Extending the range of my current home network.. ADVICE PLEASE!!!!

[jordski19]

I'll start by telling you my current set up...

50Mb Virgin Broadband (rubbish super hub! - wireless turned off) > Belkin Play Max HD 600 (wireless on for the laptops, iphone, ipad) > Powerline adaptor (in my geek room at top rear of house) > Powerline adaptor (in living room at lower front of house, for xbox, smart tv).

My house is an old victorian house with solid brick interior walls. As a result the signal has to travel through 3 brick walls and one floor to the living room where most of our time on the internet is spent. A Lot of the wiring in the house is new and I had a new fuse board installed last summer. The powerline setup works but for some reason I dont get a gigabit speed and can be a little intermittent, I have a feeling this is down to some of the wiring being a tad older or the fact that the powerline in the living room is plugged in via an extension lead.

Before I go on to ask the questions I best say that I cant move the Belkin Play Max or the Virgin BB modem.

Ok, question time! :

I've just bought an 8 port belkin gigabit switch off of ebay to plug in to the powerline in the living room. I'd also like to buy another Belkin Play Max or N1 of some sort to plug into this switch to act as a 'booster' to the signal from upstairs. The reason for the switch is I'd like to have the Xbox, Smart TV, 3D Blu-Ray, etc plugged in and have ports free for additional gear. Would this setup work??????

If so the new setup would look like this:

Virgin BB Hub > Belkin Play Max > Powerline > Powerline > Belkin Switch > Belkin N1/Play Max as Booster.

I'm not a complete novice in this department but google cant give the answers I'm looking for before spending loads! As far as I can see the powerlines just act like a Cat5e running from router to switch/router.

Google did seem to provide a some answers, but if the above setup would work I'm assuming the 'booster' router would need to have the exact same SSID and password but a different channel to the main ap/router. Is this correct???

Im thinking these setting would be about right:

Main Belkin AP:
IP 192.168.2.1
Subnet 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.0.1

'Booster AP:
IP 192.168.2.2 (or another random last digit)
Subnet 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.2.1

Please feel free to correct any of the above as I'll end up pulling my hair out trying different combinations of IP addresses! Oh and yes I know Belkin can be pretty rubbish but I know what I doing with their junk, well, to a degree anyway!

Thanks for looking an hope someone can help!!!

 

[mad pierre]

If it was me I'll try

Main Ap
Ip 198.168.2.1
subnet 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.0.1

Booster
Ip 192.168.3.1
subnet 255.255.255.0
Gateway 192.168.0.1

 

[jordski19]

Im assuming by the amount of views and lack of replies that I was right and the network will work and my settings are correct?!?!!?!?!?!!?!?!

 

[jordski19]

lol, posted at pretty much same time!

 

[jordski19]

cheers pierre, I'll bear that in mind. In fact that ip address would never have crossed my mind!

 

[jordski19]

Guys, hoping for a little help! I cant figure the blinking settings out!

Got everything setup as described above including the switch which is working A ok.

My main router is a belkin play max, the extender is a belkin N+ purchased off ebay.

Ive tried plugging the belkin N+ into the switch via the modem port and one of the network ports with no joy. Ive set the N+ as a Access Point with an IP that falls within the range of the main router, and also tried manually setting the IP of the N+ including turning of DCHP on the N+.

Ive had the extender running with the same SSID and a different SSID. Ive them running on the same wireless channel and different ones but still cant get my head round it!

Can anyone point me in the right direction or link me to a web page that will give the right settings? Had a long look at web results on google with no joy.

I did have it working when I first set it up, plugged into a network port with the same SSID, channel etc. and now its just not having it no matter what I try.
Ive carried out hard resets as well to make sure its back to standard settings before I fiddle again!

Any help would be appreciated!!!!!!!!!

 

[Cr33do]

To be honest the above IP addressing schemes seem a little weird to me. I would have thought that you would want all of your devices on the same network using a consistent default gateway. 192.168.x.0/24 as an example of a network. Default gateways must be in the same network range as the management address, or that of a different network that is directly connected in the case of the router. You will want the extender patched to the switch via its Ethernet port, configured with the same SSID, encryption and password, but on a different channel. Have the channel numbers atleast 5 apart(1 and 6 etc).

Just confirm one thing. Is your virgin box the only device routing your home LAN to the Internet?

Ip address on a layer 2 switch is only relavent if you wish to manage it. It won't affect it's ability to switch traffic etc.

Sorry for disjointed reply but I am typing on my phone

Nick