Home Network - Fall 2017 Network Edition

September 8 2017

"The town Internet sucks!".  "The town wireless sucks!".  "I can't stream". I hear from various people, many in my town, that either have "bad wifi", the town Internet stinks, can't stream etc.  All things that probably aren't incorrect based on their perception.   But unfortunately most of the times these are not related to the cable Internet connection we pay for but tends to be our internal network is just not cutting it.  

I've been trying to find a way to explain to an everyday person why I've done what I've done to set up my home network and other technology to "cord-shave" with a great level of service.

Things I want to be able to do:

• Watch TV shows or movies ANYWHERE and on any device, including outside
• Be able to DVR without a monthly fee
• Kids able to play their video games without complaining of lag
• Still get channels on cable but not have to pay the fees for multiple cable boxes
• I still watch sports and ESPN and our local sports station are difficult to get w/o cable.
• Back up my computers over a good network, or minimize the need for storage data on a computer at all
• Be able to add "Smart" devices without concern 

Things I DON'T want to have to do anymore:

• Have to reboot a device because it has to be done every so often(apart from doing a reboot after a software update, something we need to get in better habit of doing)
• Get less than what I pay for related to Internet bandwidth
• Have spotty wireless coverage for any device

I do have a few first world challenges to face.  

First, is my house is not a "box" as I have bedrooms above the garage, so that makes it weird to find coverage that radiates equally like if you drop a rock into the water(how the ripples of waves get less and less the further away from the center).  If you look at the picture below with the red/yellow/green/purple bands that will be helpful.

I'm sure this might be similar to many houses in my town that started out smaller then expanded.

Second, the microwave in the kitchen when ON, tends to knock out the 2.4Ghz when I had my old single All-In-One wireless router(an Asus AC68P, one of the highest rated AC based device for quite some time).

Third, like many others we have either Apple products or others that can take advantage of the 5ghz bands.  This band allows much better speeds BUT cannot travel through walls very well.

Fourth, my wife will not be happy if any of above is more difficult to use than old fashioned cable services. 😍

I've actually deployed some wireless at one point when I was in corporate IT, and the big takeaway I had was to make sure you have enough access points to cover your building.  I don't think any business could get away with only one access point.  The crazy thing is most houses nowadays have MORE wireless needs than businesses but still are marketed to get a single "wireless router".

So my list of needs involved for the network foundation

1. Getting a real router to connect to the cable modem
2. making sure I can still connect hard wired connection in either the basement or upstairs. That meant a network switch on each floor
3. I'd need a way to connect the 2 switches as well.  This led me to MOCA technology - a means of bridging regular networking over cable COAX lines.
4. get multiple access points to blanket coverage, the key was what brand and if I should go with stuff I can buy easily at Staples/BestBuy/etc - 'consumer equipment'.  All I knew I was NOT going to have that weirdness of multiple _EXT wireless SSIDs from the 

My 5Ghz coverage(less range but better speed)

My 2.4ghz Coverage(more range but slower)
notice it radiates much further
note: I did not enable the 2.4ghz band on the outside access point

Please check the TV Edition for the Cord Shaving