Home network upgrade - guidance please

[Skink 10]

currently we have a plusnet router/modem and a plug in booster by the TV - we used to just surf internet on the odd device but now stream TV and have multiple devices do all sorts

 

I really need to get some network storage (Sylology NAS 218 maybe?) for photo archive but guess updating the router modem makes sense (to what?) - the plan is to be able to stream HD Netflix to TV and be on internet  and have a film / photo archive protected by RAID. Not sure 4K is needed but maybe sensible to work at that speed (maybe?)

 

thoughts?

[Pyrotequila 401]

We have Plusnet at home and use their router, we also stream Netflix in 4K and I have a Qnap NAS attached to it for the same reasons you stated...and it seems to be coping fine.

[Happ 25]

A mirrored or parity RAID configuration should never be considered as “protection”. A separate backup should always be present if you cannot lose the files. Likewise with your reference to speed, any modern stand-alone/single disk would not have a problem streaming multiple 4K videos concurrently so would not be a reason just to have a RAID configuration. Whether the rest of the infrastructure could handle the bandwidth is another matter though.

 

If you want a stable and higly configurable router, take a look at the Draytek models. They may be overkill for what you require but the price is justified.

Edited January 9, 2019 by Happ

[Shafeeq 0]

7 hours ago, Skink said:

I really need to get some network storage (Sylology NAS 218 maybe?) for photo archive but guess updating the router modem makes sense (to what?)

Hi - I am keen to know why you think you need to replace your router?  Is there a particular bottleneck you are trying to overcome?  Even if you can download at 50Mbps say, a PlusNet router gives you a wire speed of 100Mbps and so there is no bottleneck there. 

 

Even the wireless can be set up easily enabling you to have 2 separate SSID's, one for the slower, more congested and interference-prone 2.4 Ghz and a separate one for 5 GHz.

I am currently a PlusNet customer.    

 

If you have a wired network with multiple devices and you can see evidence of exceeding 80 Mbps, I might be inclined to agree that upgrading a router with Gb Ethernet ports may give you a faster local network.  I would be surprised, but it depends on your requirements.

[Cyclone 10]

The synology NASs are very good, I'm on my second one, having got the first about 8 years ago I think.  I use their native synology hybrid raid, which is in effect mirroring.  This has proven to be useful (just the once) when a disk failed, I just swapped it out, and it spent the next 2 days rebuilding the array.

I also have it configured to backup to an external disk on a regular basis, and using the synology client much of the data is replicated across several different PCs.

 

I tried to configure an offsite backup to the old device which now lives at my parents, but it fails more often than not due to connection issues.

 

Re: The router, are you trying to get higher speed in a specific location, or better coverage through the house, or some combination of both?  Have you actually had problems streaming and is this down to the router and not the connection speed from your ISP?

[alchresearch 214]

+1 to Synology NAS boxes, we use a couple at work.

[zach 234]

I always tell people to have a good think on what, how and how many could be using your network at one time.

 

I won't use the home plug adaptors on my network. Good AC WiFi and direct cables work much better IMO.

 

NAS: I would never buy the pre built ones in most cases. Far too low powered and cost a lot of cash for what you get. For some people they are ideal and will keep all your files in one place and backup if you want. As said above, keep another backup of the really important files elsewhere. As my NAS does a lot of transcoding (Plex) I have always built my own. It's not the easiest but I find the power to £ ratio far better on self built.

 

I'm not sure what router your ISP give you but from the above reply, you might be ok with it. 

[Skink 10]

fwiw the Plusnet router is about 5 years old, we have experienced very poor streaming and added a Coredy wifi booster at the TV, which helped

 

I have a home office with a tower desktop with multiple drives, and find being in a Skype/Hangouts while someone is streaming doesnt work so good - the call gets poor, which isnt ok for work. Everything is wireless as the cable/box that comes in to the house is in a really awkward location

 

My business is helping with some of the cost and recommended a Draytek ADSL router so I can have different channels for different stuff. My tech abilities are "adequate" so plug and play is where I am at

 

One idea I had was to put 2 x 4TB in the desktop and use that as RAID, not sure that would work for streaming video - one thought here was to rip DVDs to disk and store the physical discs in the garage to get rid of clutter

 

 

 

[Skink 10]

I am making an assumption the NAS has to be plugged in to the router, can it be elsewhere, like attached to a wifi connected desktop?

 

[Afilsdesigne 10]

I guess it depends on what you want to achieve. I run a small business from home and data is important to us. The ASUS RT16N served well for many years but just ran out of steam so it got replaced by an ASUS RT-AC86U which is quite a high spec (not to mention expensive) router. The reasons for buying this were, in the end, quite simple. All our date is routed via a VPN (VPNac) both for security and to circumvent geolocation issues so we can research data from within other countries. The router has a dual processor that will, on a VirginMedia 108Mb download link, sustain some 100Mb throughput through the VPN which is fast. The router has been flashed with Merlin software which works very well. Doing this allows you to use your ISP box as a pure modem for the highest speeds.

 

WiFi coverage seems OK with the 86U serving a couple of streaming HD TVs (not simultaneously though), a printer, a laptop and a couple of wired connections too, though I would always recommend using wired connections wherever possible. After two months of hard use, the 86U has not missed a beat. Even watching live TV from an Australian VPN connection worked fine with only a couple of breaks.

 

We have a wired NAS connected as well (Zyxel) which is only powered up when we want to do a data save. Keeping it offline avoids any Bitlocker or virus issues interfering with the stared data.

Edited January 10, 2019 by Afilsdesigne

[Cyclone 10]

5 hours ago, Skink said:

I am making an assumption the NAS has to be plugged in to the router, can it be elsewhere, like attached to a wifi connected desktop?

 

It would generally work best plugged into the router, it's network attached, not desktop attached and since other things will access it via the router, possibly multiple things at once, it makes sense to have it on a gigabit ethernet connection.

If poor access speed at remote locations is the problem I'd suggest looking at one of the new mesh networking setups.  Get 2 or 3 hubs in a pack, they intelligently optimise themselves to provide the fastest speed and best coverage after you distribute them around the home (one plugged into the cable obviously).

 

You've no need at all for RAID for streaming video.  Not for speed reasons anyway.  Do you keep mentioning it because it's fast, or because it's fault tolerant?

[Cyclone 10]

Glad we mentioned backups on this thread, I went and checked on mine and it hadn't run on schedule for a while.  So I've reset it.

I also investigated meshing options and my Asus firmware now supports building a mesh by simply adding another newish asus router, so I might do that.