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Help with creating and setting up Home network

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Help with creating and setting up Home network

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Help with creating and setting up Home network
Help with creating and setting up Home network
2022-12-28 09:25:50
Model: Archer AX6000   Archer AX73  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version:

Okay so I'm old and well Setting-up networks have never been my thing. To make matter worse After experiencing what I like to call a Heart Hick-Up last year I have acquired a new friend called severe anxiety which only makes it even harder for me to figure all this out. 

So I apologize up front to everyone if I get easily frustrated or if I just don't seem to get things as easily as I should..... Trust me I have been trying to read up on my onw and well lets just say its like someone just cuffed me upside the old noodle cause damned if I remember anything lately.

 

Okay so first things first, what the hell do I have you ask...

- From Shaw internet (Canada) I have a Hitron CGNM-2250 WiFi router/modem. Now if this is an issue I could look at switching to a different one through them.
- a TP-Link Archer AX6000 (US) V1
- a TP-Link AX73 (Canadian) V1

- 3x's  5 Port network switches 

- Netgear extender

 

As for what I am trying to connect and so on;

on the 2.4 GHz

-15 WiFi Cameras

- 3 WiFi motion sensors

-16 WiFi Smart light bulbs

- 5 WiFi Smart plugs

- 2 WiFi Smart Power bars
- 2 WiFi Heating blanket 

- Google Home (currently have 2 nest Mini's and 1 Nest Hub - but may look at adding)
- Google Chromcast

- 1 Xbox

 

WiFi / Lan

- 2 Smart TVs'

- 3 Android TV boxes

- 3 Desktop PC's

- 1 Laptop

- 1 Tablet

- 3 Android smart phones
 

Misc
- 2 external HDD's

I think that's everything...lol

From what I understand (I think..LOL) the WiFi lights, cameras, plugs, sensors and that are somewhat easier to hack or gain access to the network through. 

So I would like to set things up where I have 2 separate WiFi networks (each one have 2.4 and 5Ghz). One for the WiFi Lights, cams ect and the other for the PC's, TVs', Cell's. The Google Home I am not sure how and which one to put it on. If I have it on the same as the PC's can it control the WiFi lights? 

I live in a large home 3bdr, 3level split on a good size lot ( 2 Acre ). Can supply a rough floor plan if need be. The internet comes into the house currently in the office which is located midway along the front of the ground floor. I have run 1 lan cable to the living room (located on the first level split to the far side of the house) into a 5 Port and when I did that I also ran a couple of extra strings in case I wanted to add another Lan (beats crawling through the crawl space again). I also ran a Lan from teh Office through the family room to a 5 Port so that I could feed the TV there and then ran 1 cable up into the Master bedroom as well as another into the Garage.

What I imagine is that I may need to have the lan come from the Shaw Modem/router to the AX600 located in the office (?) then from there carry the lan into the Dining room to the AX73. The Extender can either use a Lan or WiFi and was going to go into the garage. Now it was suggested to me to use the 2 TP-Links separate. The Ax73 for the cams and so on and the 6000 for everything else. I was also told that would be a waste of the AX6000's capabilities. 

"GAD I'M SOOOO confused"...lol

 I can follow direction well enough, a Gilligan I'm not. I dont understand all this IP, subnets and so on ....

Oh did I mention I also have Nord VPN?

or that I'd love to be able to access my home network when I was away from Home (specifically the external HDD's (if thats recomended)

Thanks in advance
 

 

 

 

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3 Reply
Re:Help with creating and setting up Home network
2022-12-28 13:41:11 - last edited 2022-12-28 13:42:10

  @Lil_Old_me 

Hi, got a little confused reading: does your broadband (internet) connection uses cable modem / router (Hitron CGNM-2250 WiFi router/modem) and then goes split using TP-Link Archer AX6000 and so on?

If so, you can use Archer AX6000 as a 'main' router which distributes internet around your house (it should handle so many WiFi connections pretty well and got plenty LAN ports).

