Apple Macbook network query

dgibby

Hi

I'm still a tad confused on how to better my home internet network at home for my Apple Macbook. Here's a quick overview

Current set-up
I have a Macbook and in my house I have a Netgear router (802.11g)that "does the job"

My requirements
I would like to network my printer and have a backup HDD without having to plug in cables all of the time. It is rare that I sit in my office with my Macbook so this would be of great help having them always available across the network.

Another problem
My house is 4 storey and with the netgear router on the 1st floor in the office, I find I don't have much coverage in the cellar (2 floors down)

Proposed solution
I get an Airport Express to extend the range of my netgear and have it plugged in at the cellar - and maybe have printer and HDD run off that? Will that work with just having a Netgear 802.11g router in place ?

Or
I get Time Capsule which then doubles as my router and external HDD and plug in printer into that. This then gives a 802.11n network which may extend to cellar. I could then keep the netgear router also as my 802.11g network for my iphone.

Any assistance greatly received.
I'm looking for a cost effective solution so if the Airport Express will do the job - that's great!

Thanks
Dafydd

Leopard

Dafyd,

Thank you for posting your problem so coherently!

Nevertheless, without knowing the layout and construction of your house it is not possible to tell precisely what arrangement would work best for you. That depends on what power sockets and 'phone sockets you have, in what locations, in which rooms, the manner in which you want to use your various devices and the degree to which your walls, ceilings and floors (stone?) are impervious to radio waves.

What I can tell you, remotely, is this:


1.) With a MacBook you will get the best results by using Apple wireless kit.

- a) Because it can all use 802.11n at 5 Ghz, which is blazingly fast.

- b) Because all the Apple components are designed to work with each other.

- c) Because you can only extend an Apple wi-fi network wirelessly with other kit that is Apple.

(Note that I'm not saying that you cannot link an Apple wireless router by Ethernet cable - or with powerline adaptors - to a Netgear wireless router and have them both active simultaneously But one or other of them would have to have its routing facility switched off, one or other of them would have to have to operate in "Bridge" mode and each one would have to create its own wireless network on a different channel. Still, if you ran the Apple on 5 GHz and the Netgear on 2.4 GHz, they would not interfere with each other's networks wirelessly.)


2.) The current models of the Apple Airport Base Station and Time Capsule are both capable of broadcasting separately and simultaneously on 802.11n and 802.11b/g. This is a neat trick - designed to accommodate the iPhone and the iPod Touch (neither of which operate on 802.11n) without compromising an 802.11n network that is serving Macs at the same time.

So, a Base or a Capsule would be able to service both your wi-fi needs.


3.) To me, the Base is preferable to the Capsule. Keeping the hard drive as an external component, instead of it being an internal component, is better because:

- a) It enables you to swap the hard drive easily, whenever you want, without having to switch off the Capsule and and open it up to get at the hard drive.

- b) The heat generated by the hard drive is dissipated externally by the hard drive's enclosure instead of boiling up the innards of the wireless router!

- c) It enables you to use a mirrored (RAID-1) hard drive instead of a single hard drive - which is a nice precaution if your Time Machine backup is going to be on it.

(Note that both the Base and the Capsule have three Gigabit Ethernet LAN ports as well as a Gigabit Ethernet WAN port and that the USB2 port on both devices can now handle a USB2 hub; not just a single device. So you don't have to choose between connecting a USB2 printer or a USB2 hard drive; you can connect both - and more.)


4.) Wi-fi routers, unless equipped with special aerials, are good at propagating radio signal horizontally but struggle with propagating it vertically.


Taking all of this into consideration, the best solution (I do best, at cheapest price obtainable; others do cheapest at any price - and then pay the bitter, and frequently expensive, price of doing that) would likely be to proceed as follows:


A. If you are on ADSL broadband:

1.) Keep the Netgear. Use its modem, use its router but switch off its wireless facility (if it has one, which you have not made clear). Install this as close as possible to your telephone Master Socket.

2.) Buy an Apple Airport Base Station.

3.) Connect the Base to the Netgear, very preferably by Cat5e or Cat6 cable - otherwise, if that's impossible, by means of 200 Mb/sec powerline adaptors.

4.) Put the Base into "Bridge" mode and switch off its routing feature. The Base will provide the fundamental wireless networking facility.

5.) Now, if necessary, add one or more Airports Express to fill in wireless signal at places where you need to use the MacBook by wi-fi but can't receive signal from the Base. (Landings, halls and stairways are good places to locate distribution boosters.) Well-sited, they will be able to communicate wirelessly with the Base. Alternatively, you can connect them to the Base by Ethernet cable or by powerline adaptors - but that shouldn't be necessary unless you live in a castle with granite walls and floors!

6.) Now plug in any USB2 devices that you want to network.

7.) I'd guess that your biggest problem will be the cellar. You didn't indicate what you'd want to be doing down there nor whether it has electricity. If it's got a light socket but no power point you could be creative with the wiring but bear in mind that in the event of a general disaster your insurance company might dismiss your entire claim if it discovers you have done anything naughty with the wiring.


B. If you are on cable broadband.

Basically, as above but use the cable modem, junk the Netgear and let the Base do the routing.


Our network at home (ADSL) works faultlessly and extremely fast, set up in this manner. (Master socket to Netgear modem router (non-wireless); Gigabit switch upstairs and downstairs, connected to each other by Ethernet cable - previously by powerline adaptors; three Airports Extreme and one Airport Express, all in Bridge mode, connected by Ethernet cables to the Gigabit switches. But it's a large property! Yours can operate on the same principle but without the extra kit.)


Get back to me if you have any problems!

timbim_2

Leopard wrote: »

7.) I'd guess that your biggest problem will be the cellar. You didn't indicate what you'd want to be doing down there nor whether it has electricity. If it's got a light socket but no power point you could be creative with the wiring but bear in mind that in the event of a general disaster your insurance company might dismiss your entire claim if it discovers you have done anything naughty with the wiring.

Oh rubbish. Install a junction box and make it reasonably neat and the insurance company won't know the difference between that and a professional job. Would object to the idea of wiring sockets onto a lighting ring though. That's not such a good idea, considering if the eternal HDD is connected to that and a light goes on the ring, so does the power to the HDD, and that's never good, even with a journalling file system.

cmatt360

i would get a powerline adapter - to your router - then get another for the cellar. Attaching an airport express to the one in the cellar

Leopard

timbim wrote: »

Oh rubbish. Install a junction box and make it reasonably neat and the insurance company won't know the difference between that and a professional job. Would object to the idea of wiring sockets onto a lighting ring though. That's not such a good idea, considering if the eternal HDD is connected to that and a light goes on the ring, so does the power to the HDD, and that's never good, even with a journalling file system.

Fantastic! At last! An eternal hard drive! That's just what I need. Where can I get one? Could you provide a link? :money:


If you read carefully what I wrote, you might perceive that what I was actually trying to do - very gently, so as not to give offence - was to discourage being creative with the lighting circuit in case it occurred to the OP to try it.

dgibby

Dear all
Many thanks for the replies.
To put your minds at rest - the cellar in our house is totally converted with damp proofing, heating, lighting, electricity etc - a self enclosed "getaway pad" within the house with comfy seats, projector etc etc. All done by a contractor so totally legit.
With regards to the original query - I think I'm going to use my Apple discount with work and invest in their kit.
Many many thanks for the support!

Regards
Dafydd