Home Networking help

[fsaviator]

With the varied backgrounds of our members here, I hope someone can provide me some home networking options.

-I am renting so drilling and running Cat5/6/coax/etc is out of the question.
-I have comcast xfinity X1 for my TV/Phone/Internet (cable)
-Switching providers to DirecTV or dish is not an option
-My cable modem gateway is located on the ground floor under the stairs and I can access the internet via wireless without any issues throughout the house and even in the garage.
-The comcast settop box is located in the family room on the second floor and is connected via coax
-The only available power outlet under the stairs is taken by the modem and the alarm system (see pic)



-I want to provide wired internet (i.e a switch) in the garage for my simulator systems
-I want to provide wired internet (i.e a switch) in the family room for my Roku and my kids PS3 and Xbox.

The way I see it I have three options:

1) Powerline Adapters which I would prefer not to use as I'm told there is a loss (I need to stream movies and connect to PilotEdge/VATSIM).

2) Coax extenders and adapters either standalone or utilizing the Comcast X1 Moca Capabilities

3) setting routers up as client bridges.

Ready, set.... Go!

[mickc]

Definitely go for a wireless bridge setup.

Powerline adaptors should be avoided like the plague.

Then you could have a client bridge in the garage and kids room.
Im not sure about the US, but over here you can get ready to go wireless bridge kits.

[blueskydriver]

If I were you, I would ask the owner of the home for permssion. If you explain that it would be done professionally and would add too the home's resale or re-renting value later on. Of course you would need too do it right by having the wire run through the ceiling and walls, as well as add wall plate jacks to look pretty.

Or, is there a way to just run the network hardwire outside along the ground and find an already existing drilled opening (by making the hole a little bigger) to get the wires back inside? You could run network wire inside a shielding that is used for regular electrical wire and it will be just fine...

John

Edit:

You could just run it inside PVC conduit like I mentioned above; here is a pic of what I am getting out:

[Ridgenj]

HI Warren, I have Verizon Fios and just finished my wiring project.
I used CAT6 since for me even 100 speed  hardwire is more stable than my other alternative. I have them all in my house which was build 2007 but not a single ethernet outlet. Fios is MOCA enabled and I use Actiontec adapters for the rest of the house because of blind spots for my WiFi (7k sq feet and 3 levels). The catch with MoCa is that if you have a device (1.0/1.1) it doesn't matter if you use MoCa 2.0 at all. Similar  to USB it reverts to the slowest speed. I have TiVo and this is my issue since it i's a MoCa 1.1 device. My Sim has an isolated network without Internet access and the second network is WiFi with latest devices, MoCa for TV etc and Powerline 1200 for a Telepresence Cisco unit that only accepts a cable to.connect.
I protect my network with a pf sense server  and have also a freeNas server for cloud etc.
All being redundant and I use always same brand for all devices. For the Sim I have networked 6 "state of the art" Pcs and use CAT6 to carry USB, HDMI and other signals to a separate cooled Servers room.
I have 45 CAT6 point's near the cockpit and three industrial USB hubs. Most of my I/O cards are ethernet ones.
Long response but after tryng many alternstives I settled to this one.
Hope this help.
Cheers
Luis


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[fsaviator]

Thanks Luis.

Can you give me a bit more info on the MoCA setup.  I'm looking at buying the Actiontec ECB2200 adapters.  I keep reading about splitters and filters.

Can I just plug the adapters in?  Is it one on each end of the run?

Thanks for your help.

Warren

[Ridgenj]

First step is to check if you have MoCa enable or not. Best way is to see if you connect from the box to a cable modem or direct to a router WLAN. Not sure with Comcast but with FIOS it is enable and just hook the adapters to the cable outlet. If not enable you need two adapters, one at the box outlet to create a MoCa bridge, the rest is same principle. Buy bonded MoCa adapters but you will never reach giga speeds, but decent ones. If you need to split signals within the house, use splitters above 1500, RCA are good ones. This is important otherwise you will have trouble with your signal since MoCa operates in the bands above 1500 to 2500 or so.
If you use TiVo, your speed reverts to MoCa 1.1 namely in the 100 range.
It took me 2 hours to hook all my TV etc.

Cheers
Luis

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

[xplanematt]

I'll throw in my 2c, I do networking/IT for a living.

Wifi is fine for many things, but if you are taking the time to plan out a network and put money and effort into it, do yourself a favor and run CAT6. I know, you're renting....chat with your landlord and I bet he'll be more than happy to have you put in ethernet on your own dime (especially if you decide to pay for a professional install, although this should not be necessary...it's low voltages and easy work).

I own am buying from the bank, and when I needed ethernet to the garage, I still didn't even bother running inside walls and installing mounting plates etc. The Cox guy had stuck our coax drop in a lousy location right in the middle of a living room wall (maybe OK if you're going to put it with an entertainment center, but I don't like TV and in fact do not even own one). I relocated the coax myself to the ceiling of our living room closet, patched and repainted the hole, and put the modem/router on the top shelf of the closet. For my garage, I ran CAT6 from the closet, through the attic, cut a small hole in the garage ceiling close to a wall, and zip-tied the cable to an electrical conduit that was nearby. Something like this would probably be good in your garage. Whenever you move out, just pull the ethernet cable and putty/paint the hole in the ceiling.

For the more permanent "professional" look in your family room, if you have attic access, you can get these fishing-pole-like flexible rods that you attach the CAT6 to after making a hole in the wall. Shove it down the wall and pull the cable through the hole, buy yourself an RJ45 block and wallplate, attach them to the end of the wire, and secure the plate to the wall with two screws. On the other end, I'm assuming your modem under the stairs is in a non-visible space? That makes it easy, you don't even need the wall plate on that end (just a hole for the wire to poke through and an RJ45 male connector on the end so it will plug into the gateway).

I suppose you should check with your landlord before dropping the family room cable. It all depends on how much of a long-haired jumping gnome he wants to be. My previous house was a rental. I shot CAT6 through a wall to extend my network to another room and never even mentioned it to my landlord. I think I ended up patching it when I left....maybe not, can't remember. After moving out, he didn't care about it (I'm not sure he even noticed), and I had no problem with my deposit. But then again, this is Oklahoma, everyone here seems to be just a little more chill than the rest of the country.

Trust me, as demanding as Netflix and other streaming services are on your network, game consoles are even more unforgiving. Add to that you simulator needs and, well....you REALLY don't want to settle for less than a hardwired connection.

Matt

[fsaviator]

Thanks Matt!
I would love to hard-wire.  I ran CAT6 and Coax throughout my home in Colorado terminating at a patch panel in the basement and ran all my exterior coax, phone, and DirecTV into it.  Then I put in plates on each wall in every room.  Took me two weeks of hard work and I never regretted it.

Unfortunately, I've talked to the landlord and he is against it.  On top of that, I am only in this house for two years then on to my next assignment so it really isn't worth it.  It's going to take me six months to get my sim back together as it is without spending time to improve the infrastructure.

I went ahead and ordered a pair of Actiontec Bonded 2.0 Moca adapters and we'll see how that works out.  I'll run one to the family room and a switch to handle the Roku, stereo, and Xbox requirements, and the second in the garage with another switch and the sim.

I guess we'll see how that works out.  I think it will be fine.  After all, in Germany I ran all this on 6Mbps and Powerline adapters and survived.

Thanks again!

Warren