? Any recommended hardware or setup to improve the performance would be highly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Suman

 

[Mike Swenson]

Yes, you should consider a Gigabit switch that support multicast traffic (video streaming). The Cisco SG500 series switch would be a very good choice.

SG500 datasheet below:
http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/produc...e-managed-switches/c78-695646_data_sheet.html

Mike

 

[z3r0k3wl]

A common misconception is people think link aggregation will give you better performance with file transfers. It will not. Your file will only transfer over one of the 2 NICs. The data is not split between the two like most people think. Therefore your xfer speed is limited to actual max speed of a gigabit network. Link aggregation is only beneficial in an environment with multiple clients accessing multiple files. And I'm not talking about 2 or 3 devices. Like multi clients in a SMB that can push a gigabit network and the NAS to its limits. Even if you had 3 devices streaming Blu-ray movies at 20 Mbps it won't even come close to saturating the network.


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[L&LD]

Dear visitors and geniuses,

I am Suman from Basel, Switzerland. I am a biologist with very less knowledge about computers or networking. However, being an enthusiast I scan through new technologies and try to learn the advantages and disadvantages.

I have a very minimal home-network setup right now with internet connection (500 Mbps download, 50 Mbps upload), UPC cablecom modem/Router (Hard disk memory: 500 GB, SmartCard: No (virtual smart card), Number of tuners: 6 (4 for parallel recordings), DOCSIS module: Puma 5, WiFi: 802.11 a / b / g / n, Frequency: 2.4 GHz and 5.0 GHz (parallel operation)). Sony Bluray player and smart LG TV are hooked to the router/modem through Ethernet cable. Since the router/Modem is also an access for the tv channels, it is connected to the TV with HDMI. Also the blue ray is connected to the tv via HDMI.

I have a large multimedia library currently on an external hard drive and I attach it to the TV via USB, whenever I want to see any movie or listen to songs.

I would like to improve my home network to be able to watch high definition movies, play songs, regular backup, photos etc. I would like to have high speed (highest possible) home network to enjoy my library which includes blueray rips as well. Also I would setup plex for streaming media with transcoding on at least 2-3 devices in parallel. I should mention at this point that I am willing to put the required finances to get the best setup available.

I just ordered QNAP TVS-871T-i7-16G: Quad-core Intel® Core™ i7-4790S 3.2GHz to store my media and use it as a plex server. Since I do not have enough Ethernet ports in the router, I am considering to buy a switch or new router. QNAP NAS has 2x 2 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet port which I would like to use for the traffic.

I plan to connect the network switch with the router, the NAS and the TV with the switch. I would try to do link integration for fail safe and high speed.

Can anyone please help me find out if this is a viable thought ? If this will help me increase the traffic between the NAS and the TV through plex ? Any recommended hardware or setup to improve the performance would be highly appreciated.

Many thanks,
Suman

With money being no object, (and the fact that the NAS has 2, 10GbE ports) I would recommend the following.

• A 10GbE managed switch with at least 4 more ports than you think you need today.
  • http://www.netgear.com/landing/10gigabit.aspx
• A mix of the following routers (one main and the others used as AP's as needed depending on the size and construction of your home and the number of devices (and their capabilities) too).
  • RT-AC3100
  • RT-AC88U
  • RT-AC5300
  • BRT-AC828*
    • * see http://www.snbforums.com/threads/ne...-dual-wan-vpn-router.32839/page-2#post-265829
• CAT6e or higher cable to all wired locations/devices.

The main router I would connect with a LAG to the 10GbE switch and nothing else on the LAN ports. Everything wired would be connected to the 10GbE switch, including any AP's you require to give full WiFi coverage to the entire home.

Note that the BRT-AC828 may not be available for some time (but you can always switch it into your network and use the 'old' router as an additional AP). What is most impressive about this router is that it offers true 2Gbps 'routed' speeds.

http://s146.photobucket.com/user/maylyn22/media/ASUS BRT-AC828M2/Speedtest2gbps-Maylyn.png.html

With the above in place, you will have the ability to realize your goal of having the "high speed (highest possible) home network" that you want at the least possible expense and with an upgrade path to better routers and AP's as needed (without being locked into a single manufacturer).

