Tech Support Forum - View Single Post - Network Layout for 25-person house

Concordium · 10-07-2008, 10:27 PM

Hey there. I've been appointed to make sure the internet works on some 20-odd computers in my household. The other day, at least 10 of my housemates reported total loss of connection. After some investigation, I've discovered some interesting things about our network:

1) Our cable modem is connected to a router on the first floor.
2) An ethernet cable runs from this first floor router to the WAN port of a different router on the 2nd floor, which people on that floor connect to.
3) Another ethernet cable runs from this 2nd floor router to the WAN port of the 3rd floor router, which, you guessed it, is used by people up there.

All these gateways seem to be really slowing the network down, and may even be limiting the number of people that can connect; at least, that's my theory.

Would it better for me to make sure there was only a switch between every router and the modem, instead of yet another router? If not, what would be the ideal network setup for my household? Any and all suggestions are appreciated!

10-07-2008, 10:27 PM	#1 (permalink)
Concordium Registered User Join Date: Oct 2008 Posts: 1 OS: Windows XP Pro	Network Layout for 25-person house Hey there. I've been appointed to make sure the internet works on some 20-odd computers in my household. The other day, at least 10 of my housemates reported total loss of connection. After some investigation, I've discovered some interesting things about our network: 1) Our cable modem is connected to a router on the first floor. 2) An ethernet cable runs from this first floor router to the WAN port of a different router on the 2nd floor, which people on that floor connect to. 3) Another ethernet cable runs from this 2nd floor router to the WAN port of the 3rd floor router, which, you guessed it, is used by people up there. All these gateways seem to be really slowing the network down, and may even be limiting the number of people that can connect; at least, that's my theory. Would it better for me to make sure there was only a switch between every router and the modem, instead of yet another router? If not, what would be the ideal network setup for my household? Any and all suggestions are appreciated!