I’ve had dreadful experiences with NetGear over the years, and I won’t put any of their gear into production anymore, except possibly a dumb network switch.

TP-Link, TrendNet, Zyxel, Cisco, Unifi. . . all acceptable alternatives, IMO.

If you want a nice solid network switch, try the Zyxel GS1200-8.

They are really, really easy to configure, especially VLANs if you use them.

Surface mount may be the way to go.

You can get surface mount boxes with keystone jacks that point out the side. These will be reasonably low-profile.

You could probably “rough up” the cover a bit with some sandpaper, and paint the cover of the box so that it blends in with the color of your bricks.

If you install the surface mount so that the jack(s) themselves point towards the floor, it would naturally direct the cables downwards, while hiding the unpainted faces of the keystone jack from direct view.

Additionally, you could choose dark-colored RJ45 keystone jacks, such as black, dark red, or grey, rather than using the more stark white or almond colors.

Cat6 will get you 10Gb up to about 175 linear feet, which is usually enough for your average 2-story home. It’s still mainstream/readily available, and is a bit easier to work with than 6a. Definitely 6a for distances beyond 175 feet though. Agreed though on fiber backbones for high speeds.

There’s also the Zyxel MG-108, currently showing $119 on Amazon.

I’ve had decent performance with Zyxel switches. I have 3 at home, and one in the office. The GS1100-24E can be found on Amazon for about $65.

You don’t have link-lights showing in that photo.

Unplug all of the cables from the switch, and power-cycle the switch.

Then, try plugging just ONE of the cables into the switch, and see if any of the link lights come on – being sure to note that they may take a second or two before they light up.

No joy? Unplug that cable, and try another one.

If none of your cables end up turning on your link lights, then your switch is most likely dead.

Try the other switch, and see if you get the same results.

Gotcha.

Your CATV/Telco/Fiber services will probably hit your building near your meter I would imagine, so you’ll need cabling from there to wherever your various network cables terminate.

If you want to stay with TP-Link, you could try their newer ER707-M2 router, which sports 2 x 2.5gb ports, and 4 x 1Gb ports.

It is well over triple the performance of your current router, at an attractive price.

It would definitely be an improvement for wired speeds.

As for an improvement to WiFi speeds – it’s hard to say. That would be predicated on the access points themselves, and less on your router.

To answer your question though - an EdgeRouter4 would be more than capable of making the most of your ISP’s speed.

With a small floor-plan like this, a single ceiling-mounted access point should cover most of your living spaces without any trouble. Somewhere along the wall between the bedroom and dining room, towards the walkway to the kitchen. Then you can mount an outdoor access point along the garage wall to support the garage, and what I’m assuming is an outdoor area that you want covered.

Where does the power come in, and where is your breaker box?

You might want to take a peek at the ER707-M2, which is one of TP-Link’s newer routers. It has 2 x 2.5Gb ports, 4 x 1Gb ports, and a 1Gb SFP port.

You may want to try-before-you-buy, by placing an ordinary WiFi router in different locations, and using a cellphone app like “WiFi Analyzer” to see what kind of signal levels you get. (You don’t need ISP connectivity, the router will still broadcast without it. . .)

Depending on the dimensions of your rooms, an access point in the hallway by the door to bathroom 2 might be able to cover both bedrooms on its own, leaving the AT & T router (if it has WiFi) to cover the living room/dining room.

Can you clarify the term “corrugated ducts”?

Do you mean flexible “corrugated” conduit, also referred to as ENT or “Smurf tubing” ?

Or do you mean actual Air conditioning / HVAC ductwork?

First, make sure that you’re not behind CGNAT with your carrier. Refer to the dozens of on-line articles for instructions on how to check.

If you’re NOT behind CGNAT, then you might have one of a number of finicky routers that won’t port-forward from-and-to the same port number. I’ve run into several over the years.

In those instances, pick a random port number from the high UDP range, (40000-60000) or so.

Let’s say you pick 45678.

Let’s also assume that your Minecraft server is at 192.168.1.200 on your LAN, and listening on port 25565.

Go into your router, and configure the port forwarding rule like this:

External IP: ____ Blank or 0.0.0.0 – whichever your router requires.

External Port: __ 45678

Protocol: TCP

Internal IP: ____192.168.1.200 <<< Use your minecraft server IP here.

Internal Port: __25565

Save your settings, and restart your router.

Then, have your friend(s) try connecting to: YourPublicIPAddress:45678

See if that works. . .

(Again, this won’t work if you’re behind CGNAT.)

10/100Mb network connections use only 2 pairs, the Orange and Green pairs.

1Gb connections need all 4 pairs (8 wires).

If the termination failed, and it resulted in lack of connectivity with one or more wires belonging to the Blue or Brown pairs, then the switch would only negotiate a 100Mb link.

If you’re crimping on plastic plugs - I recommend against it. They are prone to failure. Best to punch down to jacks, and then use patch cords from there.

Instead of an ER605, you might want to consider the ER7212PC instead.

It has a built in 8-port switch, 4 of which are POE, and it has an integrated access point controller. A very nice all-in-one solution.

That would probably allow you to eliminate the POE switch and the OC200.

VLANs are primarily used to isolate traffic. Firewall rules are needed to allow/deny traffic between the various VLANs.

Let’s take your portable devices out of the mix, and focus on everything else.

ISP modem. Router. Switch. V520 for your media server.

Doesn’t sound like too much in the way of equipment.

My modem, router, 16-port switch, and a USFF PC take up about 10 x 10 x 6" of combined space. I have a WiFi access point elsewhere.

What other equipment do you need to contend with?

Better to just buy a 1000-ft box, and punch down your own jacks.

Run fiber between the two buildings. Not Cat6.

If you’re considering the “Dream Router” (the cylindrical router), please note that it caps out at 700Mb routed speeds.

What tester are you using to verify things are “active” ?

Model number, or perhaps link to manufacturer’s page. .