How To Improve Network Performance Series

[dreid]

Modem choice

There isn't much to review on basic DSL or Cable modems other than throughput. The modem is only bridging at layer 2, either from DSL to Ethernet or from Cable to Ethernet.

A simple test of your modem is directly connect a PC to the modem and run a speed test at speedtest.net. This should show if you're getting the speed you expect from your ISP.

 

[brucew268]

Wireless downstream of switch vs upstream?

I’m trying to get my head around "The How To Improve Network Performance" articles.

I see that the article recommends getting the internal network switching tasks off of the router, which I’ve done for the wired connections (Netgear GS108), but the wireless connections are still on the router (which lies between the fibre modem and the GS108 switch). The modem is modem only and so I assume no double NAT issues. So…

Would my router do better by offloading the wireless to an Access Point, irrespective of the location issues of an Access Point? Not that I have specific performance issues to report.

Would my internal network manage itself more efficiently by having the wireless connections downstream from the switch rather than upstream from it, as they are now? It seems that since I moved the wired connections onto the switch, my wireless devices take longer to find the wired devices on the network or find them inconsistently.

I’ve considered getting:

• An ASUS RT-N16 as router with wifi. (Seems well liked when tomato is added on).
• An ASUS RT-N66 as router with wifi.
• An ASUS RT-N16 as router and another RT-N16 configured as an AP.
• An RT-N16 as router and an EA-N66 as AP.

(The Ubiquiti router seems way to fiddly for my knowledge level.)

 

[Rexx72]

Should I "cascade" my 3 switches or connect them all directly to the Router?

Thanks for the articles ... they got me over a large ignorance hump i.t.o jargon and concepts, and answered a number of questions i had perculating

Although I've spent a few hours searching and reading articles on the net, I still have 2 questions unanswered in my quest for the best possible performance on my network.

I'll seperate them into 2 posts to facilitate replies to them individual as they aren't directly related.

Question 1:

Should I "cascade" my 3 switches or connect them all directly to the Router?

I have 3x Switches in different rooms (D-Link 8-port Gigabit Desktop switch) connected to my Router (Linksys EA6900) which also has Gigabit Lan ports.

Cascading them seems to me to be the correct answer. By this I mean, connect one Switch to the Router, and then connecting the other Switches to the 1st Switch. So only one Lan port on the Router is used. Otherwise the router would seem to be acting as a "switch" for the switches. However I'm not sure if I've overlooked something as I'm new to all this.

Note: I have old routers now acting as AP's for wifi below these switches.

 

[Rexx72]

How to setup router as the "modem" only part of the network configuration suggested.

As per previous post here is my 2nd question in my quest for the best performance from my network. Since most of what I know about networking has only been recently learned on SNB, I hope that I haven't overlooked the answer in some other article due to my ignorance. Pointers to where to look would be appreciated.

Question 2

How to setup router as the "modem" only part of the network configuration suggested.


The article seems to assume you will have a "combo" that is primarily a modem with routing capabilities.

I have fibre optic connection, which supplies Internet/telephone/TV. Routers WAN is connected to the supplied box via normal network cable. PPPoE info is then required on the router for internet access.

So, no ISP supplied modem and I can't find a "modem" for this in the local shops. (only one for ADSL)

I have a Linksys E900 router I'd like to insert as the "modem" into my current setup (outlined below). In order to offload the Internet connection to it. Leaving my main router to just do the routing stuff, as per article. According to the article and the "Routing Charts" the E900's Maximum connections (11k), and Simultaneous Throughput (150mbps) are more than adequate for the internet connection job.

However, there is no easy option to select for a modem "bridge mode" on the E900 that I can find. I could find only a few (some contradicting) bits of info on how to set it up as a modem only. Linksys website only has articles on configurations downstream from a "modem" or another router, similar to what I found on SNB.

Best info I found was .... disable firewall and the DHCP server, then it should work. Which didn't inspire much confidence. Since the objective is to improve performance, I'd like a bit more info before I start fiddling around. Besides which, the family would start getting Internet withdrawal symptoms while I mess around trying things.
For example; What about NAT? Wouldn't this then cause "Double NAT"? Should it also be disabled on the "modem"? Does the "modem" router need NAT for accessing the internet? Since the EA6900 is much better at "routing" than the E900, wouldn't disabling NAT on that side be slowing the network down, and I'd be better off without a "modem"

I'd have no reservations about "flashing" the E900 if thats whats needed. But thats a whole new area for me, so I'd like an indication of whether it's the only possible/best solution before I start on that learning curve.

