Gigabit Network Swtich in Combo with 10/100 Router, Wireless

[Jasper 0]

I want to be able to transfer files across a small LAN which already has a wireless 10/100 wireless router. If I buy a Gigabit switch do I hook it up in combination with the router or how would I do it? I have an idea, but I am not sure.

 

Or if there is a reasonably priced dual Ethernet card I could use that as it is only two computers communicating with each other?

 

I like the 5 port switchesthough if it works how I think it does. I see some inexpensive ones on Newegg's site; like between $20-$80 for a five port. Anybody have a brand they like; Netgear, Dlink, Linksys, etc. ?

[Thomas 0]

The router will sit between the internet and the switch. In this case it will act primarly as a gateway. Computers connect to the switch. But how big are the files that you need gigabit?

 

And remember that switches and routers work at differant levels of the network. Switches don't care as much about IP address and most routers don't care about MAC addresses. (Wireless routers are almost always the bastard love child of switches and routers since they look at both IP address and MAC address.) Odds are that anything labeled as a switch isn't bright enough to act as a gateway.

[CollinR 0]

You also have to have ethernet adapters on every machine you want to it on, every pair of your CAT5 (or CAT6) has to be terminated correctly. I see alot of gigabit stuff running at 100 for reasons like that. IMHO gigabit is still kinda iffy, it will work if you stay with one vendor throughout but when you combine parts sometimes it falls back.

[Jasper 0]

I have a computer that is dedicated as a DVR for Television programs, so the files are between 2-6GB per file recorded in MPEG-2 format. But I will probably connect my security DVR to it as well so I can move files from that computer to another room for better viewing on a big screen TV that has a VGA input and computer attached to it.

 

So let me see if I understand this correctly. So my wireless router will have the Cable Modem plugged into the Internet jack on the router, than a Cat5e cable with lead from the back of one of the ports (100) to the switch which will provide internet access to all computers on the switch.

 

It sounds like what your saying is that I won’t be able to use my router to steer traffic or use other features of the router in combination with a simple switch, is that right?

 

As far as the cabling I have terminated Cat5e cables already, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

 

Am I going to have to buy a gigabit wireless router?

 

Also the DVR has gigabit ethernet already whereas the other system doesn't. Could I replace the 10/100 for a gigabit card and share the connection for the internet and LAN access?

[Thomas 0]

Um...kinda. Switches and Routers (in theory, the terms are a little bastardized now) operate on differant levels. Switches work closer to the MAC address level and Routers work at the IP level. So what they look for in packets is a little bit differant.

 

You can mix the two and it works (and works well), the router will do DCHP and your network works as you expect. But your network is only as fast as the fastest point it crosses....and if that PC is connected via the wireless then you cap at 54 mb/s

 

So two computers on the switch: Gigabit

Two computers connecting via the router: 100 mbit

Two computers talking via wireless: 54 mbit

Two machines, one with gigabit nic, one with 10/100 nic: 100 mbit or less.

 

So now we get into network topology....how does the computer connected to the TV currently talk to the network?

[CollinR 0]

So let me see if I understand this correctly. So my wireless router will have the Cable Modem plugged into the Internet jack on the router, than a Cat5e cable with lead from the back of one of the ports (100) to the switch which will provide internet access to all computers on the switch.

 

Yup

 

It sounds like what your saying is that I won’t be able to use my router to steer traffic or use other features of the router in combination with a simple switch, is that right?

 

Hardy, it just isn't an all in one packaged solution. The router will be your firewall, NAT and DHCP server, it doesn't care if the stuff is directly connected to it or not.

 

As far as the cabling I have terminated Cat5e cables already, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

 

Hope not. Currently you aren't using all the wires so if one of that pair isn't connected... No gigabit until it is.

 

Am I going to have to buy a gigabit wireless router?

 

If you are into wasting money.

 

Also the DVR has gigabit ethernet already whereas the other system doesn't. Could I replace the 10/100 for a gigabit card and share the connection for the internet and LAN access?

 

Yes should be a straight swap, if at all possible get a switch and PCI card made by the same people who built the on in the DVR. If thats not possible try to make as much the same brand as you can.

[Jasper 0]

OK, from both of your responses it sounds like this is how I intended to hook it up. Lets see if I got it right?

