Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO

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Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO

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Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO
Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO
2019-10-11 01:45:29
Model: Deco M5  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version:

I currently live in a 3 floor house + basement. It was constructed long before WIFI nor DSL was popular and therefore, imbedded telecommunication wires were not suited for DSL. Basement is where telco dropline enters the house. 1F is garage. 2F and 3F are the main living space. In particular, I live in the 3rd floor where I got more devices hooked/connected.

 

Prior to getting M5, I had DSL modem wifi router installed on the 3rd floor; then I wired NAS, Desktop PCs directly to the router. Everyone else, including people on the 2nd floor, connects to the DSL modem wifi router. Obviously it was not an ideal setup. There were lots of disconnections either WIFI could not reach 2nd F, DSL gets disconnected due to bad wiring.
 

Here comes M5 to the rescue; I bought a pack of 2 though - shuolda been the 3pack! I then disabled the DSL modem's WIFI and connected 1st M5 to DSL modem. Secondly, I hooked up an Ethernet Hub to M5 and wired all other "wired" devices to this Hub. 2nd M5 was then connected to main M5 wirelessly. ALL devices now have IP address in the 192.168.68.x range (not a problem); DLNA, SAMBA works flawlessly. WIFI coverage was GREAT both to 2F and 3F. But DSL problem still exists.

 

So here is THE PLAN: see diagram

I plan to relocate DSL modem and NAS down to Basement - as near the telco drop.
I plan to pull some CAT6 cables from basement to 1F, 2F, 3F

 

Here are my questions:

1. What should be DECO's Operating Mode? Router or AP?

I assume AP modem because NAS is connected outside of DECO's realm.

2. I really like DECO Apps' Overview functionality where i can check who are connected but not necessary the sites they visit. Will I lose this functionality when DECO operates in AP mode?

 

PS. There are no 3F to 2F, 3F to 1F, 2F to 1F conduits; all conduits lead down to Basement.

 

Your experience is most welcomed.

THANKS!

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#1
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7 Reply
Re:Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO
2019-10-12 09:50:31

@ragnakore 

 

Hello, is the network diagram mentioned on your post the current network layout? Or you just PLAN to locate them like that? 

 

Back to your case, what do you mean the DSL problem? 

 

For your questions:

1. if you still need the router function of the DSL modem, you can configure the Deco as the access point mode, so that the devices connected to the DSL modem router or Deco will be in the same network, and they can access each other. 

 

2. For the difference between the router mode and AP mode, please refer to https://www.tp-link.com/support/faq/2399/ ; and the feature to see linked Deco still work in AP mode. 

 

3. Or you can configure the DSL modem router as a pure modem and configure one of the Deco M5 as the main router to get the advanced features. For the NAS or other devices, you can connect them to the Decon on the 2nd floor. 

 

May it help and have a nice day. 

 

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#2
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Re:Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO
2019-10-12 14:29:58 - last edited 2019-10-12 14:36:27

@Kevin_Z 

 

The diagram as shown above is the PLAN for rewiring.

 

DSL Problem = DSL modem is currently located on 3F, and telco dropline at basement. Inhouse wiring uses non-twisted-pair wires - not suitable for data. It is prone to noise and therefore DSL disconnection occurs periodically; speed is slower as well. When Modem is installed at basement directly to telco dropline, connection and speed is very stable. This is why I wanted to rewire and relocated Modem, NAS down to basement.

 

I could simply pull a new DSL line from basement all the way to 3F. However, all conduits terminate at basement; there is no 3F to 2F, no 3F to 1F, no 2F to 1F conduit. If I need to wire the 2F DECO to internet, it would have to go down to basement then up to 3F.


#3. Unfortunately, I could not find any way to disable the router functionality of the modem (DN8245W). It works both as modem and router.
 

From my understanding, please correct me if wrong:
 

A) If all DECOs were to be wired directly from a single router (as shown above), It can only function in AP Mode.

 

 

 


 

B) And if DECOs were wired like diagram 2, DECOs can function in Router Mode. And with the added extra hardware and wires, there is no point making itoperate in AP Mode.

