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[makerian]

Hello everyone.

I am currently using a cable modem connected to my d-link dir-655 for home networking.
I also already have a d-link dgl-4500 from earlier in the year that I'm not currently using.
I connect a variety of devices wirelessly, printer, laptops, xbox360, ps3, itouch, etc.
I use MAC filtering and allow only listed devices to connect
I use DHCP Reservations for IP addresses for all devices.
I use Auto (WPA/WPA 2 - Personal) security and cipher type: TKIP and AES.


I'm moving to a 3 level house and I was thinking of connecting both wireless routers on different levels of the house.
The house has hardwiring in the walls in all the rooms.  I could connect devices with cat5 if I wanted to.  I prefer to use wireless for some devices, in particular the laptops and other portable devices.  I may wire other devices.

My concerns are mostly about performance and stability.
I don't want to impact performance.  Some of my settings are particularly restrictive.
I want the connections to be stable.  I also want to be able to reliably connect anywhere in the house and nearby outside.

Questions:
1.  Are the MAC filtering and IP reservations going to slow down my connections?
2.  Should I mirror those settings on both routers, so for example the ps3 has the same IP reserved on both routers?
3.a.  Can I wire both the wireless routers into the wall jacks in the house and have them act independently?
3.b.  Should I have one pass through the other router instead?
4.  Is there a better way to accomplish the reliable and fast wireless connections throughout the house?

If I'm using the wrong terminology, please correct it.

Thank you.

[funchords]

1.  Are the MAC filtering and IP reservations going to slow down my connections?

Not enough to worry about -- a minor amount of processing cycles.  You really ought to drop MAC filtering (provides weak and spoofable authentication).  Use WPA or WPA2 instead (provides strong authentication and encryption). With WPA or WPA2, MAC filtering is completely redundant.

2.  Should I mirror those settings on both routers, so for example the ps3 has the same IP reserved on both routers?
3.a.  Can I wire both the wireless routers into the wall jacks in the house and have them act independently?
3.b.  Should I have one pass through the other router instead?

Yes (3b), you should probably set up one of these to be a Wireless Access Point for the other.  Assuming your WAN connection will be downstairs, put your DIR-655 there. 

For the upstairs DGL-4500, restore it to defaults and then give it an IP address of 192.168.0.2 and turn off its UPNP and DHCP server and turn off logging (it won't keep good time anyway).  Give it the same SSID and WPA/WPA2 security as the DIR-655.   Use the in-wall wiring to connect a LAN port of the DGL-4500 to a LAN port of the DIR-655.  All of your devices will talk to one another.  Your wireless devices will connect to the best wireless connection available to them. 

The above scheme may have difficulty working with MAC filtering because the devices will masquerade MACs across that line that links them. 

4.  Is there a better way to accomplish the reliable and fast wireless connections throughout the house?

For the G sides of these devices, put them 5 or more channels apart when two are in use in close proximity.  Any closer and the frequencies overlap and you will experience a reduction in speed.  Using Channels 1 & 11 would be perfect. 

[makerian]

Thanks for the answers to my questions, that was very helpful.

In part 1, I also asked about IP reservations.  Does it slow the computer down to use an IP reservation?

[funchords]

In part 1, I also asked about IP reservations.  Does it slow the computer down to use an IP reservation?

My strong guess is "no."  (Since I've never seen the code, so I have to make assumptions -- but I can't imagine that the few extra bytes used in storing a reservation takes would reduce performance enough to be measurable.)