Ethernet switch advice
Posted by: jobseeker on 17 September 2012
Bt Infinity2 being installed on 19 Sept, with the Homehub3 router.
The router only has a single gigabit port on it, but I'd like to run two separate gigabit switches in separate rooms off it (one in the room with the router and one in an adjacent room).
Can I run a switch off the gigabit port in the main room, then another switch off that switch for the other room ?
Absolutely yes; your LAN will be formed using the two Gigabit switches that you will provide with a WAN connection from the router to the first switch.
Ian
Yes. I have a 8 port Netgear Gigabit switch off the BT HH3 and another 4 port Netgear off that.
Great, thanks
Is any switch as good as any other switch for these purposes then ? I read something on here about domestic products not doing multicasting well in some instances. Unfortunately, I don't really understand what any of that means and I wouldn't want to buy the wrong product.
My dealer recommended Netgear GS range. I have an 8 port and a 5 port and they seem verywell built but certainly weren't the cheapest on offer. Can't comment on another makes.
Negear GS108 was what I had in mind actually
Yes my switches are indeed GS 108 and GS 105 (not 4).
As the guy asked in Jurassic Park "are they heavy?" "Yes?" "Then they are expensive".
Feel like quality though.
I suppose there's the GS608 too, presumably a more 'domestic' version, but i don't know the true difference in terms of performance in the home environment
As long as there are enough ports and you do not need a managed switch then it is hard to go wrong with the GS108. I always tend to go for the metal cased versions like this as opposed to the domestic versions.
Ian
In my network the GS605 caused breaks in the music playing. Directly replacing it with a TP-Link gigabit switch stopped the breaks. The cost is under £30. I give you this info...FWIW, but I'd strongly advise against this particular Netgear model.
Roger
As long as there are enough ports and you do not need a managed switch then it is hard to go wrong with the GS108. I always tend to go for the metal cased versions like this as opposed to the domestic versions.
Ian
Therein lies part of my problem - I wouldn't know what a managed switch was or why I might need one
GS108 is what I use. Metal case, auto sensing, lifetime warranty. I also have the Mega Bit version and you just plug and play.
Sorry Jobseeker for making it more complicated. The unmanaged GS108 will serve you well. Managed switches have their own interface that allows you to do things such as bond two or more ports together to double or tripple the throughput so that allows me to write to my NAS at over 200MB/s instead of 112MB/s I can with just one. This is particular to me as both my NAS units (Synology DS3611xs) have four ports and I have multiple ethernet connections between them. In all audio and normal domestic settings an unmanaged switch is one less thing to think about and one less technology to learn.
Netgear really stand behind their warranty as well.
Ian
Thanks guys.