Routers & Other Networking Stuff

Tmac · Jun 2, 2021

So, is the alien router the new go-to plug-n-play?

My nighthawk is like 4 years old and some days it just struggles.

Denamian · Jun 2, 2021

Tmac said:
So, is the alien router the new go-to plug-n-play?

My nighthawk is like 4 years old and some days it just struggles.

I don't know if it's the go to due to it's cost, but it's dead easy to set up and I've had no issues with mine.

Tmac · Jun 2, 2021

Denamian said:
I don't know if it's the go to due to it's cost, but it's dead easy to set up and I've had no issues with mine.

So, the only real advantage is how user friendly it is?

Netgear stuff is user-friendly enough. Should I just buy a new Nighthawk then?

Ao- · Jun 2, 2021

You mean the Amplifi Alien? I've got the regular Amplifi and it's awesome. I wish it was a bit more feature-rich for website blocking/etc, but I'll setup a piHole to do that.

Tmac · Jun 2, 2021

Ao- said:
You mean the Amplifi Alien? I've got the regular Amplifi and it's awesome. I wish it was a bit more feature-rich for website blocking/etc, but I'll setup a piHole to do that.

There are four. Which one do you have?

Ao- · Jun 2, 2021

Tmac said:
There are four. Which one do you have?

View attachment 356388

HD, though my mesh extenders look different.

Lanx · Jun 13, 2021

for my home move i plan to do cat5e again, i did it in this home and it was easy with an attic.

is there an argument for cat6 if my neighborhood doesn't qualify for fiber? all computers have at least gigabit and my routers too.

Kiki · Jun 13, 2021

Lanx said:
is there an argument for cat6 if my neighborhood doesn't qualify for fiber?

With no fiber, probably not. Even with fiber it's only worth if you have a lot of interference like electrical lines and shit.

slippery · Jun 13, 2021

Living in Florida, my attic is both too small and too hot for me to want to do it myself. I'm guessing I'd be looking at an electrician being the best if I want to pay someone to make a couple cat6 runs? I'm looking at 2. Easiest way to just have them separate with rj45 jacks in the wall, 2 ports by router, 1 for each run, then I could just put a dumb switch or wireless router at the ends?

Any idea what it would cost to get someone to do that? Also I'm guessing I should just buy the stuff to do it myself, then pay them to do it?

Burns · Jun 13, 2021

Lanx said:
for my home move i plan to do cat5e again, i did it in this home and it was easy with an attic.

is there an argument for cat6 if my neighborhood doesn't qualify for fiber? all computers have at least gigabit and my routers too.

Are you not going to be in the house for very long? Why not plan for the future? The price difference is minimal, and since pulling wires can be a small bitch (some walls have cross members in the way and general insulation shittyness). I usually stick with the motto: It's better to have it, and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Cat6, under 180 feet, can handle 10 times the speed as Cat5e. If you are pulling a lot of wire, it can be economical to buy a raw wire spool, ends, and the tool to make your own length.

That said, there can be some nuance to it, depending on what you want to do. If you plan on having a multimedia server, with 4k videos, running to multiple TVs, you will probably want to have Cat6 from the server to the router.

If you plan on setting up a good quality security camera system then the server/DVR should probably fall under the same deal (Cat6 to the router) for 4 or more cameras.

A small bit on cameras: Current, smallish camera set up wouldn't use as much bandwidth as three 4k TVs running at the same time, but, again, future upgrades might. The present rule of thumb for cameras is: the higher the def, the worse the night vision is. So, many people mix their system with 1080 and 1440, depending on the night lighting situation (1440 (or higher) works well under flood lights). You will also want to think about how you want to watch the camera's throughout your house (using streaming apps VS always on clones to a video channel on every TV (or both)).

From a summery on the cables, Cat5e VS Cat6 (for reference, for anyone else reading this):

Cat5e vs Cat6 performance is an intriguing debate, because at their maximum lengths of 100 meters, there isn't much in it. At that length, both cable types support 1Gbps transfer speeds, which is more than enough for most home networks. However, if you're a high-bandwidth user or looking to kit out your office with faster connections, Cat6 does offer greater bandwidth at shorter cable lengths – though they're still far longer than your average HDMI cable, for example.

At anywhere up to 55 meters (180 ft), Cat6 cables can operate at up to 10Gbps. For almost all home users, that would be complete overkill. But if you need a network that's fast and fluid with plenty of bandwidth for heaps of users transferring data around at the same time, then Cat6 cables might be the way to go.

