Recommendation for Wireless router / Bridge

[chipreibel]

I am relatively new to the IP camera world. I just bought two Hikvision DS-2CD2332-I cameras (and installed them with a 4-Port TP-LINK POE switch).

I need to buy a new Wireless router for my home (my current wireless router is bundled with the modem provided by my ISP and am looking to upgrade). I am looking to add two additional cameras on the outside of my detached garage and am planning to use a wireless bridge and second POE switch to provide data and power to those remote cameras. (Note: the bridge would be 50-60 feet from the wireless router when installed, but will have two stucco walls between them, both buildings having standard asphalt shingles.) I live in a typical SoCal home (only ~1,400sf) so I don't need sufficient gain to cover an 8,000sf house. (I know that a direct-burial CAT6 would be the "best" solution, but for several reasons that would be too difficult for my application.)

I have Verizon FiOS for my ISP (fiber to the house) and always have an 85+mbps internet connection. I am more concerned about having a sufficient data connection between the router and the bridge to support the cameras in the garage (as most current wireless routers can handle the 85mbps internet access with ease). In my mind (I am admittedly not a "networking geek") I would be safest sticking with a router and bridge that are from the same product generation from the same manufacturer to have the best performance and reliability.

I'm hoping to spend ~$200 for both the Wireless router and the Bridge. Although it is a tad bit more than I was hoping to spend (~$115), I was looking at the "ASUS RT-N66U Dual-Band Wireless-N900 Gigabit Router", but it doesn't appear to support bridge mode (which would prevent me form just buying two of the same SKU) and I didn't find any other ASUS bridge routers. Should I get the ASUS RT-N66U for the house and buy a bridge router from another manufacturer when the time comes? Is there a decent ASUS Bridge router that I should look into? Is there another wireless router that you've had luck with that supports wireless and bridge mode (which would allow me to just buy two of the same SKU)?

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Chip

 

[vector18]

You can mix brands and the router does not need to support bridge mode. The bridge needs to support bridge mode. And to save money, you can get one with a single port, rather than 4 ports like a router.

 

[vector18]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...e=engenius_wifi_bridge-_-33-168-115-_-Product

 

[fenderman]

The ASUS RT-N66U is a superb router....only thing its missing is usb 3.0 for attached storage, but most folks dont use that...its very stable and has great range.

 

[chipreibel]

Thank you both for your feedback. I did know that only the bridge needs to support bridge mode and the bridge only needs to support a single port (as I will need to back up the bridge with a POE router). I just didn't think that the small single port bridges (like the one in the link that you provided, vector18) would have enough range to get a solid signal back to my wifi router... For an extra $13, I could get (this) bridge (same manufacturer) but this one supports 5ghz. Unfortunately, it appears as though both units throttle the total bandwidth down to 100mbps at the end of the day. I do know that many devices (older laptops, cell phones, iPads, etc) do not support 5ghz, but this isn't a concern for me - the sole purpose for this bridge is to provide a connection between the two garage cameras and my network. I do like how they are both rated for outdoor installation - this means that I can mount it on the exterior of the garage and eliminate one of the stucco walls it would need to transmit through.

Which do you think would be better for my application? If I would see a benefit by using a 5ghz version, I wouldn't mind spending the extra $13 (I'd still be under my $200 target)...

 

[vector18]

I recommended the 2.4ghz because 2.4ghz sends a further signal than 5ghz. 5 is faster but not as far. The 300mbps data transfer over the wifi is more than enough.

 

[bp2008]

What I would recommend is two of these, mounted outdoors.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EHSV4W

Follow these instructions to set them up as a wireless bridge.
https://community.ubnt.com/t5/airMA...to-Point-Link-Layer-2-Transparent/ta-p/419941

With these you would want to set the output power at each radio to the minimum (and even then it will be a strong signal). Choose a channel that is far away from any you use for your home WiFi.

Another bit of advice is to use shielded cable between the PoE injectors and the radios. Ubiquiti radios are most reliable when they have the ground connection that is provided by a shielded cable.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=shielded+cat6

This would be about as reliable as running a wire between the buildings, and would be able to easily maintain full 100 Mbps speed without interfering with your other WiFi usage.

