Setting Up Home Network Help - Getting rid of Cable

[flyersrule]

So I have finally had enough of my current Cable Company and am making the move to cut the cord and get rid of Cable. With that being said I will be purchasing Playstation Vue and a Amazon TV Stick.

I currently live in a 3 Story Townhouse with my Comcast/Modem Router on the 1st Floor where my Home Theater Setup it. Floor 2 and 3 devices on opposite side of house.

As you can see from the diagram my Basement Devices are all hooked into my Comcast Cable Modem/Router but I get very slow speeds on my 2nd and 3rd floor Wifi.

With that being said, I want to hook a Amazon TV Stick to my 2nd floor TV and potentially WDTV to 2nd and 3rd floor to stream my 1080p Movies from my NAS. What do you think would be a good solution for my problem and cost effective.

There are so many ways I can go about this so I would like to know thoughts.

1. Buy Netgear Range Extender for 2nd floor

2. Buy Power Line Netgear 1200s and put them on 2nd and maybe 3rd floor. Attach a Wireless Access point on 2nd Floor Power Line Extender.

3. (Buy new modem or put Comcast Modem/Router in Bridge Mode) and ad a TP Link AC1200 C7 Router + Options 1 or 2 above.

4. Terminate the end of my Cat 6 Cable in Basement, Splice Office Cable ends together and then put a Access Point on 2nd Floor Cat 6 Cable.

Sorry if this in confusing. Makes my head spin as well.

 

[coxhaus]

I am not sure what you mean to splice CAT6 cable but I wouldn't. Can you use a small out of the way switch. CAT 6 is future proof.

I use Netgear Powerline adapters. I started with a 3 way and then replaced one end with CAT5e cable. The only one left is where my large screen TV is and I stream HD over it without any problems. At some point I am going to add more CAT5e cable and replace the last one.

 

[flyersrule]

I am not sure what you mean to splice CAT6 cable but I wouldn't. Can you use a small out of the way switch. CAT 6 is future proof.

I use Netgear Powerline adapters. I started with a 3 way and then replaced one end with CAT5e cable. The only one left is where my large screen TV is and I stream HD over it without any problems. At some point I am going to add more CAT5e cable and replace the last one.

When I mention Splice, I mean just connect both using a Cat6 Coupler like this

http://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters®--Line-Coupler-White/dp/B00WKPKKQC/ref=sr_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1449722433&sr=1-1-spons&keywords=cat6+coupler&psc=1

I have an old Gigabit Routernot in use maybe I could use as a switch instead or as an AP between the two end in the 3rd floor office. Its that or the coupler i listed. My thought was to use the coupler, then use the router as an AP on the 2nd floor cat6 line

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001SEL326/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[coxhaus]

You can always use an old router as a switch. If your wireless devices are far enough apart you might be able to run the extra router as a second wireless AP.

 

[flyersrule]

You can always use an old router as a switch. If your wireless devices are far enough apart you might be able to run the extra router as a second wireless AP.

Based on my awful diagram what do you think about using that Coupler in the office which would make my Cat 6 from basement one continuous run to the 2nd floor end. Then using the Old Router as an AP. I would plug my WDTV into it and connect my FireTV wirelessly. This is the cheapest option as it only costs the Coupler, RJ45 Connectors and a Crimper. I could also do this in reverse. Move the Comcast Modem Router to 2nd Floors, Couple the Office Lines, use the old Router as a Switch to connect my basement theater devices.

I could also use the Old Router as an AP in the Office to couple the 2 lines offering Wifi to 3rd floor. Then I could buy another AP for the 2nd.

Those two option above involve using the Cat 6.

The other options would be a forget the Cat 6, get Poweline Device and plus Old Router in as a AP on 2nd Floor near TV OR just get range extender.

 

[coxhaus]

I don't have experience for using the coupler. If the CAT6 is solid core wire which was terminated in a wall with a female RJ45 plug, then a patch cable would be plugged into the wall plug.

Is there no way to use a small cheap switch instead? I know this will work. Again if this is solid core wire it is not a good idea to move the wire a lot such as using as a patch cable because the wire will break.

 

[htismaqe]

I have a couple of Cat6 couplers that I've used in a pinch. They work fine for GigE and don't impede performance at all.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A30FDS6/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[flyersrule]

I do no

I don't have experience for using the coupler. If the CAT6 is solid core wire which was terminated in a wall with a female RJ45 plug, then a patch cable would be plugged into the wall plug.

Is there no way to use a small cheap switch instead? I know this will work. Again if this is solid core wire it is not a good idea to move the wire a lot such as using as a patch cable because the wire will break.

t

I have a couple of Cat6 couplers that I've used in a pinch. They work fine for GigE and don't impede performance at all.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A30FDS6/?tag=snbforums-20

Same ones I ordered. I think that will free up my old router to be used as a switch on the 2nd floor.

 

[stevech]

So I have finally had enough of my current Cable Company and am making the move to cut the cord and get rid of Cable. With that being said I will be purchasing Playstation Vue and a Amazon TV Stick.