Lanx · Jun 13, 2021

Burns said:
Are you not going to be in the house for very long? Why not plan for the future? The price difference is minimal, and since pulling wires can be a small bitch (some walls have cross members in the way and general insulation shittyness). I usually stick with the motto: It's better to have it, and not need it, than need it and not have it.

Cat6, under 180 feet, can handle 10 times the speed as Cat5e. If you are pulling a lot of wire, it can be economical to buy a raw wire spool, ends, and the tool to make your own length.

That said, there can be some nuance to it, depending on what you want to do. If you plan on having a multimedia server, with 4k videos, running to multiple TVs, you will probably want to have Cat6 from the server to the router.

If you plan on setting up a good quality security camera system then the server/DVR should probably fall under the same deal (Cat6 to the router) for 4 or more cameras.

A small bit on cameras: Current, smallish camera set up wouldn't use as much bandwidth as three 4k TVs running at the same time, but, again, future upgrades might. The present rule of thumb for cameras is: the higher the def, the worse the night vision is. So, many people mix their system with 1080 and 1440, depending on the night lighting situation (1440 (or higher) works well under flood lights). You will also want to think about how you want to watch the camera's throughout your house (using streaming apps VS always on clones to a video channel on every TV (or both)).

From a summery on the cables, Cat5e VS Cat6 (for reference, for anyone else reading this):

Cat5e vs Cat6 performance is an intriguing debate, because at their maximum lengths of 100 meters, there isn't much in it. At that length, both cable types support 1Gbps transfer speeds, which is more than enough for most home networks. However, if you're a high-bandwidth user or looking to kit out your office with faster connections, Cat6 does offer greater bandwidth at shorter cable lengths – though they're still far longer than your average HDMI cable, for example.

At anywhere up to 55 meters (180 ft), Cat6 cables can operate at up to 10Gbps. For almost all home users, that would be complete overkill. But if you need a network that's fast and fluid with plenty of bandwidth for heaps of users transferring data around at the same time, then Cat6 cables might be the way to go.

i still have a good amount of cat 5e left over, last time i saw it, it was half full in my attic, heh.

i'm gonna have a security system/camera system installed, currently this one i have a 720p and it's poe (it's 4years old), i already bought my cams and it's 4k (i tested 4k vs 1080p and it's a lot clearer, i parked my car along the driveway and the 4k always showed the license plate clearly, and it's all bnc cables.

i guess i'll climb my attic and see how much cat5e i actually have left

Burns · Jun 13, 2021

slippery said:
Living in Florida, my attic is both too small and too hot for me to want to do it myself. I'm guessing I'd be looking at an electrician being the best if I want to pay someone to make a couple cat6 runs? I'm looking at 2. Easiest way to just have them separate with rj45 jacks in the wall, 2 ports by router, 1 for each run, then I could just put a dumb switch or wireless router at the ends?

Any idea what it would cost to get someone to do that? Also I'm guessing I should just buy the stuff to do it myself, then pay them to do it?

From looking at current Electrician Union rates on the internet for a rough guesstimate:

If you call an independent electrician you are probably looking at an hourly rate of $50 to $60 for the job, a "service" fee of maybe $75 (drive time/gas), and materials of $20 to $50. If you call a chain brand name place, add 20% or more (probably).

It's not that hard to run wire, depending on the walls you are talking about. Exterior walls with a low roof line are the worst, interior walls are (usually) a cake walk. You don't need much experience or be that handy to pull precut wires (such as THIS) and there should be plenty of videos on YouTube showing you how to use the tools you need (steel fish tape, drill, drywall saw, and electrical (black) tape).

Best all around video of the process I found:

Here is how professionals wrap multiple wires, to safely protect the ends, and then use the string as extra support when attached to the fish tape:

Home Depot how-to for general wire pulling:

Using a fishing rod (with drill bit), instead of tape:

Bit different fishing rod video:

Burns · Jun 13, 2021

Few more related videos:

Bonus: Dude here walks through some mistakes he made pulling wires through exterior wall and a higher tech wire fishing, later in the video (I really like this guy's networking videos):

Burns · Jun 13, 2021

Lanx said:
i still have a good amount of cat 5e left over, last time i saw it, it was half full in my attic, heh.

i'm gonna have a security system/camera system installed, currently this one i have a 720p and it's poe (it's 4years old), i already bought my cams and it's 4k (i tested 4k vs 1080p and it's a lot clearer, i parked my car along the driveway and the 4k always showed the license plate clearly, and it's all bnc cables.

i guess i'll climb my attic and see how much cat5e i actually have left

Since that changes the total cost of it all, if you already have half a spool of Cat5e, then yea, I would only worry about cat6 from 4k video server to switch, and switch to router.