 

[bp2008]

If you want to do this with less installation hassle and do not mind having reduced throughput, you could probably get away with using a single one of these

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004EGI3CI

mounted indoors, pointing in the direction of your router. These are easily set up to act as wireless clients that would work with just about any WiFi router out there.

Note that whatever way you go, if you use Ubiquiti radios you will need two ethernet cables for each radio. One to go between a switch and the included PoE injector, and another to go from the PoE injector to the radio. Ubiquiti includes the injectors in the package, but not ethernet cables.

 

[LittleBrother]

I recommended the 2.4ghz because 2.4ghz sends a further signal than 5ghz. 5 is faster but not as far. The 300mbps data transfer over the wifi is more than enough.

Yeah, unfortunately the range on 5 ghz is about a foot and a half. I seriously find the state of home wifi to be an embarrassment. It's really sad that a decent sized house still cannot be covered in strong wifi throughout from a single consumer grade unit even in 2015.

 

[Sakuji]

Hi

Maybe my experience on this link could give you other options. Went through this route mainly for simplicity and so far (after about a month of running) reliable. Though depending on your home wiring, definitely outcome my vary.

Just to add more options to the mix: i was able to deploy my home cam system with the help of the great guys here on this forum specially Fenderman.
I currently have 5 cams deployed (mix of ds-2cd2432f-iw and ds-2cd3332-i) using Hikvision's IVMS4200 switched/powered by this on an old dual core laptop. I also have Fios service and added this NetgearR7000 (with dd-wrt) as the main router. I just switched off the radio on the Fios router.
Previously, I was able to test the ASUS RT-N66U (also with dd-wrt) for about a week but returned it for various issues though it can be used as a bridge if with dd-wrt.

With the R7000 + dd-wrt and this 5TB HDD, I was able to turn the router into a NAS which I have been testing for record redundancy for a couple of weeks already. So far so good. Next week I'll be transplanting/hiding this setup in a pool house for remote recording and also as an AP for pool/backyard area wifi using this TPlink for connection to the Fios router and IVMS pcnvr. Again, for my set-up powerline ethernet is the best route otherwise I have to remove 30 feet worth of fixed pavers just to run a cable.

I previously planned of using wireless bridging but later realized that based on my needs powerline ethernet is the next best thing short of direct wired ethernet specially that I'll soon be adding 3 more cams (including 1 more in the backyard using the powerline ethernet).

Hoping this will help.

EDIT: Well, just to clarify I actually tested wireless camera bridging using a combo of top-tier consumer grade routers with the clients connected on their own AP- bridge in conjunction what I described above and just switched between the two set ups intermittently to compare performance. Powerline still won hands-down based on easy deployment, reliability, and throughput. Plus the fact that I have 5 Apple products and 5 pc's connected wirelessly on my main AP I decided adding another one long term will just congest my local channels.

 

[paarlberg]

For your bridge, I would use Engenius ENH500, you can get both radios for about $160 on newegg (they sell a 2 radio bundle http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833168114&cm_re=enh500-_-33-168-114-_-Product).

I have a couple of their older enh202 for my in-house wireless. Both are in the basement and cover 3 floors plus an attic in 10000 sq ft house. I want to replace them with
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833168121 and place it in the center of the house for a little better signal in a couple locations and to add dual band.

 

[chipreibel]

Thank you all for the tremendous insight.

While I'm intrigued by the simplicity of the Powerline solution (link), my fear is the amount of signal/throughput degradation I'll experience in my application. I have 200a service coming into my main panel with a 100a breaker feeding a sub-panel in my garage (I like power tools!). In the test performed on that device, he observed a drop from ~255Mbps to ~102Mbps by moving the slave adapter from the same outlet to another outlet I'd guess to be ~50-60 feet from the master adapter (the author never said what the actual distance was). In my case, the master adapter would be ~30 feet from the main panel and the sub panel is ~70 feet from the main panel. @Sakuji - have you been able to evaluate the throughput at the pool house? It sounds like we may have similar implementations in that regard.

According to (this) calculator, I'd only need ~13Mbps (total) running two 3MP cameras with H.264, with high quality video at 12 fps. Perhaps my throughput fear is really unfounded?