Any advice will be appreciated.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current setup:

Modem/Router (Linksys EA6900)

|​

3x Switches (D-link 8-port gigabit desktop switch)
- Exact configuration of switches awaits replies to my 1st question

|​

Wifi AP (Linksys WRT610N) wireless n only
*Wifi AP (D-Link DI-615) wireless g
Powerline Adapter + 2x Wifi AP (no-name brand)
- Most locations don't need high speed wifi, just reliable access for mail/msg/web.

 

[dreid]

Should I "cascade" my 3 switches or connect them all directly to the Router?

I would connect your router to switch 1, then connect the other two switches to switch 1.

 

[dreid]

How to setup router as the "modem" only part of the network configuration suggested?

It sounds like the fiber box is the "modem" and your router is the only router in your network.

You can verify this by looking at the WAN/Internet IP address of your EA6900 router. If the WAN/Internet IP address of your EA6900 router does not equal 10.x.x.x or 192.168.x.x or 172.16-31.x.x, you're good to go.

 

[Rexx72]

How to setup router as the "modem" only part of the network configuration suggested?

It sounds like the fiber box is the "modem" and your router is the only router in your network.

You can verify this by looking at the WAN/Internet IP address of your EA6900 router. If the WAN/Internet IP address of your EA6900 router does not equal 10.x.x.x or 192.168.x.x or 172.16-31.x.x, you're good to go.

Thanks for your reply.

My Routers IP is not a private one.

Taking into account what you said here and re-reading the article it makes sense now. i.e. that the "fibre box" is the modem for the network (and only a modem, not a combo).

I feel a bit silly now Since I just finished going through the process of connecting other routers as AP for wifi only, I "knew" that inserting another router upstream from the EA6900 would leave me with a private ip on it. Therefor the E900 would have to be bridged if it was going to do the modem work. A little knowledge is dangerous !!! Never occured to me the "fibre box" would be the modem.

I really appreciate you taking the time to respond to my questions.

 

[Don Preston]

Mr. Reid
I have the exact modem sagemcom4300 that you bridged hooked up to Dlink Dir655 Router. The D-link is then connected to Synology NAS. When I bridge Sagemcom4300 and reset WAN I consistently get the same internal IP 192.168.154.1. What am I doing wrong. Also I loose internet access and have to factory reset modem to get it back.

 

[Philip Joseph]

Hi there

Thanks for a great series - it really helped clarify an ideal network layout and lend some ideas on how to improve our home network.

I would be grateful for your input to how best to improve our network.

We are currently connected on a 8Mbps down and 766kbps upstream, Line noise between 4.6 and 8.1 db, Signal to Noise is 15.4 and 16.4 db respectively. I believe we are pretty close to the exchange.

I had received a DLink 2750u modem router from our ISP.

The house is of brick and plaster construction and about 40 years old - including all internal walls, so there isn't any internal networking cabling. Most of our devices are connected via WiFi - laptops, phones, tablets, smart TVs and a media player, the printer is the only device connected via Ethernet.

Wi-Fi coverage has been an issue so I replaced the Dlink with a TP Link Archer D2.

This improved coverage, but seemed to slow down the connection.

After reading this article, I disabled the wireless on the Dlink, it's set to PPPoE, and configured it with the ISP details (DHCP, firewall, NAT, QoS and IGMP are active on the Dlink).

I then set up the TPLink as an access point, disabled DHCP and connected it via Ethernet to the Dlink. Since connecting it up, I am unable to connect directly to the TPLink either using the tplinkmodem.net or it's IP address (which I got off the connected devices table on the Dlink) for some reason.

This seems to have improved the Wi-Fi coverage and speed when connecting from devices. It is not ideal yet, the furthest rooms with 2 or more intervening walls have only one or two bars coverage.

I have ordered an Asus 68u after reading the reviews (100 foot + coverage!) to hopefully improve things.

So now I will have 3 devices:

Dlink - modem router switch 10/100 Ethernet combo
TP Link - modem router switch Gigabit combo
Asus RT68u - router wireless AP

I would really be grateful on how best to configure a setup that uses these components effectively.

I also had a couple of questions:

1. If I don't have many wired peripherals, will a switch improve network performance?

2. Would it make sense to keep the Dlink as a modem, since the downlink is 8Mbps, and am unlikely to exceed its 10/100 Ethernet capacity?

3. Should I use the TPLink as the modem, the Asus as a router/wireless AP?

4. Or should I put the Dlink as the modem, TPLink as a router, and Asus as the wireless AP?

5. Should the DHCP, NAT and firewall be activated on the modem, or is that better running on the TPLink or device that is set up as the router?

Thanks in advance for your input!

Philip