Which setup to go with?

[IsLNdbOi]

Ok, I'm going to be setting up a new network at home. A friend is going to give me the gear, I just have to choose what I want.

I have a network closet where all the ethernet ports in each room of the house is routed to so wired routing performance must be good.

I also need a good wifi network since we have multiple laptops and tablets we use around the home. I do have 2.4GHz and 5GHz devices so I need the dual, simultaneous wifi operation.

The gear I can choose from to do this:
Asus RT-N56U

OR

Cisco RVS4000 + Netgear WNDAP360

The home is a 2-story unit and the networking closet is upstairs near the front of the house. If I go with the Asus RT-N56U, the wifi network will be centered in the network closet. If I go with the Cisco RVS4000 + Netgear WNDAP360, the Cisco router will be in the network closet and the Netgear WNDAP360 will be connected to an ethernet jack closer to the center of the house.


So, which setup should I go with? Any suggestions, comments or advice?

 

[IsLNdbOi]

Have another question related to the Netgear access point. Its supplied AC adapter supplies 12V and 1A to the access point. The access point is PoE compatible though. I was looking at this PoE injector:
http://www.engeniustech.com/index.p...94:accessories&id=9230:epe-5818gaf&Itemid=119

but it shows that it provides 48V and only 375mA. Do you think it'll work with the Netgear access point?

 

[stevech]

Here's how I'd do it...

In the closet where all the rooms' cat5 cables converge: An ethernet switch.

Put the WiFi router in a central room downstairs, not in the closet, for best coverage (closet walls will cost some coverage area. Connect the router to the cable/DSL modem (WAN port) and also to the switch (LAN port).

Second floor, a room that has cat5 and is more or less on opposite end of house from the WiFi router, I'd put in a WiFi Access Point (AP). Connect cat5 to that AP. The AP can be a re-purposed generic WiFi access point. See FAQ. That AP will also have spare switch ports if needed in that room. WAN port of the re-purposed to AP router is unused.

I wouldn't suggest using a PoE access point in a home - the AP can simply plug in to a wall outlet. PoE per IEEE 802.3af is 48V and most all consumer gear is not 802.3af but rather "DC over Ethernet", where that voltage isn't standardized. The hassles of voltage drop in cat5 isn't worth the problems.