Which I could 'play' with the above network before, during or after it was all setup.

 

[z3r0k3wl]

No such thing as cat6e. Companies were labeling their cable's that way as a gimmick to sell their cables as an upgrade. They were just standard cat6. Maybe you meant cat6a for augmented which is the latest standard for cat6.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[L&LD]

No such thing as cat6e. Companies were labeling their cable's that way as a gimmick to sell their cables as an upgrade. They were just standard cat6. Maybe you meant cat6a for augmented which is the latest standard for cat6.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002C8RMZO/?tag=snbforums-20


I'm sure you're right about the 'gimmick' part. But they are a 'thing'.

 

[System Error Message]

Actually you dont need 10Gb/s. Your routing needs arent that great either but consumer routers wont handle your speed without hardware acceleration. Qualcomm's IPQ8064 routers however have enough CPU to handle your internet speed without hardware acceleration, this is if you decide you need to use lots of network related features on your router and it also depends on your skill knowledge on configuring them. This may be important if you plan to use VPNs and extend your network out of your home.

You can get fully managed switches with some 10Gb/s ports (usually in the form of SFP+) from ubiquiti and mikrotik. They arent as great compared to say a good cisco or juniper switch. At the lower cost there are many managed switches you can consider. People usually recommend cisco but they arent the only ones you can buy. Some brands and models can be confusing such as the netgear prosafe line as each model has varying features from the next. Various models from different brands of the lower cost vary quite a lot within the same line.

What you need is a semi managed switch at least. While you may not need vlans now it may be a feature you might want to use in the future. Layer 2 QoS can be helpful in bottlenecked situations and LACP is the feature you want. While 10Gb/s is nice it can get expensive just to have a 10Gb/s network but you can at least get cabling that supports it. Even with 1Gb/s it is sufficient for multiple encoded streams and LACP does actually increase your throughput unlike what others here will have you believe because LACP (or combining ports) works on layer 2 with the limitation that ethernet frames cannot be split up. Each packet from the endpoint is encapsulated within an ethernet frame and than sent. 1 ethernet frame cant be broken up to be transmitted over a bonded ethernet line but 2 ethernet frames , each one can be sent over a seperate bonded ethernet line. So get a switch that supports various types of LACP.

The other thing you may want to consider is jumbo frames. Mikrotik routerboards allow custom MTU sizes but this feature isnt a necessity. Using around 9K packet sizes should be sufficient for all devices as thats usually the minimum max supported frame nowadays. You should set the MTU to the maximum of the lowest MTU supported by any device in your network. Jumbro frames help for transferring large data like HD streams or large files but make no difference in transferring many small files like documents. You do however need to make sure your switch supports this feature properly as some switches like my older netgear prosafe starts dying when i use this as packets end up having 2 second latencies or timeout. The type of LACP is also important and determines how efficient or effective it will be. http://wiki.mikrotik.com/wiki/Manual:Interface/Bonding shows an example with list of LACP types, you can google them to find out more about how each LACP type works.

You will also need to consider your network architecture as well. A single central switch is preferred as it is the most efficient network if redundancy is unimportant. If you have multiple switches it is good to use larger links between them like 10Gb/s or multiple bonded ethernet links. Calculate the bandwidths you need, is your router also providing wifi? If you have a router that is also providing wireless AC and also internet than having the router also be capable of LACP can help especially with your internet speeds. Dont forget if you have test equipment on your network layer 2 is preferred over a layer 3 network that doesnt allow layer 2. Layer 3 is meant for routing which is useful if you want to segment your network such as separating work from home network and avoid things from being able to communicate with each other. So having both layer 2 and 3 segmentation options in your switch will be useful in the future if you find that you need them.

Other features you can consider are power over ethernet if you plan to have any devices that can take advantage over it. Unlike passive adapters or unmanaged POE switches, POE on an active switch is better than unmanaged POE switch because it will give you the ability to monitor and possibly set things if needed for POE. I have electronic hardware like an oscilloscope and i've seen DMMs and bench PSUs with networking capabilities and i do use them too, i get everything wired if i can. Since i only have 1 or 2 devices that support POE i dont bother with it.

