Home network set up help?

Let me first say THANK YOU up front to anyone willing to read and help a tech novice! I need someone to walk me through this and tell me what to buy. I'm afraid to walk into a best buy or wherever and get upsold on a ton of stuff I don't need because, frankly, I don't know what I need or even what questions to ask!

My home came prewired with cat5E and RG6 "quad shield" (really no idea what that is - reading off the spec sheet!). I know there are ports in several rooms, including by the home theater area, and I should be able to access my internet (comcast) through them but I have no idea how! We are looking at getting rid of cable TV (but keep comcast internet) and going with netflix streaming and a get new bluray player instead, hence the desire to figure this out now.

We have an older iMac, new macbook, wii, whatever bluray we decide to get and a few mobile (ipad, iPod touch, etc) so need WIFI but also thinking that it's best to use the hardwired access for streaming movies, yes? So assuming I need a router that is both wireless and wired? I was looking at the apple airport extreme (refurb) since it can also share a central ext HD housing all the music and photos between the iMac and MBA but not sure that is the best solution for the money?

So bottom line (I think!) is I want a wireless network, preferably that can share the EHD and want to be able to stream movies to my TV via the Wii or an equipped bluray player. Have comcast internet and a prewired home. What do I need to purchase to make this work?

Not sure I provided enough info here but if not, I can dig through my papers and try to find the correct details. Thanks!

Cat5 is networking wire. This is what the internet will be on. RG6 is "Cable" it is what TV will be on if you had service.

You need service through Comcast. They will give/rent you a cable modem. You then need a wireless router to split that signal up and broadcast it over wifi and wired. Most wireless router have wired ports as well. If you need more than 4 then you can can get a wired switch, plug it in to a lan port and plug some of the rooms into it. These are cheap.

Routers are pretty universal. The Apple routers don't really do anything special. I would be a bit hesitant of a refurbished router. Other manufactures make routers that you can plug an external hard drive into. Having one copy of your family music and photos on the single drive plugged into the router is a recipe for failure. Multiple copies are encouraged for backup, one offsite would be ideal. The apple routres do have airplay and tend to work decently well (not the best range) but they are pretty expensive.

Not sure what EHD is.

The networking side of this all is super easy and basic. Since your house is wired, wire all the devices you can. The game consoles, TV's BluRay players etc. It will all work easier and be much easier to setup and be more reliable, on a wired network than wireless.

More importantly figure out how you are actually going to stream and move your content around your house. Not everything plays nice, or can stream files from a network share, some boxes require hulu plus etc, for instance the wii is not HD, so watching movies there is probably not best.

You will probably need some patch cables, to plug from the wall to the device. www.monoprice.com is a great place to go for a good price and good stuff. One other thing you will probably need more cat5 connections on your home theater area to plug in bluray, games consoles, tv etc. You can bring the one port out of the wall, buy a basic switch and then plug all the devices in to it from there.

I think EHD is external hard drive

Oddly enough I have found that the airports tend to work better with Apple products than other routers maybe just my bad luck.

You are better off buying your own model than renting from comcast, comcast has a web page where you can see all the recommended modems

http://mydeviceinfo.comcast.net/

a refurb apple product should be ok
here are instructions

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/netw...index.html

A switch NOT a HUB behind your TV is probably a good idea GB is not much more than 10/100

http://www.amazon.com/TRENDnet-Un...bit+switch

get your cables from monoprice or meritline depending on the cost and shipping buy more cables than you think and length does not effect performance until you hit over 100' so don't worry about buying longer than you think you need go for 3 or 5' for the patch and 10 or 25' elsewhere unless it is a really short run.

First thing you want to do make sure all your cat cables go to one central point and also that all have a big phone connector or what we call a RJ-45 connection. You should have a media closet or what they call a On-Q box made by a number of different companies, one problem you may run into is that for best wireless coverage you don't want to be stuffing your router into a metal box. You always want your wireless access point at the center most part of the house and about 6+ ft off the ground would be best.

