I have a question about switches.

[rnadeau]

I have done research on network switches and the general idea is that if you hook up an 8 port switch to a router, you cannot access the internet through the 8 devices connected to the switch. What I would like to do is get an 8 port gigabit switch and hook up my computers and sage server to the switch. That way I get gigabit speeds between the internal network, But can I do this and still have internet access to all devices plugged into the switch. I would also need to plug in a linksys router that is being used as a wap for my wife's kindle. I would of course use a router connected to the switch for internet access if this is possible.

Right now I have an 8 port 100 mbps router with all my devices plugged in, so everything has internet access.

I also have a netgear gamerlounge gigabit router. Could I hook up the gigabit router to the main 8 port router and have the 4 main computers plugged into the gigabit router to have faster internal network speeds?

[rgroves]

If you plug the gigabit switch into your router it will allow all devices access to the internet. Any commercially available switch (d-link, linksys, etc..) work the same way. More advanced switched that are managed (mostly business/enterprise class) you can isolate or block certain ports from certain funtions, like the internet or isolate devices from each other.

Have no fear, the router has an 8 port 100MB switch, and connecting another switch to that so all your devices can utilize the gigabit speeds will not prevent anyof them form accessing the internet.

[rnadeau]

Ok so If I plug my netgear gamerlounge gigabit router into my 8 port router and shut off dchp and give all 4 devices static ip's I'll be able to do gigabit speeds in my internal network and still be able to access the internet from all devices plugged into the gigabit router? Would I plug the gigabit's router from the router port to the 8 port router or do I plug the gigabit router from one of the 4 ports to the 8 port router?

[KeithAbbott]

Originally Posted by rnadeau

Ok so If I plug my netgear gamerlounge gigabit router into my 8 port router and shut off dchp and give all 4 devices static ip's I'll be able to do gigabit speeds in my internal network and still be able to access the internet from all devices plugged into the gigabit router? Would I plug the gigabit's router from the router port to the 8 port router or do I plug the gigabit router from one of the 4 ports to the 8 port router?

No need to shut off DHCP, DHCP is your friend...

[doc]

You need DHCP enabling on the router that connects to the internet for sure, no need for static IP's.

If you're other switch is also a router but you're not using it as a router, then turn DHCP off on that router.
Anything plugged into the second router (with DHCP turned off) will get IP's from the other router.

[doc]

I missed your last point.

The cable between the routers goes between the normal switch ports. The DSL port on the second router should have nothing connected to it.

[rnadeau]

ok , so I am sure I understand. Dhcp is enabled on the 8 port 100Mpbs router that is plugged into the internet(WAN). I the plug the gigabit router into one of the network ports on the 100Mbps 8 port router. I use static ip for my sage server and my media server. If I turn off dhcp on my 4 port router that is plugged into my 8 port router. it needs many port numbers I don't understand. If I enable DHCP on the gigabit router that is plugged into the 8 port router(100MBPS that the wan is plugged into), I cannot get onto the internet.

[najames]

I have cheapo 24 port Tendnet switch here in the computer room and another 24 port HP switch in the laundry room where the connections (3 per room) converge. The HP is connected to a E4200 wireless router, which connects to a Moto Surfboard (Comcast HSI - internet). All of my PCs, VOIP, wireless devices all see the internet, all Gigabit except the HSI connection of course.

This is my result going through the 2 switches, the router, and surfboard. 24Mbps down and almost 4Mbps up. Not bad for $19.99, beats the pants off AT&T trying to fleece me $47.95 for 5 down and 0.3 up.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/2038216553.png

On my LAN, currently all of my LAN is on 162.164.100. My E4200 Router is 192.168.100.11, which is in the range designated by the Motorola. The E4200 is reserving DHCP for addresses from 192.164.100.50 to 192.168.100.74, which my servers are included in currently. I don't have to list any static IP devices, just give them an address outside the reserved range, for example my Brother LAN laser printer doesn't seem to like DHCP so I gave it 192.168.100.99 and everything can print to it. The 255.255.255.0 is the subnet mask, the 255 octets are the core aspect of my LAN, only the last 2 digits change for the devices. For example it a device were 192.168.0.1, it would'nt be included in LAN, one of the core octets would be wrong. The only other IP numbers on my router are for going to the Motorola Surfboard and Comcast. They will be gateway addresses, you can't change them or you won't see the internet, likewise your inside devices (computers) must be on the same rage as the router, in my case 192.168.100.xx. Try a couple ports on your router, I had one that didn't work on my old Linksys WRT54G router. Hope it helps, hope I have it explained right.