The misconception that was referred to using file transfers is if the server has 2 links and the client with 1 link, this means that 1 link can be saturate. If however the server and client both have 2 links with the switch also supporting LACP than you could saturate both links as long as both systems see it as a single link which is what usually happens. OS sees both links as a single link.

edit: Multicast support can be helpful and also media related features for wifi.

 

[sfx2000]

A mix of the following routers (one main and the others used as AP's as needed depending on the size and construction of your home and the number of devices (and their capabilities) too).

• RT-AC3100
• RT-AC88U
• RT-AC5300
• BRT-AC828*
  • * see http://www.snbforums.com/threads/ne...-dual-wan-vpn-router.32839/page-2#post-265829

I'd probably not recommend consumer grade router/AP's... as a single device on a small network, they're a decent value, but if one is looking for a step up...

Ubiquiti and MicroTik, along with Engenius and Zyxel have some better solutions... breaking out the router from the AP's, and putting more granular support on the network.

 

[L&LD]

I'd probably not recommend consumer grade router/AP's... as a single device on a small network, they're a decent value, but if one is looking for a step up...

Ubiquiti and MicroTik, along with Engenius and Zyxel have some better solutions... breaking out the router from the AP's, and putting more granular support on the network.

Haven't seen a 'solution' from an enterprise level router that I would recommend, yet.

 

[System Error Message]

well sometimes getting an enterprise level router or building your own such as with pfsense would be helpful if you want to secure your test equipment on the network.

 

[sfx2000]

Haven't seen a 'solution' from an enterprise level router that I would recommend, yet.

Come over and see my network

There's a line that some need to cross perhaps - and once that line is crossed... it's a better network...

Doesn't need to be "enterprise" grade, just a minor step up, and sometimes - it's more cost efficient - just takes a bit of know-how...

EdgeRouters and uTik's - nice step up...

(pfSense is also a nice step - and very scalable...)

 

[L&LD]

Doesn't need to be "enterprise" grade, just a minor step up, and sometimes - it's more cost efficient - just takes a bit of know-how...

EdgeRouters and uTik's - nice step up...

(pfSense is also a nice step - and very scalable...)

The problem is having enough of that 'little bit of know how'.

It is just easier to recommend good pro sumer products that have excellent support not only from Asus, but from RMerlin and others as well.

Money is easy to spend (assuming we have a little of it). Knowledge (and time to get that knowledge) is much harder to come by.

 

[System Error Message]

RMerlin's firmware is good. If you get an AC88U or more you can combine 2 ports so that wifi, LAN and internet traffic wont bottleneck each other. Any older modals can do LACP but its complicated. RMerlin's firmware adds a touch of what the enterprise level routers can do by having IPTables, allowing you to select a QoS algorithm (still cant set buffer size though) and probably more things.

So regardless of which router you use you'll want a good one that is configurable and capable of supporting your speeds without relying on hardware NAT.

Since this is on network design the process is really easy. Keep your network simple, avoid bottlenecks and plan for the future in the sense of speed and features of your router, and the features of your switch/LAN. Use wire where you can(even powerline adapters have become really good and are better than wifi). Remember that wifi is a convenience regardless of how many Gb/s they claim. The real performance is from using wires (MU-MIMO and multi channel if you use powerline).

The key to good wifi really is just placement and good wifi AP (such as good RF design, recent and decent chips, etc).

Also think to yourself the budget and when will you next upgrade. Test equipment now have networking capabilities so take advantage and design for that too.

Dont forget the security of your network and internet. Having a managed switch, a configurable and decent router and a good wifi AP all are important because when combined they allow you to secure your network in ways that you cant for normal consumer gear. Cisco released a tutorial like a decade ago on how to defend your network against rogue DHCP, layer 2 attacks and even implement device and user authentication. Having the features/ a UTM itself is important especially if it is a multi user network.

 

[sfx2000]

The problem is having enough of that 'little bit of know how'.

That little bit of know-how isn't that hard to cross... and it's an investment of time learning a bit about networking in general.

Some of the UI's are a bit obtuse, I get it, but between wizards that walk one thru, and good documentation - prosumer devices do work...