I seems as though I have three viable options:
- Powerline solution (link) $76.00
- Single bridge (link) $49.00
- Radio bridge (link) $136.00 ($68.00 * 2)

Of course, with all three options, I'd still need to replace my primary wireless router (the wireless in my Fios router has become flaky at best). I think that the Ubiquiti locoM2 seems the most appealing to me at this point. Does anyone know what throughput should be expected (when using it to access a modern wireless router such as the ASUS RT-N66U or Netgear R7000) at a distance of only 50-60 feet? I assume that it would be far more than I'd need?

Like you, @Sakuji, I'm interested in using the USB on the router to access a NAS. I'm also curious to know what issues you had with the ASUS RT-N66U router? It has received great reviews and figured that I'd be picking one of them up in the next week or so...

Thank you again to everyone!

 

[Sakuji]

Like you, @Sakuji, I'm interested in using the USB on the router to access a NAS. I'm also curious to know what issues you had with the ASUS RT-N66U router? It has received great reviews and figured that I'd be picking one of them up in the next week or so...

Thank you again to everyone!

Well, the R7000 is in entirely different class compared to the N66U. Having said that, the N66U is limited to usb 2.0 specially if you want to use it as NAS and only uses Draft 802.11ac specs. On R7000 it has a usb 3.0 and full 802.11ac specs. But if both have the dd-wrt installed, most of the functionality will be almost equal on both. It's just one will be better than the other on certain aspects.
When I upgraded my home network last December I was able to score 2 R7000 during the black friday deals. I actually got 6 different kinds of routers during that time, tested first hand all of them, used most of them (I got 2 different offices that I also hooked up) and returned some. Among the ones I tested R7000 was the best for the buck.

Anyway, to directly answer your question: when I tested the N66U, there were occasions that it would randomly drop clients, got a couple of random rebooting and when I was setting my vpn I had a hard time doing it. It could be on the version of dd-wrt that I used but since I have other routers on hand to use I just chucked it to returns.

While I'm intrigued by the simplicity of the Powerline solution (link), my fear is the amount of signal/throughput degradation I'll experience in my application. I have 200a service coming into my main panel with a 100a breaker feeding a sub-panel in my garage (I like power tools!). In the test performed on that device, he observed a drop from ~255Mbps to ~102Mbps by moving the slave adapter from the same outlet to another outlet I'd guess to be ~50-60 feet from the master adapter (the author never said what the actual distance was). In my case, the master adapter would be ~30 feet from the main panel and the sub panel is ~70 feet from the main panel. @Sakuji - have you been able to evaluate the throughput at the pool house? It sounds like we may have similar implementations in that regard.

As for the real life testing of the powerline ethernet, remember just like almost anything in networking solutions the on-paper throughput will always be a multiple of actual performance. Even on routers we see these kind of over statements. So it's just the matter of leveraging the throughput to other aspects of the device like compatibility, reliability, ease of use, and of course overall cost when I make my choices. As I stated in my previous reply I also got to test the wireless bridging on my set-up using different routers and implementation (though not the Ubiquitit stuff) and compared them side by side with wired, went with powerline instead because of the above reasons.

Hoping this will clarify.

 

[spyfly81]

I think that the Ubiquiti locoM2 seems the most appealing to me at this point.

Exactly what I would do, buy LocoM2 or LocoM5 and turn the power to try and keep the signal level 50 or over, you will see around 90 mbps or true throughput, I install UBNT radios daily and they work well

 

[Codyormoe]

The ASUS RT-N66U is a superb router....only thing its missing is usb 3.0 for attached storage, but most folks dont use that...its very stable and has great range.

We have the N66U at home, been using it for almost 3 years now. Absolutely love it, wired and wireless both get great speed. It does have two 2.0 USB ports, which we use for a network printer and a 4TB hd for the media server. Recently added a poe switch to our setup, I was afraid having data constantly moving through the router(2 cams at home recorded by a remote NVR 24/7)would really slow things down but I haven't noticed a difference at all.

Before getting the N66U we were going through routers like candy, none had all the options I wanted/needed AND all options actually worked as they should. This thing is a champ.

 

[Cybirian]

Why don't just get a powerfull AP like the https://www.ubnt.com/unifi/unifi-ap/
Affordable and with long range!