Network setup help.

[lguapo]

Hi Guys.

I hope someone could help me with the settings for my network since I´m in over my head and I really need some help.

The Network is based around a NAS (Asustor AS-604T) that should work as a "movie network" without internet access. It is about 20 people who will use the network and they all use both laptops and tablets/smartphones. It is not the same people who will use it but the amount will almost always be the same, in other words I can´t assaign specific IP´s to a specific computer in the network.

The main thing for me is to make the network stable, that when someone connects to the network they will always find the NAS.
I´ve tried alot of different configurations with the things I got and has not been able to manage that.
Thats why I am reaching out to you guys now.

So here is the plot..
The NAS got two LAN ports, LAN1 and LAN2. I got 5 accesspoints (Asus EA-N66) that I first tried to connect through 2 switches (Netgear prosafe GS-10) it didnt work that good. I know that wifi isn´t good for videostreaming but we got music and other stuff aswell..

I also got two routers (TP-Link WDR3600) and my plan is to split the "consumers" between the ports on the NAS, use one router on LAN1 and the other on LAN2. I will connect about 20 hardwired connections to the routers, 10+10 through two switches and split the AP´s aswell between the routers.

Today I got everything with the obtain IP address automatically but it didnt work with two routers so I just use one router on LAN1, everything went weird when I used both routers and my guess is that the IP addresses interfered with eachother since one router didn´t know the other existed.

I think I need to set static IP´s for the fixed equipment in the network and that is what I need help with. I have no idea how to set it up with subnets and DNS and so on to make it as stable as I want/need!

I took some of the options that i thought could matter and i will write it here so you can see what I can work with.

NAS:

Network General

Default gateway: LAN1
DNS server: blank
blank
Enable IPv6: checked
DNS server: blank
blank

LAN1

Obtain IP address automaticaly
or
IPv4 address:
Subnet mask:
Gateway:
MTU: 1500

Advanced=
Configure IPv6: DHCP (Off, auto, DHCP and Manual)
IPv6 address:
Prefix length:
Gateway:

Same options for LAN2

Routers:

Network-WAN

WAN connection type: (Dynamic IP, Static IP, BigPond cable and som russia stuff...)
IP address:
Subnet mask:
Default gateway:
MTU size:

Checkbox for "use this DNS Servers"
Primary DNS:
Secondary DNS:

Checkbox for "Get IP with unicast DHCP"

Network-LAN

Ip address:
Subnet mask:
IGMP Proxy: Enabled (Enabled or disabled)

DHCP-DHCP Settings

DHCP Server:Enable
Start IP address:
End IP address:
Address lease time: 120 minutes (1-2880minutes)
Default Gateway: (optional)
Default Domain: (optional)
Primary DNS: (optional)
Secondary DNS: (optional)

DHCP-Address Reservation

Mac address:
Reserved IP address:

(There is another place in the menu with IP & MAC bindings is this the same?)

NAT

Current NAT status: Enable
Current HArdware NAT status: Enable

IPv6 Setup-WAN setup

Checkbox for "Enable IPv6"
WAN coneection type: DHCPv6 (DHCPv6, Static IPv6, PPPoEv6 or Tunnel 6to4)
Checkboxes for "Get non-temporary IPv6 address" and "Get IPv6 prefix delegation"
and "Get IPv6 DNS automatically" with places to type Primary and secondary IPv6 DNS

IPv6 Setup-LAN Setup

IPv6 Address assign type: SLAAC (SLAAC or DHCPv6 server)
IPv6 address prefix:
LAN IPv6 address:

Advanced Routing-Static routing

Option to add a static route entry with
Destination Network:
Subnet mask:
Default Gateway:

Accesspoints

LAN
IP automatically
or
IP address:
Subnet mask:
Default gateway:
Connect to DNS server automatically: yes or no
if yes
DNS server 1:
DNS server 2:

I think I want to connect the NAS to the routers WAN port, isn´t that a good idea? How to set that up so it works as intended?

Should I bind or make an IP reservation for the different AP´s in the system? Since ther is no option to put IP ranges on this ones maybe the computers gets the same IP and they will interfere with eachother?

I know there is alot of people in this forum who knows how to set it up as I want and I would really appreciate all the help I could get. Any ideas of what IP addresses to use for what and DNS, subnets etc for all the equipment would be fantastic.

 

[thiggins]

First, a network diagram helps for complex queries like this.

VLANs are a relatively simple way to direct traffic. They require "smart" / managed switches. Many smart switches also provide simple bandwidth control by limiting ingress/egress bandwidth per port.