Router Address IP Address: 192.168.100.11
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Device Name :
DHCP Server Setting DHCP Server: Enabled Disabled
Start IP Address: 192 . 168 . 100.
Maximum Number of Users:
IP Address Range: 192 . 168 . 100. 50 to 74
Client Lease Time: minutes (0 means one day)
Static DNS 1: . . .
Static DNS 2: . . .
Static DNS 3: . . .
WINS: . . .

[stanger89]

There are basically three types of devices you can install on your network (not counting PCs and other "endpoint" devices), Routers, Switches, and Wireless Access Points.

A router, in this context, just takes one internet connection, and maps it to any number of devices on the local network. It provides several functions:

• IP address assignment, DHCP, for the local network
• Network Address Translation (NAT), which is basically just managing communication between local devices/addresses and internet addresses
• other stuff like port forwarding and firewalling, that's not relevant to this specific discussion

A Switch you can think of like a splitter for coax, it allows many devices to connect together. Reality is a bit more complicated but that's essentially the purpose it serves.

A Wireless Access Point is nothing but a device that "converts" wired network to wireless network.

The thing that makes this confusing is most of the time people just buy one box that is all three and it's called a "Router" or a "Wireless Router" or the like. But in reality it's a box with a Router, Switch, and Wireless Access Point combined.

You can hook switches together all day long and everything should talk to everything else on any of the switches. What you don't want to do (or at least don't need to do) is hook two routers together.

For my setup I have my internet connection coming into my router (a Cisco RV180), which has a built in 4-port Gigabit switch. Connected to that I have a 24 port D-Link Gigabit switch. I have all my devices connected to the D-Link switch (for simplicity). The router provides local addresses and internet access for everything on the network, and the switch(es) really do nothing but expand the number of ports/devices I can connect.

I'm a little confused by what you're trying to do, really you should just connect everything to the 8-port switch/router. If you need more ports than that, you should just get a switch and connect that to the router, and then the rest of the devices to that.



Now, all that said, if you need more ports, and you have a "spare router" already, what you can do is disable DHCP on the "spare router", and so long as you connect everything (including the main switch) to the LAN ports on the "spare router", that "spare router" will effectively just be a switch. You don't need to do anything beyond that. I would most definitely not go buy a second router if you need more ports though.

[rnadeau]

I have an 8 port 100Mbps router. I have a 4 port gigabit router. What I am trying to do is put my internal network on gigabit and have internet access and gigabit speeds between the internal network. My work computer is also hooked up to the 8 port 100Mbps router.

[stanger89]

Best solution is to just get a Gigabit switch and connect it to the current router and then everything to the switch.

[doc]

In your scenario, make sure that you're 8 port 100mb router is working like it should, and that it has DHCP enabled so that all any pc that connects to it will get an IP address. This router will have an IP address, probably 192.168.0.1


Next, configure the 4 port gigabit router so that DHCP is turned off. Make sure it has a different IP address to the first router, say 192.168.0.2

Make sure that the DCHP addresses that the 8 port router gives out does not include the IP address you have for the 4 port router. So you could make it give out IP's from 192.168.1.10 to 192.168.1.200 for example.

Then, connect a patch lead from one of the 8 ports on the 100mb routers and connect it to one of the 4 ports on the gigabit router. This will leave you with 3 spare gigabit ports to connect any devices into.

[rnadeau]

I reset the gigabit router to factory default. I then shut off dhcp. I didn't have to change the Ip address as it was different than the 8 port router's ip address. Now all works fine and I can finally backup my sage server system to my media server without it taking a couple hours.
I couldn't see buying a 4 or 5 port switch 1st because I can't afford it and 2nd because I already had one in the gigabit router. Just had to disable Dhcp. Another thing I noticed is the Nvidia onboard network ports are supposed to be gigabit, but try and get it to that speed. It was set at autonegotiate in the settings and the gigabit option doesn't even exist and this is on 3 different machines that claim to have built in gigabit. I had to install an IntelPro GT 1000 Mbit card in each of my internal network computers to get gigabit speed. I did also have to physically set the speed to gigabit on all machines.


