Hi Guys. I have some questions about seting up my network.
I just picked up a Nighthawk router R7000.

Background. I live in a two story house with a basement. I have Charter internet.
The cable comes into the basement to the cable modem. My wireless router is placed next to the modem in the basement, All my wired lines

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have been run to the basement.
My wireless was good on the main floor, but always poor upstairs.
I want to place the new router on the main floor to help improve the wireless coverage on the second floor.
It would be very inconvient to run all my wired lines from the basement to the main floor to connect to the router.

Question: can I place a switch between the modem and router?
Is there anything that I can use to connect all my wired lines (4-6) and run a single line to the router?

Thanks

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Just buy a Netgear reapeter and plug it in

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Moosehead - I am assuming that you have a Network Cable run between the basement & the first floor, hopefully 2 of them. It should be no problem to move your router to the first floor, you would just need two cables connected to the Router,  one from the Cable Modem and one to an Ethernet Switch back in the basement.  Just like now the cable modem would connect to the router, but the router would connect to a switch back downstairs where all other devices would connect to the switch.  Hope this helps a bit, still waking up need more coffee!

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Unforunatly my cables running down to the basement are on opposite sides.
Will I still be able to fully utilize the Nighthawk routers QOS and other features with the machines that are connected to the switch?
I assume I will need a gigabit switch. Are they cheap? anything I need to look for in one? Would it be the same if I used my old router as a wap?

bigconn wrote (View Post):

Moosehead - I am assuming that you have a Network Cable run between the basement & the first floor, hopefully 2 of them. It should be no problem to move your router to the first floor, you would just need two cables connected to the Router,  one from the Cable Modem and one to an Ethernet Switch back in the basement.  Just like now the cable modem would connect to the router, but the router would connect to a switch back downstairs where all other devices would connect to the switch.  Hope this helps a bit, still waking up need more coffee!

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This is what you need to get http://www.ebay.com/itm/Netgear-Wireless-WiFi-Network-Router-Range-Expander-Network-Extender-Repeater-/171326273267?pt=US_Networking_Boosters_Extenders_Antennas&hash=item27e3d776f3
 
I have 2 of these to extend my wifi outside and In my garage. So if you don't want to do a bunch of wiring this is the way to go and you don't lose speed or packet loss.

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Moosehead - it is up to you what you would like to do.  QOS on the router is usually MAC Addressed Based. A decent 8 port Gig switch can go between 45 --> 65 Dollars (US).  the specifications of Category 5e or Category 6 cable allow the distance between devices to be up to 300 ft. As an example the distance between your cable modem and your router can be up to 300 ft, then a PC or other network device can be another 300 ft from the router.  

You are the one to best judge what would work best for you.  I use cables mostly in my home for a few reasons.  Most of my stuff is within about 50 - 75 ft from my Cable Modem, plus I do this for a living and can make my own cables.  Good Luck and take care - I will keep an eye out for what you choose :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  y'all be safe!

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