What I'd do:

- most smart bulbs, plugs, cameras etc works on 2.4GHz so mesh 2.4GHz extenders might be helpfull to have the same WiFi network all around

- Google things works on both 2.4 and 5GHz (mines run on 5GHz) so 5GHz mesh extenders if needed

- TVs and other devices which require LAN connected through Powerline aqdapters (got similar setup at my home) (if direct LAN from router not possible)

If you need to hook up PCs on LAN (if these are in one room) get TP-Link TL-PA9020 Powerline adapters for both router and target room and then use 5 ports switch / router (Powerline adapters got 2 LAN ports so you might dont need a switch).

In general, use Powerline adapters for everything which not require WiFi and can use LAN, it will help to avoid WiFi signals to be messed up :)

Almost forgot, dont use Powerline adapters plugged into extension leads - they need to be plugged right into wall sockets.

 

Hope it will help :)

 

KR,

Kris 

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#2
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Re:Help with creating and setting up Home network
2022-12-28 17:22:49

  @Lil_Old_me 

 

You got a lot going on here but you have a few options.  The first thing to mention is you are working with way too many routers.  Even if the two TP-Link routers are put in AP mode your network would have at minimum 2 access points broadcasting different wireless networks, three if the gateway from Shaw is broadcasting one as well.  If you put these all on the same SSID and password your client devices would likely have connection issues as there would be too many APs broadcasting the same connection.  Your clients would regard these as separate AP and would likely either jump between or not connect at all.  So the fix for that would be Mesh.  In your environment, you would be an ideal candidate for it.  

 

Mesh can be done one of two ways.  The two TP-Link routers support a feature called OneMesh.  You could use one of these as the router and then several OneMesh range extenders like the RE500X or RE605X.  You can't have more than one router in a OneMesh though.  With OneMesh you would have one unified SSID that all devices would connect to.  The router would decide which band a device connects to, based on capabilities and bandwidth needs.  Though to be honest you would probably be better suited with option 2.  Deco Mesh 

 

Deco is a multi-unit system, where each unit has the network configuration.  One unit always acts as the Main and needs to remain connected to the ISP modem, but the rest can be physically connected to the Main via ethernet.  This would need to be through a switch though as each unit only has up to 3 ethernet ports.   Or, if you don't want to run wires you can have the units connect to each other via wireless backhaul.  Like OneMesh this would be a single SSID and the system would determine which band your clients connect to.  The great thing about Deco is it is expandable up to 10 units when using wireless backhaul.  With the number of smart devices you have, I would suggest the Deco XE200.  It is a WiFi 6E device and is the only Deco currently supporting a separate IoT network for smart devices.  This way your smart devices can be connected to a separate SSID than the Main network.  With Deco installed you would be able to put a switch in different locations to expand your physical connections in a more robust way.  You also won't have a need for that Range Extender anymore. 

 

Either option you would want to have your ISP swap their gateway for just a modem

 

 

Check out the Latest: Recent Smart Home Features and Updates for Tapo and Kasa Securing Your TP-Link ID with 2FA:Deco and Tether | Smart Home Splash into a Smarter Summer with Sub-G Sensors, Matter, and Apple Home!
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#3
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Re:Help with creating and setting up Home network
2022-12-30 18:11:35

  @Lil_Old_me 

If you truly want two isolated networks you need to create 2 VLANs. Honestly I am not aware of the capabilities of your switches, you would need at leat one to be programmable. Your second hurdle would be having two wireless networks, one for each VLAN. This would require a minimum of two wireless access points.

Unforunately tha's the only true remedy for what you are asking for outside of having your ISP run a second line to your address which would no doubt be cost prohibitive.

 

Herding each wireless device on to their specific VLANs would insist that you maintain two wireless access points. Once you get your hands on a programmable switch, creating two VLANs isn't that difficult as long as you pay attention to the programmable switch's manual. Good luck.

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