Your best options as far as selection and price is going to be online, unfortunately if time is an issue then Best Buy or something like it is going to be your only option. If you can spare a week then get to know www.newegg.com, it will be your best friend. With a basic setup with your modem+router combo or gateway(which is a modem & router built into one), placed in your media closet for you will probably be your best and easiest bet. There are better options as far as performance and coverage but without some networking or computer background it wouldn't be worth the hassle.

I'm not a fan of Apple products, just a personal preference, but you can pick up a great router with a USB port for a lot less, I would recommend a dual broadcast router, which lets you setup and control two different wireless broadcasts at the same time, one @ 2.4 Ghz and one @ 5 Ghz, I would also recommend finding a router with gigabit ports as if you are going to be a media family streaming most your content it wouldn't hurt to have the extra capability. I personally like some of the new Asus routers that have come out and Cisco (linksys) are always another great choice, Netgear is typically user friendly but I have owned several over the years and they usually give out after I put them through the paces.

If you are going to have more than one device with a wired connection per available port in that room, you will need a switch, basically a router minus the wireless access and most don't come with software to make custom configurations. As another poster mentioned, buy your cables online, in store may cost you $5-10 a piece where the whole set may cost you $10 online. You don't want more than 300' between any two end points on a wired connection, so if you have an extremely long run, most houses don't, then don't bundle a 50' wire behind something that only needs a couple feet. If you have any questions just IM me, I would be more than happy to help.

your network can effectively be split into 3 parts I think

part 1. - the basement
a) buy a cable modem, I would recommend the Motorola surfboard 6121, then call Comcast and ask them to stop renting you their cable modem at $7/month
b) get a wireless router, something like this would be good
c) connect comcast cable to modem, then get some ethernet patch cords from meritline and use them to connect the modem to the router's WAN port, then use another patch cable to connect from the router's LAN port to the wall (which you have wired nicely)

part 2 - the wifi
this is easy if it works, set your router on top of the box in the basement, and let everything connect to it - if it doesn't work then you will need to extend the range or find an alternative location for the router

part 3 - the entertainment room
a) get a switch, and connect it to the wall with a patch cord - then connect the xbox, wii, blu-ray player, TV, and anything else that is in that room that may need an internet connection

part 4 - storage
a) get a backup of some sort, don't rely on the external hard drive for all your movies - something like a small server with raid 1 or 5 + a battery backup (make sure it's configured for a soft shutdown), this can also sit in the basement
b) use the external hard drives to make backups of this server on a regular basis
c) (optional) configure it to serve movies via DLNA or similar to your tv/streaming device

Thank you for all the advice and assistance! I'm reading and trying to wrap my brain around this before I come back to ask questions, etc but didn't want to not reply and thank those so generously helping me!
Reps to all of you!

One of the most significant things to figure out is how the house is prewired.
-Where the cables go
-how both ends of the cable are terminated (jacks)

It isn't uncommon for a prewire to be done in a manner that isn't functional without some additional work. So figuring out the state of things is a pretty significant first step. It is quite common for some of the rg-6 coax cable to be unterminated on one or both ends.

In a perfect world if they did everything right and labeled everything well, all you need to do is find the structured media or patch panel and connect the appropriate jack to a router/switch or to a jack in another room and connect the jack to you streaming media device. It isn't too hard to test it.

To clarify a few things that have been raised in the thread:
I get the impression you already have wifi yet you talk about it as though you don't, which is the case?
If applicable, does your current wifi router support 802.11n / are you planning to replace it?
Do you currently rent or own your cable modem and where is it located in your house?
Can you find your structured media cabinet / patch panel? Where is it?

