This is rather complex, so bear with me. I'll start by explaining my requirements/purchasing factors, and then describe what I have and what I'd like to know (if you have an opinion and don't want to read further, just answer this part: would a WNDR3700 or Cisco E3000 acting as a bridge be just as powerful/stable as a dedicated bridge, like a WNHDE111?)
I need a bridge on the 5ghz frequency. My ultimate goal is to be able to stream blu-ray movies. I already know that wired is better, and MoCa may be a better option for me, but if I am able to achieve this with wireless then I am much more flexible if I need to move things around (and I have a very large house with a complex cable routing with an amplifier, so MoCa may not be straightforward for me.)
But streaming movies isn't my only consideration. My wife and I both have work laptops that need internet/vpn connection (both with built in N adaptors). I have a computer in my daughter's room that needs internet access, and it's a large distance away from my router. My router itself is in a very unfortunate place, but we don't have much choice. It's inside a wooden cabinet on one side of the house. And then I have a theater room on the opposite side of the house, and I have it wired to a TrendNet N router acting as a bridge (WDS) in the middle of the house to shorten the distance of the wireless, and to hook up a PS3. And then my office is also in the basement, with a decent but cheap PCI card N adapter. So here's a clunky schematic:
Top floor..................... xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxComputer (cheap usb N)
Middle floor.................. Router/Cable Modem xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Basement.................... Office PC xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Bridge xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxHTPC
I'm assuming that going through floors is a big hit, which is why I have the router located in the cabinet on the main floor (I also am assuming that moving it might require some work with my cable modem, because of the current signal boost structure.) If I'm wrong, let me know. It's about 60 feet from one end of the house to the other. The worst connection right now is going from the router/modem on one end of the house on the middle floor to the daughter's computer on the other end of the house on the top floor. I could possibly (?) move the main router to the middle of the house in the basement, if you think I'd get better overall reception (which means I'd then be only about 20 feet away in length but down two floors from my daughter's room).
So my questions: Is a router acting as a bridge going to give me the same performance as a dedicated bridge (WNDR3700 vs the WNHDE111?) If so, I'd prefer the extra potential of the router. Also, I have read a lot on the WDS bridge mode, and it seems that it's not the best for sustained throughput. Can a 3700 or E3000 (either natively, or with dd-wrt) act as a repeater, and once again, would that be at a performance hit?
Lot's of info and a bit disjointed, but I'd love some knowledgeable advice. Thanks
I need a bridge on the 5ghz frequency. My ultimate goal is to be able to stream blu-ray movies. I already know that wired is better, and MoCa may be a better option for me, but if I am able to achieve this with wireless then I am much more flexible if I need to move things around (and I have a very large house with a complex cable routing with an amplifier, so MoCa may not be straightforward for me.)
But streaming movies isn't my only consideration. My wife and I both have work laptops that need internet/vpn connection (both with built in N adaptors). I have a computer in my daughter's room that needs internet access, and it's a large distance away from my router. My router itself is in a very unfortunate place, but we don't have much choice. It's inside a wooden cabinet on one side of the house. And then I have a theater room on the opposite side of the house, and I have it wired to a TrendNet N router acting as a bridge (WDS) in the middle of the house to shorten the distance of the wireless, and to hook up a PS3. And then my office is also in the basement, with a decent but cheap PCI card N adapter. So here's a clunky schematic:
Top floor..................... xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxComputer (cheap usb N)
Middle floor.................. Router/Cable Modem xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Basement.................... Office PC xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Bridge xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxHTPC
I'm assuming that going through floors is a big hit, which is why I have the router located in the cabinet on the main floor (I also am assuming that moving it might require some work with my cable modem, because of the current signal boost structure.) If I'm wrong, let me know. It's about 60 feet from one end of the house to the other. The worst connection right now is going from the router/modem on one end of the house on the middle floor to the daughter's computer on the other end of the house on the top floor. I could possibly (?) move the main router to the middle of the house in the basement, if you think I'd get better overall reception (which means I'd then be only about 20 feet away in length but down two floors from my daughter's room).
So my questions: Is a router acting as a bridge going to give me the same performance as a dedicated bridge (WNDR3700 vs the WNHDE111?) If so, I'd prefer the extra potential of the router. Also, I have read a lot on the WDS bridge mode, and it seems that it's not the best for sustained throughput. Can a 3700 or E3000 (either natively, or with dd-wrt) act as a repeater, and once again, would that be at a performance hit?
Lot's of info and a bit disjointed, but I'd love some knowledgeable advice. Thanks
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