network switch operation clarification needed?

[weebroonieuk]

just before i take the plunge am i correct in think i only need a switch to network my pc's and laptops ?

will it all be configured automatically and will they all be able to access the internet from my cable connection ?

also will i be able to plug in any wireless router at a later date and wireless enable my network ?

[pak000]

what you actually need is a router, not a switch. Depending on the type you get, they are pretty much plug and play. If you have cable, then you just plug the cable modem into the WAN side port of the router and your pc's into the LAN side, if you want to do anything like set up port forwards or filter rules then you will have to set that up yourself. You will also want to change the default password

If you want to plug in a wireless AP at a later point that should also be fine, although depending on how you want your network set up you may have to fiddle with the AP's settings

[weebroonieuk]

well ive asked in this section before about the dlink gigabit router thing with super g wireless routing aswell

but was advised to get a seperate gigabit switch and could add a wireless router at a later date

[Moby-Dick]

If you want to go modular so to speak , you'll need an Ethernet Router , a gigbit switch and a wireless access point of your choice.

you might as well combine the AP and cable router into one and get a Wireless cable router such as a Draytek 2900G http://www.draytek.com/product/broad...vigor2900g.php

then if you want your LAN to run on gigabit , then add a gigabit switch.

[weebroonieuk]

its so that i can get the pc's networked together for the moment the wireless aint to important as im mostly at the girlfriends at the moments but its to get mother dearests pc working without my pc having to be on 24/7 (mine has 3 network cards in it to recive the internet then split it to her pc and my laptop)

[Moby-Dick]

so wifi isn't a priority then ?

no problem.

http://www.draytek.com/product/broad.../vigor2900.php
is the non wifi version.

the draytek routers are not too cheap , but they do the job pretty well.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=52897 <-- definatly the budget end , but will share your broadband connection effectivly

you can then connect it to a faster switch if needed for high speed local traffic, or when you want to add in wireless services , connect an access point to it.

[weebroonieuk]

conusing

[weebroonieuk]

could i be a pain in the ass and have a little schematic sort of drawing of connecting pc's from broadband without wirless and then with wireless thrown in?

[Moby-Dick]

depends on if you can interpret my MSPaint skills

I'll give it a go

[Moby-Dick]

[weebroonieuk]

lol perfectly clear so can i get gigabit routers that support jumboframes?

[weebroonieuk]

oh and thanks for takin the time moby

[Moby-Dick]

the router is only going to be connecting to the web @ 10 mbit/sec (max) so gigabit might be not needed
use the router for connecting to web , and a gigabit switch if you *really* need high speed interconnect between your local machines , but its not really worth it at the moment tbh

[weebroonieuk]

yeh im on 10 meg from blueyonder i want to build a media server in loft and want to start with gigabit now so its futureproofed for a few years atleast

i have a few ideas which will require as much bandwidth as possible and as little latency on my network