Stepping up to Gigabit ports

Making some changes to my home network, this is what I currently have

Wireless :-
TV - Samsung UE46D8000
PC - Toshiba Laptop couple years old, Win 7 - old HP XP laptop - Primary Desktop - Tribootable with 3 versions of windows
Tablet - Samsung Galaxy Wifi thingy, came with the TV, its a nice gadget and a life saver on holiday, superceded by todays phones tho
Radio - Pure One DAB and Internet radio
Phone - Nokia N97, not really important, being changed before long
Random - Various other bits and pieces that come and go, such as mates phones and laptops etc

Wired or Wireless :-
Xbox - Uses kinect and currently cant find the wifi usb extender cable, so cant use kinect and Wifi, not too much of an issue as I use Kinect in the same room as the router
PS3 - Can use either, currently wired

Wired :-
Media -Popcorn Hour A210
PC - Secondary Desktop running Vista
BluRay - Sony 580, currently not connected
Server - HP Proliant loaded with Windows Server 2008 R2 with Service Pack 1 , just installed, not really sure what to do with it yet, just having fun.


So, the issue is this, i prefer to have my xbox connected with cable (usually powerline adapter as its in another room), The PS3 can go either way, not too bothered. I now have the server installed, and would like to start making use of the gigabit ports on a couple of these devices, partially for future proofing, partially to have something to mess about with. I have 4 ethernet ports, all currently filled on a Dlink router that I really want to replace as I dont think its up to the task of running all these devices. This is my 5th Dlink and I know its a virgin freebie designed to connect a few home devices in the average home, and i have a fair bit more connected than the average home.

So, i need a switch with Gigabit ports and i'm looking at Draytek for a wireless router.

Problem - cant seem to make head nor tail of the Draytek stuff, cant find a comparison chart anywhere, but you have the 2830, 2830n, 2830vn and so on, cant really find out what the difference is, but i dont think the first one has wireless at all, just a router. I would also like advice on Gigabit switches, preferrably 8 port, but not really that fussed if its 4 or 8.

Ideally then everything that can be cabled (not TV, got 2 cables connected to that already and they annoy me) will be cabled and my internal network will be a damn sight faster for streaming and sending everything to the media centre or server, and my new build (still working on this, before college starts, definitely) will fit right in..... i hope.

Thoughts and advice welcome :)

I'd go for a reasonable spec router and a gigabit switch - it'll give you more flexibility. As to router choice? I went for a TP Link which can be flashed with DD-WRT.

I have the bulk of the switching done by a Linksys/Cisco SRW2024 24 port GbE Switch with PoE and a 3com 2250 50 port 10/100 switch - I haven't noticed any network performance issues as yet, the router doesn't seem underpowered despite the number of devices I've got running on the network.

If you fancy a read I've detailed it here: http://forums.hexus.net/pc-hardware/...style-wip.html

Switch is a bit more than I need tbh, cant see me having 27 or even 76 devices connected up with cable :) Just need a few more sockets and primarily they should be gigabit sockets.

Been considering the Draytek for some time as the guys on here seem to believe they are the bees knees when it comes to a good solid performing brand, just not sure which one I should be going for.

Im still incredibly impressed by that project tho, but as its just me here that uses all this kit, its a bit much for me atm :)

Switches don't have to be huge - 8 or 16 port is probably far more suitable. Something like this perhaps: http://www.ebuyer.com/47407-netgear-...switch-gs108uk

You'd need a switch of some kind to give you enough ports - as most routers (inc the Drayek models) only have 4 LAN ports. Whether you choose to use the GbE ports on the router and then use a 10/100 switch for other devices is up to you (and would work fine if you have a 10/100 switch lying about) :)

As to the Draktek models, I haven't looked recently, but V at the end signified the VOIP models and n was for the wireless N standard. I think that has been carried across. Are you on FTTC/ADSL2+ or Cable?

Hi OP
You dont need to go for a managed switch. A simple unmanaged one which supports jumbo frames and is non-blocking ( ie it's internal circuits have enough bandwith for all the ports at max speed) will be sufficient.
Its then just a case of finding one with a decent enough warranty

As for your router if possible try and make sure it has a gigabit port or two, (one for your switch, one to go into your powerline network)

hope this helps
Gersh

On cable, both Dlink router (wanting to replace) and Superhub (wish they had never been built, i miss my Ambit) have gigabit ports. So gigabit switch would be the way forward for me, can always get the draytek later if necessary. That does make sense tho Dave, seen VOIP mentioned on a couple of models, not interested in that at all, so would be the 2830n model I would want.


What i am wondering about, is how are the ip addresses managed? does the router recognise that there is a switch connected and allocate more than one ip address to it, because as far as I know the switch doesn't create a subnet mask to enable further ip selection.

Its not something I have looked at before now, everything has always been done by one router and therefore the DHCP service only affects the one device.

Thanks folks

Each device will request an address as normal from the DHCP server (router). The switch simply facilitates the connection - same conceptually as an extension lead giving you more plug sockets.

Leave it all on auto and it'll sort itself out :)

Makes sense, only thing that limits the connection then is the port that the switch is connected to, meaning a maximum of 125Mbps per port if all were running at full capacity

I can live with that :), chances of them all running at full capacity are approximately nil :)

purchased from amazon, about a tenner cheaper than the ebuyer one, albeit with no cashback, will delay the draytek until im comfortable with the choice.

Thanks again bud

125mb each way remember for a full duplex connection - plenty of headroom :)

Don't you work for Virgin tech support? :D

A few other things to keep in mind though mate - it's not just a case of wacking some Gigabit devices in there and having everything running fine. You do need to take a few things into consideration.

First off, configuration. Look at Jumbo Frames and use them if you can.
Secondly, your devices. Even ones with Gigabit network 'cards' may be crap. I've seen a few motherboards that struggle at full Gigabit over the last few years. Dropping even a basic Intel card in there can make a bit difference if you have issues. This is mostly on older devices though, I've not seen any issues recently.
Third, your delivery content. Keep in mind that if your HDD can't read / write the data fast enough coming from Gigabit, you're going to get a speed drop.
Finally, cables. Make sure you have all CAT5e / CAT6 :)

Aye bud, I do, and I realise that my knowledge in this department is sadly lacking. Its all pretty straightforward when connecting a single router/dhcp source to a modem, and I know the standards for power levels and so on and so forth, but have never daisy chained a switch onto an existing router setup before. Checking my facts before I went ahead :). I knew about the cables, ordered some cat 6 at the same time as the switch. I have no idea what Jumbo Frames is, will look it up, thanks for the heads up on that one.

I dont think the Popcorn Hour will manage the transfer rates on a gigabit connection, heard of a few issues with it, even tho it has the ports,other stuff should all be ok tho.

This is all so I have a head start when I go to college this year, im usually ok when I get in and about the kit, fairly good with hardware setups and can mess around with the software until it works, but damned if I can remember how I did it, not very methodical at times (in my job I am completely methodical, have to be or something gets missed). Running my own server, complete with additional switch, router and so on should give me something to practice on at home, rather than relying on the colleges stuff as i'm told most of theirs is VMware.

A while back I put in this £11 5 port gigabit switch as a stop gap, intending to buy a more expensive one at some point,
but TBH its fine and obviously blows away 10/100 speeds.