Back in March I wrote an article on the challenges of maintaining a reliable wireless network when your building seems to follow the properties of a Faraday Cage. The basic problem was really crappy wireless performance at short ranges indoors. The problem was compounded by having two AppleTVs in the non-Wireless N network, both in streaming mode.
The fix was to run Cat5e cables so everything in the house (except the two iPhones) would run on 100baseT. Only the iMac and the Mac Book Pro had Gigabit ethernet, and 100MB should be more than enough.
It worked. With both AppleTVs running at the same time, both Xbox 360s on XBL up and running, and with bit torrent and the Comcrap phone, the network was completely usable.
This week I started phase two:
1. Replace all wiring with Cat6 wire. Cat5e is fine for up to 1GB, but Cat6 is built to lower crosstalk even more, which will should result in speeds closer to spec than just Cat5e. I replaced every patch cord, regardless of device, this way I will only have Cat6 cables in the house and won't have to bother checking to see if I have the right cable.
2. Replace the current 100MB switch in PJs room with a Gigabit ethernet switch. Since I am the one that rips videos for PJ, I am always moving 2GB or so files between the Mac Book Pro and the iMac, so this makes sure that the iMac has the best possible network connection that it can use.
3. Add an identical Gigabit ethernet switch to the office. This is the bridge between my office and PJs room (2).
4. Every device that was connected to the router is now on the Gigabit ethernet switch.
5. Retire the current wireless G router. It will stay in the network but only as a dedicated wireless access point, it will not be acting as a router. This router is a piece of shit, but it is enough to handle two iPhones that do nothing but check email and an occasional web page.
6. Add a Cisco 851 router. Lucky me, the company paid for it because it is needed for our new Cisco IP phones. Obviously this router should be able to do a much better job handling two Macs, two AppleTVs and two Xbox 360s than my piece of shit Belkin router. Supposedly the Cisco IP phone is not going to be an issue.
Once the Cisco IP phone is operational, I'll move the Comcrap VoIP line somewhere else, maybe the kitchen since I don't need two landlines on my desk. The Cisco 851 is not configured yet, and I am still waiting for my cables, but so far the two Gigabit switches and the Mac Book Pro are doing fine on the current Cat5e, the iMac's patch cord is not as good as I thought it was.
I am sure that the current Belkin router is a bigger bottleneck than the wiring. Funny thing, with everything with wireless disabled, the reception still sucks, my iPhones lose WiFi very easily.
This is what the network should look like in less than a week:
UPDATE (6/23/2008) : Cat 6 cables arrived today. The shipment included a Thank You card and a bag of Skittles. Everything but the Cisco 851 is configured exactly as I designed it.
2 comments:
I like the commentary. Sounds like you could start you own ISP in your neighborhood.
How about the two extremes of Patch Cables:
Cat 6 Cables as lows as $2.34/ea.
http://www.showmecables.com/showProducts.asp?category_id=239
$499 Cat 5e Cable!!!!
http://www.usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/3429.asp
That's how I got the cables, I went to a surplus company, some of the cat6 patch cords were less than $2 each. The longest cat6 cable is 100 feet, it was less than $20.
I remember paying $15 for a 6-foot cat5 patch cord at Best Buy just a year or two ago.
The Denon cable is double awesome, not only it is $499, but it is not even usable for general purpose networking, it only works as a data conduit between some of their products.
$500 would probably buy three Sony dolby digital receiver + speaker kits like the one I have, with plenty of money left to buy digital audio cables.
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