Quote from jkee : One of the most significant things to figure out is how the house is prewired. -Where the cables go -how both ends of the cable are terminated (jacks) It isn't uncommon for a prewire to be done in a manner that isn't functional without some additional work. So figuring out the state of things is a pretty significant first step. It is quite common for some of the rg-6 coax cable to be unterminated on one or both ends. In a perfect world if they did everything right and labeled everything well, all you need to do is find the structured media or patch panel and connect the appropriate jack to a router/switch or to a jack in another room and connect the jack to you streaming media device. It isn't too hard to test it.

There is a hub box in the basement (Greyfox fox box), nothing is labeled as in "this port leads to the master bed, that port leads to the office" etc, if that's what you mean by labeling? Even if it were It probably isn't right since our electrical box labels are ALL wrong! lol The ethernet wires plug into an ethernet-looking port in the box and in each room there is a port with 2 cable TV looking "posts" and a phone jack and an ethernet jack.

Quote : To clarify a few things that have been raised in the thread: I get the impression you already have wifi yet you talk about it as though you don't, which is the case? If applicable, does your current wifi router support 802.11n / are you planning to replace it? Do you currently rent or own your cable modem and where is it located in your house? Can you find your structured media cabinet / patch panel? Where is it?

Re: wifi, while we do technically have "wifi" it is completely unfuctional for what we want to do. We've got the Airport card on the iMac doing "internet sharing" so it's fine for my son's iPod touch and light use but non-Apple products can't access it and the iMac has to be running for it to work. We do have an old D-Link wireless router but we cannot get the wireless to work at all so the iMac sharing is our piece-meal solution while we figure out a real home network that will be functional. The MBAir is a new purchase (on the way) and not yet set up. Also just purchased a new wireless printer - ALL our technology is failing at once! lol

Re 802.11n I don't know for certain but highly unlikely. YES we are planning to replace it with a new router, but not wanting to spend tons on it (certainly not more than the apple product if it can be avoided).

Currently (stupidly!!) rent the modem. I'm annoyed w.myself for not looking at that before! I missed the combo deal above but am looking to purchase our own modem and dump the monthly fee. Currently have the triple play so VOIP but planning to drop the voice when we drop (or seriously downgrade) the cable TV. The plan is to just maintain comcast internet, perhaps with a very basic TV package since it seems they're offering better deals to bundle. We almost never use the home phone so it isn't worth keeping. The modem is currently right next to the TV (first floor living room), as DH and I had been trying to play with the network to try netflix or Amazon prime streaming. He was able to get the ethernet LAN to work in the office, as well, on this set up, but nothing else.

Structured media cabinet/patch panel - guessing this is the box/hub I mentioned previously? If not, tell me what you mean and I'll look!

I know I sound completely clueless here! We're not a real tech-oriented family (little kids, not into "gaming" other than Lego starwars and Wii sports yet) so I have just a basic understanding here and pretty much zero knowledge about networking! It's making my brain hurt and I'm tempted to just pay someone to come do this for us, but being a long time (if not highly active) SDer at heart I can't seem to put out the $$ without giving it a go myself first!

Hope this helps?
Thanks!


Quick question re another post above - getting a switch: is that essentially just to add "jacks" at that location so there are access points for all the internet ready devices there (bluray, wii, etc) ? Just wanting to make sure I understand since I'm doing the research and then telling DH what we need to get.

