New boy confused about Ethernet switches

Put simply - a switch is a device for creating a network. All the devices connected to a switch can talk to each other as they are on the same network (ignoring any special configurations). A router connects two networks such as your home network and the Internet. 

Modern routers have small switches built in - this can be wired or wireless. Ideally your Vortexbox and SuperUniti would both plug in to the same switch and enjoy a direct wired connection. 

However, you should (I've not tried it) be able to plug the VB in to a "switch" port on your router and the SuperUniti should use its wireless capability to find it. If you have the DNLA UPnP server running on the VB then you should be able to see the results on your SuperUniti, select an album and play it. (Works with a UQ). 

If you find problems then the VB doesn't need to connect permanently to the Internet. You could have a small switch with both the SuperUniti and VB connected to it and this should eliminate the need for wireless between the two. The downside is you'll need to connect your VB to the router when ripping to pick up cover art and song details. 

I can't see why you would need more than one router though. You really want to be thinking two networks: Internet and Home Network. Switch for your Home Network, Router to connect your Home Network to Internet. 

All the best, Guy 

Thanks for the reply. I understand some of what you said. My current modem/router is in my bedroom - it's used for wi-fi (2 laptops and an Ipad by Xmas) and there's no room to site any other equipment with it. The Vortexbox has no wi-fi capacity, which is why I presumed I would need another modem/router to connect it to the 'net for ripping. I thought about using a Homeplug to link the Vortexbox to the upstairs router - presumably that's when I would add a bridge or switch to wire up the Superuniti in the next room. However, given that I already have a  'phone line coming in to the Sky boxes in each of the rooms where the Vortexbox and Superuniti will be, Iwondered if it would be cheaper just to get another modem/router and hard wire both the Vortexbox and Superuniti to the ports on the back. I wouldn't need wi-fi particularly, as I already have it. I suppose I could consider just moving the upstairs router downstairs actually, but would it slow my wi-fi network down if the router was sending files from the Vortexbox to the Superuniti ?.

If I interpret you correctly then, I should move my router downstairs and buy a switch to add to it, then feed Vortexbox and Superuniti off that switch  

A switch does not have to be next to the router. Consider where its best placed. Mine for instance is in the loft as the ethernet leads coming off it have the shortest distance to travel to the rooms.

For you purposes consider where the vortex box will be. How close can you get a switch to it and still connect it too the router.

Router in bedroom upstairs. Vortexbox and Superuniti downstairs in separate but adjacent rooms, each as far away from the router as it is possible to be. Not a chance of running any cabling downstairs from where it is.

You have to get creative. In my house there were telephone points in every room. I chased ethernet through these and use dect phones instead.

There is also external ethernet cable available.

Superuniti is what couple of grand? It deserves a couple of quid and bit of effort delivering a network to it. 

I can easily just move the router downstairs and feed a switch off it - there is nothing hard-wired to it. It's only situated there because it's the BT master socket (in a 30 year old installaton)). I only get a speed of about 2 mb. The only compromise would be that the router would be connected to a 15 metre extension lead fed by a (BT installed) slave telephone socket rather than the BT master. It seems less of a compromise than the other methods though.

The main thing I wanted to confirm was that I just feed a switch from one of the router ports, then connect both Vortexbox and Superuniti to any of the ports on the switch.

Thanks for everyone's help so far.

The BT lead should be fine provided its reasonably modern. And its the LAN side of things you want spot on, so yes your solution seems like the one to go for.

The extension lead is new and up to spec, so I'm hoping it will be ok. Cheers.

At the risk of seeming stupid, could someone explain in real simple terms why i can't just use two of the four unused ports on the back of my modem/router to connect both the Superuniti and the Vortexbox, once I've moved it ?

No reason why not.  Let the modem/router be the traffic cop completely.  If you ever get more than four nodes (aka devices connected to your network) you would ideally plug everything into a larger switch, and run one lead from that switch to the modem/router.  That way, the modem/router can focus on providing address assignments (DHCP service), and the added switch is dedicated to traffic flow control.

Nick

You can but many routers (especially the "free" ones supplied by ISPs) have poor performance port to port i.e. you may not get anything like the full 100mb of fast ethernet. Even a fairly cheap switch like a NetGear FS108 can maintain full performance on all ports. Again, this may not matter much for CD-level resolution but it becomes increasingly important as you go up through the higher levels. For me, I couldn't get 24/192 to work consistently until I introduced a switch, in the way described by Nick, so the port to port performance of my free router must have been miles below what it was on paper. 

i have connected the nds5 and the ripnas with 0.5 metre cat6 cables to a powered netgear £15 switch the router is  3maway from the system . no drop outs at any bitrate up to 192k/24 bit

Well, mine is a free one from TalkTalk, though I have an old Netgear one somewhere. I guess if a switch is so cheap, it won't hurt to have one. Thanks all.

I'd get a gigabit switch such as netgear as they can be had for about £30.00.  All the devices in the house that can be wired directly to that (whereever you put it) do so.  Then one cable as long as it needs to be from that to the router.   The router ports will most likely be 100mbit and this approach gives you a high speed home network with a link to the internet via the router. 

I have done exactly this and have in fact daisy chained a further gigabit switch from the original into the garage to get a distribution point to Ethernet sockets in most rooms now.   Fozz

To be honest, I thinbk I'll be buying a new ADSL modem/router anyway to set this up. However, the specs seem confusing and many seem to be criticised for flaky software and operational problems, despite a good spec. Can anyone recommend a simple and reliable up to date spec one for use in the UK ?