 

 

The reason why I want to WIRE all the slave DECOs is to give them better/stable connection to main DECO. Floors are concrete, not wood and wifi have difficulty penetrating through it. The secondary/slave DECO is getting "yellow" signal strength from the main router.

 

I hope these new diagrams better explain my understanding, my plans.

 

 

PS: In the diagram from website, It is not clear how the DECOs are wired.
a) Are they all daisy chained? (ie, main Deco to Root Router, 2nd Deco to main Deco, 3rd Deco to 2nd Deco....)

b) are they all wired directly to the Root Router?

 

The bottom/last diagram shows only the main DECO wired to the Root Router.

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#3
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Re:Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO
2019-10-15 07:16:04

@ragnakore 

 

Thanks for your explanation.

 

First, as far as I know, the DSL modem router supports bridge mode, most of them support this feature by default. You can give it a call to the tech support of the modem to verify it.

 

For diagram 1, to build up the mesh network, it is suggested to configure all the three Deco as access point mode; you still can make one of them as the main router, while there will be 2 different LAN networks existed and to build up a mesh network, you need connect the slave Deco to the main one by wired cable or wireless. 

 

For diagram 2, you can locate them like that, and the wired connection will be stronger than the wireless connection, the whole network performance will be better. 

 

And for the ethernet backhaul, the diagrams are examples only; they are listed as daisy chain network, while they can locate as star network. It is more related to the connection type between the devices. 

 

And the Deco supports ethernet backhaul and wifi backhaul (Deco P7 supports powerline backhaul); the ethernet backhaul has the highest priority, while once the connection between Deco B and Deco C lost, Deco C will connect to the Deco A automatically to keep the connection. 

 

Wish I make myself clear. 

 

Good day. 

 

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#4
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Re:Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO
2019-10-17 23:13:38

@Kevin_Z 

 

Hi

 

I definitely want to operate DECO Mesh in Router Mode.

I definitely have to wire everything in Star Configuration to a Root Router as shown in Diagram 1. It is possible to wire it as shown in Diagram 2, but it is not practical (conduit is not big enough to pull more wires).

And lastly I have a NAS/DLNA server that acts also as DLNA. I definitely need it accessible to all PCs, TVs in the Mesh.

 

How must I configure DECO?

Where should I install this NAS?

 

Right now, I have all DECO connect to Root Router via CAT6. I ahve NAS connected to Root Router LAN Port. All DECO running in AP Mode.


I dont have Router specific functionality... :(

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

That makes my experience not that great ATM..

 

Anyone can shed light?

Can DECO Mesh work in Router Mode when connected in Star configuration as shown in Diagram 1?

Can I like NAT or port forward this NAS/DLNA such that it will work even on different subnets?

 

thanks!

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#5
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Re:Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO
2019-10-22 08:12:35

@ragnakore 

 

You can change one of the Deco in Diagram 1 to the router mode, while to build up the mesh network together, the 2 slave Decos should be wired to the main Deco, not the modem router, otherwise,  there will be 2 networks existed, one is the modem router + Deco ( AP mode), the other is the Deco in router mode. 

 

Once there are two networks existed, the port forwarding should be enabled to access the devices in different subnets, including the NAS. 

 

We have proposed some network diagrams while it is still up to you, both operation modes have its own pros and cons based on your own requests. 

 

Best regards. 

 

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#6
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Re:Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO
2019-10-22 23:33:42

@Kevin_Z 

 

I understand what you mean: install one DECO beside the modem and designate it as a main router for the whole DECO mesh network. But I will be 2 DECO devices short this way (I only have 2 DECO M5s at the moment).

 

Thus in another thread, I asked which low end DECO (E4/M4) can act as main router or perhaps redo my whole mesh exclusively using OMADA routers. Locally, 4 OMADA routers cost no more than 2 DECO M5.

 

 

 

 

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#7
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Re:Need help properly wiring up my house for DECO
2019-10-23 01:12:18

@ragnakore 

 

Like I said on another thread, you can add the low end Deco, like Deco M4, E4 to the existing network. While compared with Deco M5, it is suggested to configure Deco M5 as main Deco and low END Deco as slave units. 

 

You can read my reply. https://community.tp-link.com/en/home/forum/topic/174068 

 

Good day. 

 

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#8
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