You can also use that cat5e to replace any HDMI you want, with adapters (if you are looking for more uses).

Lanx · Jun 13, 2021

Burns said:
You can also use that cat5e to replace any HDMI you want, with adapters (if you are looking for more uses).

up to 1080p?

wow, why don't i drink a swig of mead and eat a turkey leg fit for this time period

Burns · Jun 13, 2021

Lanx said:
up to 1080p?

wow, why don't i drink a swig of mead and eat a turkey leg fit for this time period

Oh, weird, I bought a set of those years ago for 1080, but didn't think to check on 4k compatibility.

I assumed 2 Cat 5e cables would be plenty for 4k, but I guess not! There are a plethora of other HDMI to Cat5e/6 converters out there (no idea if they are 4k), but they are more expensive and may require a power source on both ends.

Lanx · Jun 16, 2021

so no fiber, i can get xfinity or att

both have 1.2tb data caps

for xfinity i can buy my own modem instead of renting...

xfinity now has a deal for the modem free for 1yr and 25$ monthly after, but that includes unlimited data (unlimited data would be $30 additional)

this sounds weird, but i guess i'll take it.

Burns · Jun 16, 2021

Lanx said:
so no fiber, i can get xfinity or att

both have 1.2tb data caps

for xfinity i can buy my own modem instead of renting...

xfinity now has a deal for the modem free for 1yr and 25$ monthly after, but that includes unlimited data (unlimited data would be $30 additional)

this sounds weird, but i guess i'll take it.

Search for forum/reddit reviews of the modem/router they use, and you can see if that's worth it. Some of those bulk deal modem/routers are shit, some just need the options changed to be made more secure, and others are not compatible with 3rd party set-ups (like a 5.2 ghz mesh wireless system, for instance).

DSL Reports may be a good place to start.

If you want to look at non-traditional alternatives, I have read microwave wireless connections have been getting pretty good speeds. It might run into weather issues but on the flip side, as long as the tower has power, and you have a backup generator, you would be able to connect to the internet, even if your neighborhood is blacked out.

Lanx · Jun 16, 2021

Burns said:
Search for forum/reddit reviews of the modem/router they use, and you can see if that's worth it. Some of those bulk deal modem/routers are shit, some just need the options changed to be made more secure, and others are not compatible with 3rd party set-ups (like a 5.2 ghz mesh wireless system, for instance).

DSL Reports may be a good place to start.

If you want to look at non-traditional alternatives, I have read microwave wireless connections have been getting pretty good speeds. It might run into weather issues but on the flip side, as long as the tower has power, and you have a backup generator, you would be able to connect to the internet, even if your neighborhood is blacked out.

honestly i reguarly go at or a few gigs above my current 1.2tb limit so paying 25$ monthly after a year is fine

whats interesting is that if i'm now an xfinity customer, i can sign up for xfinity mobile 5g, two lines unlimited for 40$ each or pay as you go 15$ 1st gig.

Arative · Jun 21, 2021

I'm looking for a good long range wifi extender. Situation is my family has a couple of cottages, the neighbor is sharing his wifi and it reaches one cottage, would say they're about a 100 ft apart maybe a little more. The second cottage is probably about 400 ft from the first cottage and up a hill. I don't have access to the wifi router itself.

Any recommendations on reaching the 2nd cottage?

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Routers & Other Networking Stuff

Tmac

Adventurer

Denamian

Night Janitor

Tmac

Adventurer

Ao-

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Tmac

Adventurer

Ao-

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Lanx

Kiki

Log Wizard

slippery

Burns

Avatar of War Slayer

Lanx

Burns

Avatar of War Slayer

Burns

Avatar of War Slayer

Burns

Avatar of War Slayer

Lanx

Burns

Avatar of War Slayer

Lanx

Burns

Avatar of War Slayer

Lanx

Arative

Ahn'Qiraj Raider