[newbienet123]

Right guys,

hello again . First of all thanks to everyone who helped me with my previous problem...thanks 2 u guys i have now a brilliant network with seperate back.

Okay, I'm now thinking of adding some form of additional network storage to allow everyone to share, but the problem is my house is fairly big, so signal can be an issue with wireless, especially if i want to stream HD movies from this device.

Have a look at my current setup below:-



As you can see, my stuff is all over the place, so i now want to add a network storage device, but with my house being large and having thick walls, i'm worried that if i want the network device to stream videos properly then i need it pretty close to the media centre pc downstairs. The rest of the computers/laptops only need to share/copy files to and from this device, so no video streaming is need for them.

I want to know what setup you guys recommend and if you need to adjust/move any item around, then pls do so and we'll see if its a viable option.

I eagerly look forward to your ideas.

[JohnWill]

Why the three ISP services? Isn't that very expensive! You should be able to service all of those requirements with a single ISP. Having a single network will also make this a ton easier to share files from a common source.

[newbienet123]

its not a 3 isp. Its a single cable isp. The one connected to the VOIP is business line. The other two i got at as a cheap deal. I want one for dedicated downloading upstairs and the other one for streaming online as well as downloading.

Don't worry about internet mate.

[JohnWill]

I think you fail to understand why I was "worrying" about the Internet side. With three different sources of Internet feed going to different computers, the network gets a lot more complicated.

[newbienet123]

true, however i simply want a file-sharing system, which allows my media center to be able to stream 1080p videos from a network storage device, whilst the remaining pc's only connect when they need to access documents etc.

[Rockn]

Buy a simple NAS appliance and connect it to a network switch on your LAN, very simple.

[newbienet123]

i haven't got a network switch mate, neither do i want to add one. I want a device which has to be a standalone wireless file storage system that everyone can connect to wirelessly, but which has enough speed to wirelessly watch hd movies.

[Dezaras]

3 modems sort of implies 3 different networks, making what you are asking much much harder. unless something is missing from your diagram, you would seem to have 3 different networks in your house (i.e. 3 different internet modems couldn't normally supply different computers on the same network). Most cable isp's wont allow you to have 3 different modems unless you are paying 3 times.you network shows one pc on a network all its own ( business pc) , another network ( media pc), and another ( voip and laptop). of the 3 networks shown, only one pictured has any sort of networking equipment involved ( the router in the picture with the viop adapter). Having "dedicated" internet sources for different devices makes it really hard to put the devices on the same network so they could share some sort of wireless file server. A "network storage device" requires the computers to be on the same network, which they aren't according to your diagram.

[newbienet123]

guys, I live in uk and its one isp providing me with 3 connections via one coaxial cable wire which is connected throughout the house and split 3 times. If you mean that the computers need to be physically networked via ethernet, then at the moment, none of these computers/voip equipment are physically networked and i don't plan to network them physically. All i want is a WIRELESS file storage/video streamer to allow me to share files between the upstairs business pc, my laptop and the media pc..thats it.

PS. Please totally ignore the 3rd voip internet connection as that is only for the phone line and nothing needs to be shared with that.

[Dezaras]

yes, its "split", and terminates into 3 modems, which is still 3 networks. maybe and easier way to say it is this:
you are unlikely to get the computers to share a wireless file server easily unless they are all in the same network, and the computers you are describing above are not in the same network. it does not matter if they are wireless or wired, but unless you want to reconfigure the computers each time you want to access the "wireless fileserver" you are hoping for, then they need to be on the same network. when you have a server in your network ( and for now ignore whether its wireless or wired) its not your individual computers connecting to the server that's important, its those computers and the fileserver being on the same network that's important. regardless of whether you have 3 coaxial cables coming from outside, or one coaxial cable that gets split 3 times into 3 modems, that still equals 3 networks ( or 2 if you disregard the voip network ) and getting computers on those 2 networks to talk to and share the same fileserver is very difficult or impossible. the best case scenario would be that each time you wanted to access a file on the fileserver, you would have to disconnect that computer from its network, and put it on the network that the server is on. for example, if you have 2 wireless computers and one wireless server, in order for those to wireless computers to access that server, they all need to be getting there signals from the same router. thats not really going to be possible, if you have dedicated modem connections for each computer. They dont have to be PHYSICALLY connected for you to get what you want, but they do have to be on the SAME network. which the layout you show above does not show. they cant connect to your isp's network individually, and then connect to some wireless network in your house to pick up a fileserver at the same time.

I hope I am explaining this a little clearer (I know I'm long-winded, lol). you seem to think we are hung up on your internet connection. we aren't. what we are hung up on is the your 3 computers shown above are on three different networks, and that will keep them from all accessing any common fileserver, wireless or otherwise. the same thing you are doing to give each of your computers a "dedicated" internet source from your isp is the very thing that will prevent them from sharing any fileserver.

[newbienet123]

lol, very looong winded, but i appreciate it.

now lets say we got rid of 2 internet connections and rearranged any equipment, how would you setup your network in your house? Please bear in mind that my business pc and voip need to stay upstairs, whilst my media center pc also needs to stay put downstairs.

[Dezaras]

modem and router near media center pc, server hardwired to router, and business computer wireless (which is usually fine unless you are doing tons of internet based work). Voip box can either keep its own connection like you have it, or it can be plugged into the router as well, this puts all equipment on the same network, everyone accessing through the same router, and any files and folders on each machine and/or the server machine can be easily shared, and your hd will be fine since it would be wired to the server through the router. at least thats the way i would do it.

[newbienet123]

server? wot server mate?

is there any chance you could do a simple diagram to show me what you mean mate?

thanks

[Dezaras]

by "server", i'm referring to the whole reason you made the post here. you mentioned you wanted to add a file server of some sort ( you called it "additional network storage" but thats just another name for the same kind of thing ) i could probably draw some sort of diagram, but not here at work. perhaps i'll try to draw one once i get home.

[Dezaras]

actually, funny as it sounds, i found this picture from one of your own threads describing exactly what you should do, here:


In this picture, any one of the pc's shown could be any of the pcs in your first picture, and any of them could be wired or wireless. for your home purposes, you want the media pc, and the fileserver both hardwired to the router, and the router connected to the modem, which is placed in the room with the media pc. so fileserver, media pc, router and modem in one room. business machine will be wireless ( but still connecting to the same router and modem as the media pc, just wirelessly). your kids laptops could also connect to this router wirelessly. that makes the kid's laptop, the business machine, the fileserver, and the media pc all on one network. if the voip box has to be in a upstairs, then its the odd man out.( but if it were me, i'd place it in the media center pc room as well hooked to the same router, and just hook a cordless base station to it, and the actual handset could be upstairs.) the only difference from your business network in the other thread to what you are trying to do at home, is there are less computers involved at home, and no printer involved as far as i know.