Home network future-proofing and wifi coverage improvement

Hardware Questions and Recommendations
1

Hey, my father has been asking me to do something about his house WiFi coverage and perhaps setup some IP cams. Since it's an old-ish house with cat4 (I think) and RJ11 sockets, the first thing will be replacing the cables with CAT 6 100% copper (I guess it's enough future proof for the average use).

This is the diagram:

house_diagram(1)
house_diagram(1)972×771 43.5 KB 

Note: There is fiber optics inside the house until the ISP router, so moving the router isn't easy, right?

Protocol questions:

  • How fast is your internet connection? 500mbps

  • Do you need Wi-Fi? Mostly 2.4Ghz, though 5Ghz would be a plus.

  • Do you need Gigabit Ethernet? I am not sure about what this one means. In case I want to setup an NVR, would I need it?

  • Do you need USB ports? How many? USB 2.0 or 3.0? No.

  • How many family members/devices must the router support? 2 permanent family members, but can easily extend to 5/6 people with multiple devices each. And around 4 IP cams (not yet installed. one of the reasons we want to improve wifi coverage) .

  • What other services do you want? Not right now, but might. Are the APs dependent on this?

  • Finally, please define your price range. Would be nice if each AP costed less than 30€. Not sure about the switch, perhaps another 30€.

Goals:

  • Better WiFi coverage. Maybe installing 2 APs, one on each socket (the rj11 sockets, at the moment)

    • The WiFi coverage should be enough to reliably connect IP cameras on the locations marked on the diagram (not yet installed!)

    • Somehow accomplish a mesh/roaming setup with cheap-ish hardware?

Questions:

  • Assuming you agree with the 2 APs solution, what cheap-ish hardware would you recommend that supports OpenWRT? PoE preferred. What about the PoE switch?

  • Are wireless IP cams reliable? Using an NVR setup, does it use its own separate network (because that partly defeats the purpose of improving wifi coverage)?

  • Should I turn off my ISP router's WiFi network or can I blend it nicely into an OpenWRT setup?

Thank you so much in advance and sorry for the wall of text!!

2

Of course you want gigabit Ethernet, since 100 Mb Ethernet won't handle the ISP speed you have.

Ideally AP's would be inside each room that holds heavy users. A ceiling mounted AP in the front hall might adequately cover the two front rooms, or it might not. Are the walls heavier than just wood / drywall? If they contain concrete and / or metal you should not try to send WiFi through walls at all.

2 Likes
3

Thank you for answering. They are in fact made of concrete blocks, but unfortunately, one AP per room greatly surpasses the budget. Do you have any recommendations for the hardware?

4

The 30 euro price point doesn't offer anything that can route at 500 Mb. So consider keeping the ISP router running as your router and bridge in one or two dumb APs to improve wifi coverage. As far as the APs, the price is still a severe constraint. You're looking mostly at direct from China MT7621 devices like the Mi Router 4A Gigabit as something that potentially has the bang for the buck. This is a desktop unit. TP-Link makes some Atheros based wall mount APs that are about twice your 30€.

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5

The ISP router is a technicolor TG789vac v2. Would I be able to get a decent PoE AP for 50€? I don't mind used hardware. Would I be able to get away with 50€ for a decent PoE switch?