upgrading my home network

I'm looking to upgrade my home network and need a little advice. I currently have a MI424WR router with two PS3s and two laptops connected to the wireless. I like to stream HD content with PS3 media manager and my roommate streams Netflix so the network gets congested. I'm planning to add a gigabit switch and run wire to all the rooms in the house. Also I have a couple network webcams and a NAS that I would like to add.

Will a managed or smart gigabit switch allow me to control the amount of bandwidth that each device can use and would that be my best option?

Would wireless users still be able to congest my network? If so, would I have to buy a new router to restrict the devices or is there another way?

This might be silly but coax runs from the ONT box in to a splitter in the living room. One goes to the TV and the other into bedroom 1 where it splits again into bedroom 2. Would it matter if I put the router in bedroom 2 after all the splits or should I have it coming directly from the ONT box?

If you were setting up a network like I described would you go with cat5e or 6?

Anything I'm missing or should add?

Thanks

 

Don't cascade switches or splitters, bad juju. Make every single run go straight back to the main switch/router. If you have to, relocate the switch/router to a more central location to make this easier.

Properly installed, there is no real-world difference between cat6 and cat5e. Buy whatever you can afford.

Controlling bandwidth or usage is usually handled by QoS settings. This is usually done in a router, but I've seen some smart/managed switches that can do it.

 

QoS may need to be handled on your LAN/WAN. If the congestion is from contention within your own network (ie a number of devices hitting a NAS at the same time), then the router may not help here. if the congestion is from devices trying to get access to limited bandwidth on your WAN, then the router can do prioritisation using QoS.

also, cat 5e is sufficient for most networks, but if you are going to put cabling throughout the house, it might be worthwhile to invest in cat6 to future proof the investment.

 

Do you mean splitters in the cat5 cable or coax?

This is a Verizon supplied router and takes coax. All the coax wiring in the house originates from a single coax cable coming from the ONT box. I was wondering if it mattered whether I plugged the router in after the splits or not. I will run all the cat5 cable directly from the switch for sure.

Yes, currently the congestion I'm referring to is the bandwidth of my WAN but after I install the switch I need to control the LAN bandwidth as well. Like you said I can prioritize the traffic but I would like to be able to control the exact bandwidth that a device is allowed. I know there is custom firmware for the WRT54G that allows you to do this but does anyone know of a newer router?

So I'm a little confused now because I thought all managed switches had this feature, no? Does anyone have any ideas for me?