 

1. Cable modem is plugged into router via the internet port on the back of the router.

2. Another cable connects router to switch through a port on the back of router. This will provide internet access to all computers plugged into the gigabit switch.

3. A gigabit Ethernet card will be installed in the desktop replacing the current 10/100 card, then a cable will lead from it to the gigabit switch.

4. The Laptop will then connect to the gigabit switch allowing full speed file transfers between the two computers.

 

Current setup is as follows:

 

1. Cable modem plugs into regular port on router.

2. Internet port on router is connected to Ethernet card on desktop.

3. Laptop is connected to regular port on router providing 100Mbps file transfers.

4. The Laptop has a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port and a built in 802.11b & g.

5. I only activate the wireless on the router when roaming about and only for internet access.

 

Desktop is connected to HD TV through standard VGA cable, which serves as the computer monitor.

 

Oh, and I will be able to use the gigabit ethernet card on the desktop to access the interent through the switch and do high speed files transfers between the two computers, correct?

[Thomas 0]

Your theory is good. But here comes the fun part. With the exception of the cable, you want to keep everything to one vendor. On the high end, gigabit works perfectly. On the consumer end....well it's like wireless and cameras. So try to keep to one vendor because it increases your odds of everything working as it should.

[CollinR 0]

 

Current setup is as follows:

 

1. Cable modem plugs into regular port on router.

2. Internet port on router is connected to Ethernet card on desktop.

3. Laptop is connected to regular port on router providing 100Mbps file transfers.

4. The Laptop has a 10/100/1000 Ethernet port and a built in 802.11b & g.

5. I only activate the wireless on the router when roaming about and only for internet access.

 

Cable modem should be plugged into internet port on router, switch / PC/ Laptop plug into the regular ports.

 

Oh, and I will be able to use the gigabit ethernet card on the desktop to access the interent through the switch and do high speed files transfers between the two computers, correct?

 

Assuming everything previously mentioned is done, yes.

 

If you go wireless on the laptop it will not have gigabit, when hardwired it will.

[Jasper 0]

Thank you both for your help.

 

I will see what I can match up. I was looking at an inexpensive Netgear, but they have a Linksys 5 port I can buy. Not to sure about the network card.

 

I'll take a look.

[Jasper 0]

Done.

 

Ordered a

 

Linksys - EG005W - 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit 5-Port Network Switch (L48-2226)

 

and

 

D-Link - DGE-530T - 10/100/1000 Mbps PCI Network Adapter (D700-2242)

[Jasper 0]

Installed my new Dlink Gigbait network card and Linksys Gigabit switch and was disappointed that I am still running at 10/100.

 

I guess you really do need Cat-5e to run Gigabit. I have 1 Cat-5e cable from the switch to the desktop, but standard CAT-5 to my Laptop.I guess that is what the problem is?

 

I see that Cat-5 and Cat-5e are very similar, but wired slightly different.

[Thomas 0]

It could be a few things:

 

1. The wiring A. Some Cat5 will support Gigabit, some won't. Cat5E is called for by the specs.

2. The Wiring B. Checking your pairs.

3. Mismatched networking hardware. Gigabit is flaky on the low end. If I have Cisco Kit then I'm golden. If I'm looking at lower end stuff...then I want to match vendors as much as possible.

[Jasper 0]

It could be a few things:

 

1. The wiring A. Some Cat5 will support Gigabit, some won't. Cat5E is called for by the specs.

2. The Wiring B. Checking your pairs.

3. Mismatched networking hardware. Gigabit is flaky on the low end. If I have Cisco Kit then I'm golden. If I'm looking at lower end stuff...then I want to match vendors as much as possible.

 

As it turns out it was working. The regular CAT-5 is able to do Gigabit after all. Turns out that when I was moving files from my Laptop to an external firewire drive on the desktop I was not seeing a speed increase.

 

Once I did a test of copying a file from the Laptop to an internal drive in the desktop I realized a speed increase of 400%.

 

The part that is really weird is that I am reading from an external firewire drive on the laptop and their is only a speed drop when transferring files between the two firewire drives. There must be a lot of overhead involved slowing the transfers down.

 

Anyway it works. I just have to relocated some files in order to realize the benefit.

 

Thanks for the help.