Whats the best configuration for me ?

[venomdog]

Hi guys,
I live in two floor house and on ground floor I have my wireless modem (Thomson TG712 modem) that I received from my ISP. The wifi signal is very weak and so I don;t get good connectivity on my top floor, where we kept a Projector (Benq W700) + Home theater (LG HX806SV) that supports DLNA and ethernet connection. On the ground floor I also have my Iomega home media network hard drive (NAS) and laptop.

I would like to get some ideas here to make my devices connect to each other. Such that I can stream movies from my Iomega NAS to my home theater directly and also through my Sony Xperia S phone connect to same network and interact with my home theater.

I have TP-Link Wireless NRouter (TL-WR841N) I am also thinking of buying powerline adapter to provide ethernet range extended to my bedroom.

Other issue I have is that placing a NRouter on my 1st floor can actually spread range of my wireless network but still I have to do wiring to top floor for ethernet need in my home theater.

Any other ideas or suggestion on how to use devices I have to get what I need will be appreciated?

 

[Knufire]

You can get a cheap router and flash it with DD-WRT and use it as a wireless repeater, meaning it will extend the range of a already present wireless network.

 

[venomdog]

You can get a cheap router and flash it with DD-WRT and use it as a wireless repeater, meaning it will extend the range of a already present wireless network.

Thanks for the response, yes flashing is one option. But what about ethernet LAN cable .. I still need to connect my Home theater to internet with minimal wiring extending upto 2nd floor.

 

[Knufire]

Have you tried wireless streaming? I've streamed from my computer to my 360 over my N network, 1080P seems to be lag free.

 

[neo668]

Have you considered HomePlug? All you need is a pair - one where your modem is and one on the upper floor. I have stopped using wireless connections since discovering HomePlug. You can then have a router (old router or switch) on the G/F and one on the upper floor and connect all your devices to them wired.

The main advantage of HomePlug over wireless is that the signal strength is always strong and steady and doesn't disconnect. Try transferring a 20GB .mkv file over wireless and when it is 99% done the wireless disconnects for no reason. Then you will have to start all over again.

 

[venomdog]

Have you considered HomePlug? All you need is a pair - one where your modem is and one on the upper floor. I have stopped using wireless connections since discovering HomePlug. You can then have a router (old router or switch) on the G/F and one on the upper floor and connect all your devices to them wired.

The main advantage of HomePlug over wireless is that the signal strength is always strong and steady and doesn't disconnect. Try transferring a 20GB .mkv file over wireless and when it is 99% done the wireless disconnects for no reason. Then you will have to start all over again.

Hi neo, thanks for the reply. Yes, this is something I am also considering, home plug.
By why you suggest me to use additional router/switch on G/F and upper floor and connect them with wire ? Could you please elaborate.

 

[Edward78]

when it is 99% done the wireless disconnects for no reason.

Reminds me of the old dial up days when I had a ISP called LDD, all the time I get to 99% on a download that took all night or a few days & 99% it would just stay that way!!! Sorry for that, anyway the homeplug idea sounds good. Or you could do what I have a very long cord going through the heat vents from 1 floor to the other. Of course they are the old ones that have bigger openings.

 

[neo668]

Hi Venom.

I use HomePlug and a couple of old routers I have lying aroung to build my home network. To elaborate allow me to describe my home network.

I basically have to connect devices situated in the living room and my bedroom.

The living room is where the broadband modem is. I connect this to a wireless N router which also acts as the DHCP server. I leave the wi-fi on so I can use wireless devices in the living room like when friends / relatives come over to my place with their notebooks and smartphones. This router also connects a home server, Xtreamer (a video player) and finally one port connects to a HomePlug.

In my bedroom I have an old wireless G router which is also connected to a HomePlug - paired with the one in the living room. This G router does not act as a DHCP server so is part of the N router network. I connect my bedroom computer, network enabled printer and XBox to this G router. I also have wi-fi on so that I can also use my notebook in the bedroom.

With this setup all my devices are connected, and can be accessed, as 1 network. Since everything is wired I no longer have to worry about fluctuating wi-fi signal strengths and abrupt disconnections.

But I don't know if HomePlug can manage the distance from your ground floor to your second floor.

 

[venomdog]

Hi Venom.

I use HomePlug and a couple of old routers I have lying aroung to build my home network. To elaborate allow me to describe my home network.

I basically have to connect devices situated in the living room and my bedroom.

The living room is where the broadband modem is. I connect this to a wireless N router which also acts as the DHCP server. I leave the wi-fi on so I can use wireless devices in the living room like when friends / relatives come over to my place with their notebooks and smartphones. This router also connects a home server, Xtreamer (a video player) and finally one port connects to a HomePlug.

In my bedroom I have an old wireless G router which is also connected to a HomePlug - paired with the one in the living room. This G router does not act as a DHCP server so is part of the N router network. I connect my bedroom computer, network enabled printer and XBox to this G router. I also have wi-fi on so that I can also use my notebook in the bedroom.

With this setup all my devices are connected, and can be accessed, as 1 network. Since everything is wired I no longer have to worry about fluctuating wi-fi signal strengths and abrupt disconnections.

But I don't know if HomePlug can manage the distance from your ground floor to your second floor.

Hi neo, thanks for the post, much appreciated. I like your setup, let me try it out and see if it works. I already have N router and a sitecom router.
Somehow DLNA is not working, anyway I will try to find the solution.

 

[neo668]

I don't know what DLNA is but I did read it up here.

http://www.techradar.com/news/digit...-what-it-is-and-what-you-need-to-know-1079015

I just enable "Share" of all my folders in all my computers. So if there is a movie file on my home server in the living room which I want to watch in my bedroom, I just surf to the appropriate Shared folder and click the file. It plays on the media player on my computer which is connected by HDMI to my LCD TV.

Or I could use Xtreamer to access a BD iso or folder in the home server and it will play without stuttering, because both are in the living room. But this won't work if I want to watch the same BD iso or folder in my bedroom. HomePlug may be better than wireless but there is still a discount of bandwidth going through HomePlug. The speed from the living room to my bedroom is 5 - 6 MB/s. Not quite enough for a full blown BD movie. Anything else plays just fine. So I transfer the BD movie to my bedroom computer first before I play it.