Quote from Mortabo : First thing you want to do make sure all your cat cables go to one central point and also that all have a big phone connector or what we call a RJ-45 connection. You should have a media closet or what they call a On-Q box made by a number of different companies, one problem you may run into is that for best wireless coverage you don't want to be stuffing your router into a metal box. You always want your wireless access point at the center most part of the house and about 6+ ft off the ground would be best. Your best options as far as selection and price is going to be online, unfortunately if time is an issue then Best Buy or something like it is going to be your only option. If you can spare a week then get to know www.newegg.com, it will be your best friend. With a basic setup with your modem+router combo or gateway(which is a modem & router built into one), placed in your media closet for you will probably be your best and easiest bet. There are better options as far as performance and coverage but without some networking or computer background it wouldn't be worth the hassle. I'm not a fan of Apple products, just a personal preference, but you can pick up a great router with a USB port for a lot less, I would recommend a dual broadcast router, which lets you setup and control two different wireless broadcasts at the same time, one @ 2.4 Ghz and one @ 5 Ghz, I would also recommend finding a router with gigabit ports as if you are going to be a media family streaming most your content it wouldn't hurt to have the extra capability. I personally like some of the new Asus routers that have come out and Cisco (linksys) are always another great choice, Netgear is typically user friendly but I have owned several over the years and they usually give out after I put them through the paces. If you are going to have more than one device with a wired connection per available port in that room, you will need a switch, basically a router minus the wireless access and most don't come with software to make custom configurations. As another poster mentioned, buy your cables online, in store may cost you $5-10 a piece where the whole set may cost you $10 online. You don't want more than 300' between any two end points on a wired connection, so if you have an extremely long run, most houses don't, then don't bundle a 50' wire behind something that only needs a couple feet. If you have any questions just IM me, I would be more than happy to help.

Thank you so much. Trying to answer everyone in between dealing with baby so sorry this is disjointed - I'm trying!

Definitely not planning to buy much - if any - at B&M stores! If anything was going to head to BB to try to gain info then buy online. ;P I've purchased from newegg before and time is not a huge issue - we've lived with a crappy network this long so another week or 2 won't hurt us.

Is there a specific model of those routers that you recommend for me? Don't take the time to post links - I can search them out, just want to know some recs to help narrow my search. Looking on places like cnet and pcmag is overwhelming to wade through a hundred products to find a decent quality, not crazy expensive product since cost is never a factor at those places!

Based on what you said, it's best to NOT have the wireless router going directly into the box since that's in the basement (2 story house)? So we'd want to plug the router into one of the ports upstairs (TV area is actually central in the house layout), yes? You say this then mention "media closet" later as our best option so not sure what you mean by that - the portal box thing OR the built in shelving area that houses the actual TV set and such?

FWIW, to all that asked, here is the wording on my spec sheet re the wiring box
"Greyfox Fox Box Portal system -incl service feed cable consisting of 1-CAT5E and 1 RG^ quad sheild runs to NID, 1x8 video module, 4x12 telecom module allowing customization
FOUR phone taps (single tap featuring 1-CAT5E cables w/RJ45 jacks terminated, rough and trim)
THREE tech ports (single tap featuring 2-CAT5E cable w/RJ45 jacks and 2 RG6 quad shield coax w/F type connectors terminated, rough and trim)"

Means little to me but maybe it's helpful to know?

I would recommend connecting your iMac via ethernet. You mention it is currently connected via ethernet, was this done using the prewired network jacks or with an exposed cable? Did your husband connect a patch cable between two of the jacks in the media cabinet to make this happen?

It sounds like the state of the wiring in your house is in pretty good shape and this should be relatively easy. The wildcard may be what comcast did or didn't do with the coax cable. Are your modem and tv currently hooked up to the prewired jacks or did comcast install their own jack? A couple pictures of the media cabinet may be helpful at some point.

VOIP: If you want to keep the phone number your currently have with comcast you'll want to port the number before you cancel digital voice. You could port it to another voip provider or a cell phone / prepaid cell.

Do you currently have your comcast digital voice service hooked up in a manner that provides phone service at multiple jacks in your house to multiple phones or do you just have a multi-phone base station connected directly to the comcast emta? Do you have an alarm system, if yes does it use the phone line?

As far as what you need to buy, you basically just need the following:
-cable modem, consider setting a deal alert for SB6121
-a wireless router with support for usb storage or dedicated device to share your drive.
-an assortment of ethernet cables [monoprice.com], length and number depend on exactly how you decide to set things up.
-optional ethernet switch for use by tv, depending on how you set things up this may not be necessary.

Do you have any other devices by your tv that you'll want to network other than the blue ray player and wii? Does the tv have an ethernet port? Verify that the wall plate by the tv does have two ethernet jacks?