I currently live in a 3 Story Townhouse with my Comcast/Modem Router on the 1st Floor where my Home Theater Setup it. Floor 2 and 3 devices on opposite side of house.

As you can see from the diagram my Basement Devices are all hooked into my Comcast Cable Modem/Router but I get very slow speeds on my 2nd and 3rd floor Wifi.

With that being said, I want to hook a Amazon TV Stick to my 2nd floor TV and potentially WDTV to 2nd and 3rd floor to stream my 1080p Movies from my NAS. What do you think would be a good solution for my problem and cost effective.

There are so many ways I can go about this so I would like to know thoughts.

1. Buy Netgear Range Extender for 2nd floor

2. Buy Power Line Netgear 1200s and put them on 2nd and maybe 3rd floor. Attach a Wireless Access point on 2nd Floor Power Line Extender.

3. (Buy new modem or put Comcast Modem/Router in Bridge Mode) and ad a TP Link AC1200 C7 Router + Options 1 or 2 above.

4. Terminate the end of my Cat 6 Cable in Basement, Splice Office Cable ends together and then put a Access Point on 2nd Floor Cat 6 Cable.

Sorry if this in confusing. Makes my head spin as well.

OK. But what's your replacement for cable modem's Internet service? DSL sucks.
Or are you dumping TV, keeping Internet?

 

[flyersrule]

OK. But what's your replacement for cable modem's Internet service? DSL sucks.
Or are you dumping TV, keeping Internet?

I pay about $165-170 for TV, internet and phone which includes two boxes and cable modem/router. Internet is 75/75

Was going to ditch Cable and phone and keep internet.

It's about $55-60 month for 25/25 service more than enough to stream Hd and 1080p i think. I would buy my own modem so I don pay the $10 rental. I would then buy PlayStation Vue for $55/mo. Basically saving about $50-60/month in service charges.

Thoughts?

 

[System Error Message]

congrats on moving away from these awful cable ISPs. I dont know what the deal is with them for giving very poor uploads and providing poor service.

For wifi as long as you avoid dlink and some linksys models you will be fine. use wire where you can and avoid using wireless bridging or extending wifi using wifi.

1080P streaming requires 10Mb/s per encoded stream. raw 1080P streams require much more bandwidth.
720P streaming requires 4Mb/s per encoded stream
4K streaming requires 40Mb/s per encoded stream, Raw 4K streaming requires 500Mb/s.

 

[sfx2000]

I pay about $165-170 for TV, internet and phone which includes two boxes and cable modem/router. Internet is 75/75

BigCable is getting pretty crazy...

I'm $225/month on Cox with Telephone/TV/Broadband... we really don't have much competition here in my area as we're too far away from the Central Office to get usable DSL, and even then, DSL plus Satellite, plus DialTone is even more..

Going white knuckle for Over the Air TV is a non-starter due to multipath issues with geography (this area where I live has always been bad for OTA television, even in Analog days)

* TV - only one premium channel (which is a bit spendy at $25 month, TV Japan), and one STB I have to rent

* Broadband - I own my own modem, and I'm 50/5

* Telephone - nothing special here except that it's not VOIP thru a modem/gateway

 

[flyersrule]

Even if I'm a little off I can save at min $30-40/month. Use that toward amazon prime or even more fun electronic gear.

 

[htismaqe]

Satellite companies are just as bad as cable anymore. We bounced back and forth between Dish and DTV before we finally decided $150 a month was too much for TV.

I took one month's service fee and bought a 15' aerial antenna. Even here in rural flyover country, we get 30 channels and we get over 15 local stations whereas before we got 5. Neither of the satellite companies offered the expanded digital local channels and now we get them all.

Since I have fiber to my home for Internet we were already locked in there. So with Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon we have all the TV we could ever want and we're saving just about $1500 a year.

 

[coxhaus]

I cut the cord also. I bought a RCA DTA880 HD digital TV converter and recorder at Walmart. I think it was $50. I bought a Wineguard antenna and hung it in the attic for $57. This is all less than one month's DirecTV service I was using. And it turns out the local channels are broadcast at a higher bandwidth rate than high def on DirecTV or any other service.

Add all the internet TV and movies out there which gives us plenty to watch, All while saving $150 a month since I cut the cord.

 

[L&LD]

I have never owned a TV or paid for that 'benefit', ever. I've saved millions.

Much more important things to do and if a movie sounds tempting? Nothing beats the thrill of a real theatre (in all the latest formats, as they evolve; factory calibrated and maintained such as Atmos, UltraAVX, 3D, IMAX and DBox).

I keep saying I'll buy a cheap antennae for local programs. But when I see examples of those 'programs' on others' TV's, I come back to reality (there is nothing worth watching, let alone pay for).

 

[htismaqe]

Where I live, local news is a must, if you want to avoid getting blown away...

 

[htismaqe]

And it turns out the local channels are broadcast at a higher bandwidth rate than high def on DirecTV or any other service.

OTA HD is awesome.

 

[coxhaus]

OTA HD is awesome.

Yes. I did not realize it until I tried it. What a difference.

 

[htismaqe]

Yeah, I just got a new 70" 4K TV and watching college football will never be the same...