Thanks all for your help.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by rnadeau

Another thing I noticed is the Nvidia onboard network ports are supposed to be gigabit, but try and get it to that speed. It was set at autonegotiate in the settings and the gigabit option doesn't even exist and this is on 3 different machines that claim to have built in gigabit. I had to install an IntelPro GT 1000 Mbit card in each of my internal network computers to get gigabit speed. I did also have to physically set the speed to gigabit on all machines.

That sounds like you ethernet cabling isn't up to Gigiabit speeds. If your cabling is just on the edge, it won't quite "pass the test" for autonegotiation, your Intel card is probably just enough better that it can actually connect at gig where the nVidia ones can't.

[doc]

I have an XP machine with an onboard nvidia network card that doesn't show any options to select gigabit in the link speed settings, only 10 or 100mb, but if I set it to autonegotiate and tick the 'show icon in notification area when connected' it shows it as connected at 1Gbps.

Could it be something like this?

[rnadeau]

I do have cat 5E cabling. I have cat 6E on order. Maybe it will allow faster transfer speeds. I have in the past copied a 1 gig video file and it took almost 15 minutes to copy it at 100Mbps . I just transferred the same file in 40 seconds with the intel gigabit cards with the cat5E cabling. The Intel cards autonegotiated to 100Mbps. I forced the 1 gigabit and it works but I may be dropping packets because of the cat5E.

[rnadeau]

If I remember right, I read that the onboard network processors are often software processors whereas the Intel gigabit card has a hardware processor which would obviously use less of the cpu cycles and most likely be faster the the software processors. Correct me if I am wrong.

[doc]

15 mins for a 1Gb file sounds like it has a duplex mismatch.

Some switches aren't very good with autonegotiate. I've had issues with some Cisco and Allied Telesyn switches. A file will appear to copy at normal speeds for the first few seconds, and then slow down to a snails pace where the progress bar virtually stops. If this happens changing from autonegotiate to 100mb full duplex on the nic card settings should make a dramatic improvement.

[rnadeau]

I was wondering if since the gigabit router i have is 8 years old if you think it would make a difference if I bought newer technology. I found a 5 port tplink switch for $19.00 on amazon. The 8 port router I have is Tplink and I paid 20 bucks for it and it has served me very well.

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by rnadeau

I do have cat 5E cabling. I have cat 6E on order. Maybe it will allow faster transfer speeds. I have in the past copied a 1 gig video file and it took almost 15 minutes to copy it at 100Mbps . I just transferred the same file in 40 seconds with the intel gigabit cards with the cat5E cabling. The Intel cards autonegotiated to 100Mbps. I forced the 1 gigabit and it works but I may be dropping packets because of the cat5E.

5E is fine, that's what I wired my house with and most of the time thing auto negotiate Gig just fine. But my desktop which is a bit farther and through a few more connections has had trouble in the past. It could be sketchy termination or something like that too. Maybe you swapped a couple of wires if you terminated it yourself. I've done that before and the cable "worked" but definitely didn't work right.

Originally Posted by rnadeau

If I remember right, I read that the onboard network processors are often software processors whereas the Intel gigabit card has a hardware processor which would obviously use less of the cpu cycles and most likely be faster the the software processors. Correct me if I am wrong.

Often onboard NICs due the checksum operations and possibly some other stuff on the host CPU that would increase CPU usage, but with any even remotely modern CPU that's not going to be enough to slow things down. And even if it did, it wouldn't be affecting the autonegotiation.

Originally Posted by rnadeau

I was wondering if since the gigabit router i have is 8 years old if you think it would make a difference if I bought newer technology. I found a 5 port tplink switch for $19.00 on amazon. The 8 port router I have is Tplink and I paid 20 bucks for it and it has served me very well.

I did have one thought, are you sure your 4-port gig-e router actually has a a switch and not a hub? If it's a hub, everything will be brought down to 100Mpbs because you've got it hooked to your 100Mbps router. You need a switch to support devices of different speeds and to not have all brought down to the slowest device.

FWIW, you can get gigabit switches cheap, there's a few on newegg under $20.