What is your goal for dividing traffic between two LANs? Security? Bandwidth control?

 

[lguapo]

The reason for dividing the traffic between both LAN ports is to maximize the performance from the NAS. I want it to handle 20 people streaming 720p movies at the same time. (That might never happen but I want it to work if thats the case..)

I did a network diagram that is attached but unfortunally I only got access to paint atm so thats why it looks really bad..

I only got 4 LAN ports on the routers that is why I use alot of switches. The switches I got are Netgear prosafe GS-10´s and some other Netgear prosafe series, I think that´s smart switches but I have no idea how to set it up, I just use it as "dividers".

Maybe it is better/more stable to connect all AP´s to one router and all the cable connections to the other? In that case I could use the network for playing systemlink xbox over one of the networks aswell...

It is quite a large and noicy area to cover with the AP´s but they will mostly be used for music streaming and downloads, I split the AP´s RF channels to get as little interferance as possible.

I don´t think I need bandwidth control!? All consumers are equally important, except the NAS ofcourse but all the computers will generally only talk to the NAS and not to the other computers in the system. Do I need bandwidth control for that?

 

[thiggins]

First, find the maximum bit rate of the content you are streaming. This article provides some tips on doing that. Keep in mind using fast forward and rewind can spike those peak rates even higher.

Peak rate/stream x # of clients must be less than the network link used.

720p trailer files I used in the above linked article had 20 Mbps peaks. That would say 4 clients on a 100 Mbps would be about max. A Gigabit connection should theoretically handle 10 times that, or 40.

Wireless connections have lower capacity and higher throughput variation due to higher packet loss and retransmission. This article tells you what to expect for throughput for different combinations of router and client classes.

Other factors are player buffering and drive head seek times. The drive head is going to be whacking away feeding 20 different client streams.

Bottom line, I don't think you are going to be able to keep 20 720p streams happy with one NAS, no matter how you divide the network. But then again, I haven't tried it. Maybe you should first ask ASUSTOR how many simultaneous clients they can support for streaming.

 

[lguapo]

I am well aware of the problems with streaming, I did read the articles before.
That 20 people should be able to stream was only the aim while purchasing the equipment. There is gigabit connections all the way and I tested the NAS which was able to deliver 111mb/s on each port.

Anyhow, this isn´t what i need help with. Í am looking for assistance how to set it all up to make it stable. The NAS is configured as a windows network place, it shows up like any other computer in the network. My problem is that it want show up all the time and I guess(thought) that setting the equipment with static IP´s etc correctly would make the networks margin of error smaller. Or am I wrong?
I dont know what IP´s, subnets and so on to use and where to use it.

I´m just looking at a network I got at work and there is never an issue that you dont find a computer or any downtime like a experienced on my own network. I thought that I could get the same relible network.

 

[trunolimit]

First off the problem you are probably having off the bat is a dual DHCP issue. Make sure if you wan't the entire network to talk to each other you have only 1 DHCP set up or just split the network and make sure only 1 DHCP is reachable in each network.

Now most of the time those dual Ethernet ports on NAS are not meant for splitting traffic, they are meant to provide fail over. You have to specify the type of NAS you're using so we know what the actual application for those LAN ports are.

The only thing that needs to be static is the actual NAS.

Have you looked at free NAS? There are a ton of configurable features and since you can toss it on just about any platform you can get yourself a few SSD in some sort of RAID configuration and have a screaming fast video server. Plus you could use as many Ethernet ports as your heart desires in any way you wan't.

The way you have it set up won't provide any internet support for half of your network. do you want any internet capabilities?

assuming the LAN ports on the NAS drive are independent and act like a computer's NIC I think this set up should work for you and should provide internet for everyone. This is also assuming that all the ports on your routers are configurable. Usually home routers have 4 LAN ports and 1 WAN ports. The 4 LAN ports are not usually individually configurable. If that's the case this really won't work.

I'd keep as much stuff default as I could, for example you don't need to set the MTU. If it's set to 1500 by default then fine. Also keep all the IPV6 stuff default or just turn it off completely, No need to complicate things.

 

[trunolimit]

Here is a set up where there is no internet access to worry about. Again assuming those LAN ports on the NAS are independent. But the fact that you had issues before tells me those ports might be bridged.

If they are bridged just turn off DHCP on one of the routers and have it as 1 giant network or 2. You don't have enough clients where you need to worry about broadcast storms so I don't think you'd see a huge difference either way.