Wifi Network Help for Unraid Server

[bloodlust]

I need advice on setting up my unraid server in a different area of the home.  Currently, the server is setup in our home office in the basement which is connected directly to our router in the same room.  However, Due to a growing family that office is going to be made into a bedroom so the server is going to have to go.  I'm going to be moving the server into our storage room area in the basement.  Our basement in fully finished so I can no longer run a cat cable to that area and plan on trying this wireless.  Our home router is a ASUS AC68U, and I'm debating on either buying another ASUS router of comparable speed and using the ASUS AiMesh and connecting the second router directly too the server in the storage area, Or if I can buy one of those plug-in Wifi extenders and pluging the server into that.  Does anyone have any experience in doing this?  Will it work okay?  We stream about 95% of the servers content in home, The other 5% is remotely.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated with this as I really don't have much network knowledge asides from plug-n-go.

[mrbilky]

Have you looked into Powerline Networking sounds like an option that may fit your use case

[bloodlust]

4 hours ago, mrbilky said:

Have you looked into Powerline Networking sounds like an option that may fit your use case

We had something like that years ago in our old house, Speeds were horrid to say the least.  I would think creating a AC Wifi network would be more suitable for hi def streaming.

[gacpac]

28 minutes ago, bloodlust said:

We had something like that years ago in our old house, Speeds were horrid to say the least.  I would think creating a AC Wifi network would be more suitable for hi def streaming.

That's my current solution Powerline. It's not pretty if you have old wiring at the house. The best solution and cheapest. Run a wire 

[JonathanM]

25 minutes ago, bloodlust said:

I would think creating a AC Wifi network would be more suitable for hi def streaming.

That depends on a lot of variables. If you create a point to point bridge with no other wifi traffic allowed in that space, you should be fine. If you are trying to share the same wifi network airspace with your general devices, it's likely going to suck.

 

Cat5e or better wiring is comparatively easy to get right, wifi can be a bear to get sorted for consistent bandwidth due to all the invisible external factors. All it takes is some rogue transmission interference, your signal is swamped, and bitrates are in the toilet.

[Frank1940]

You might want to have a look at flat 5e (or cat6) cable.  I have posted up a link to a typical product on Amazon but several other  companies offer a similar product.  One big advantage is that you can put it under the carpet and it will be invisible.   I have also run CAT5 cable through cold air returns to get through to places where pulling cable would be difficult.  Don't be afraid to be creative.  Remember the maximum run for Cat5 or Cat6 is 100 meters so you don't necessary have to follow the shortest distance between the router and the server.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Cat-Ethernet-Cable-White-Connectors/dp/B00WD017GQ/ref=sr_1_3?crid=35XJOOQSGT3V5&keywords=flat+cat5e+ethernet+cable&qid=1557095876&s=gateway&sprefix=flat+cat5%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-3

 

I don't think it is UV stabilized so I would not run it outside unless you can provide some sort of UV protection. 

 

[bloodlust]

Yes, The wifi node for the server would be the only thing running on it.  Regarding the flat cable, That's interesting and never knew it existed.  I might be able to get that to work running behind the floor trim and across one area of carpet into the room I need it.  Thanks for the link on that, I'm going to look into that a little more!

[JonathanM]

42 minutes ago, bloodlust said:

Yes, The wifi node for the server would be the only thing running on it.

So, only 2 radios transmitting on that frequency and SSID, right? Only the originating router and the remote node. No other devices, telephones, laptops, tv's, etc connected to that SSID?

 

Your general use SSID should be using separate radios and frequencies. Only some of the ASUS mesh configurations work like that, what you are looking for is the backhaul configuration.