Network Switch

[VicParticipant @vic]

I’ve run out of ports on my Router so I’ve been looking at Network Switches. Netgear and TP-Link are two I’ve seen before but not sure which one to get. Five port will be fine. I’m currently getting over 850Mbps on both download and upload over WiFi so do I need a specific switch to get the best from my Broadband? Some switches say plug and play (I like the sound of that), others mention “Managed”. Any advice?

[Wink HackmanParticipant @winkhackman25989]

Either of those should be fine.  As a general rule, the less managed the better.

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Probably nothing to choose between them unless you can get to see the management screens and see if one is easier to navigate and set controls. Sometimes they used to have one port that is gigabit and the others less but probably all full speed now. More likely to be restricted by old ethernet cables. Since even HD TV only needs 25Mbps max it is only gamers that can use high speed and that is only for response times not actual traffic so your gaming PC should be run off the modem.

[Peter Cook 6Participant @petercook6]

Either of those switches will probably have more throughput capability than the switch embedded in the router.

If you have devices that need speedy connections between them, then connect all those to the new switch rather than having both switches between them.

For example I have a couple of PC’s and a couple of NAS storage devices. They are all ethernet connected to my Netgear switch, and one port on the switch then goes to the router.

[John HaineParticipant @johnhaine32865]

In selecting which make you might check to see if there have been any security exploits against them.  Some TP Link products in the past were I think pwned.

[Robert Atkinson 2Participant @robertatkinson2]

As said either make is OK. If you have to ask you don’t need a managed device 🙂

If you have any devices that have a lot of data transfer between them plug them into the switch. This will stop their traffic slowing down the router.

Robert.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Choosing the right switch used to be a ‘big thing’,  much less so today, unless you have a really fast network,  and 1Gbs is domestic!  10G is common in commercial broadband, and the next generation is fast enough to download the entire internet in 5  minutes!  At home almost any gigabit switch will do.

Managed has more features and advantages, but only if the owner knows how to use them or has a specific need.  Otherwise more to get wrong and a difficult manual.   A plain switch is good enough for most domestic users.

I’m wondering what Vic is doing that needs him “to get the best from my Broadband“.   Houseful of video-streaming teenagers, running a ticket tout bot maybe, or a website with thousands of concurrent users?    My 60Mbs service copes with me and both my kids when they visit. 850Mbs supports more SHD TV channels than I have room for..

One possibility: networks have two parameters – bandwidth (volume) and latency (response time).  Is response time poor?  High bandwidth does not guarantee a fast response, and a sooper-dooper switch won’t fix a latency problem.

Dave

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

I remember in 2000 I moved to a small site with only 250 staff which was served by a 200kbps service. No problems normally but sometimes it would slow down a bit for an hour, especially at lunch time. We found that one of the secretaries had found that she could stream audio at 125k. Next problem was late afternoons. One plonker in the IT dept would knock off at 4.30 but set his pc to backup the entire hard drive to a remote server, not just changes, and go home.
By about 2004 I was testing cable modems that could go ridiculously fast – 3.5Mbps as if anyone would need that – but had to use a dedicated lab CMTS (cable modem termination system) (the device at the internet service provider ISP that previously handled maybe 2000 customers on 100k max each). 20 years later we were rolling out a 2Gbps service.

[VicParticipant @vic]

Just received a Netgear GS105 and it seems to be working ok.

[Bazyle]

On Bazyle Said:

I remember in 2000 I moved to a small site with only 250 staff which was served by a 200kbps service. …

200kbps?  Luxury.   I started with 300baud modems!

Our ICL1906 had, I think, 6 user terminals.  Two were shared by 300 users in a nearby office block, who were terrified of them.   Had a synchronous modem that lived in a 19″ rack that ran at 1200baud I think.

It’s the Four Yorkshiremen sketch all over again!

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

[Author]

Posts