Switches advice.

[RAKY0311]

Hello guys: I need to buy a switch for my home network but I,m very confusing with all those specs,can you suggest me what specs are important to look when selecting one,I'm using a leviton router that have 4 port but is not sufficient with my new setup,I looking for a rackmount one,if you can direct me to an especific model would be great for me .

thanks in advance !

 

[royalj7]

Switches are pretty much a commodity now-a-days unless you are looking for a gigabit switch. You didn't say how many ports you were looking for so I can't recommend a particular model. VLAN support is great if you need it, but it ussally comes in the higher priced models.

--Jamie

 

[Mike]

I got this one to fill in any open ports that I did not have gigabit ports available:

http://www.buy.com/prod/Linksys_Cisco_Link...1/10348665.html

I have not had any issues, and this is rackmountable.

For the gigabit ones I bought linksys at the time (8 port models, when I put them in the larger ones were much more expensive).

Hope this helps.

 

[RAKY0311]

Thanks for replay guys,I need a 16 port switch but I,m confusing in select a 10/100 or a 10/100/1000 switch,web managed or automatic.

 

[Mike]

If it is for home use, the question becomes price. 16 port gigabit is ideal, but it will cost more. As far as managed, I don't think you need a managed switch if you are asking the question (plus you probably have a fairly simple network).

Here is the 16 port gigabit Linksys:

http://www.buy.com/prod/Linksys_16_Port_10...1/10352209.html

It costs $150 more ($252 total) which is why I originally bought eight port gigabit switches and filled in the rest with 10/100 since they would be rarely used, and I could patch them to gigabit if required. Prices have come down since then, but these are still pricey.

I bought two of these:

http://www.buy.com/prod/Linksys_8_Port_10_...1/10352109.html

 

[RAKY0311]

Thanks,so using a gigabit switch can speed up a data transfer in my network ?,excuse my ignorance!

 

[Mike]

Yes, assuming a few things:

1. The network wiring is run using cable of sufficient quality that is terminated properly and is not affected by any interfering factors. Cat5e or better is recommended, although I think I heard regular cat5 is sufficient in some cases.
2. The computers that attach to it have network cards that are capable of the higher speeds
3. You are referring to communications inside your own network (your house). This will not speed internet surfing as that is a much slower connection. Moving big files inside your network though, big improvement.
4. Your computers can get the data out fast enough. If your hard drives a slow feeding the data, the throughput will probably be less than 'full gigabit'.

Overall, if you are setting this up, I figured do it right as you will need more and more bandwidth in the future (and FIOS and other fiber type solutions may quickly increase bandwidth in the future). Even if you do not get maximum throughput your should see an improvement in speed of some sort.

If your computers already support gigabit, and your wiring is new or in good order, the question becomes is it worth $150 for the upgrade. If you need more to get there, then the number just gets a little larger. PCI cards that support gigabit are only $20-$30 if I recall. I had used Intel cards in the past, but most motherboards above a certain quality level contain gigabit networking built in.

I am sure there may be another low level detail or two, but in a nutshell this is it.

I have all my computers hooked up via gigabit, and moving large video files is a lot faster (or anything large for that matter).

Hope this helps.

 

[RAKY0311]

Thanks Mike! Yes,help a lot,you explain me exactly what I want to know ,sure the gigabite switches are a litle expensives but I want to be ready for futures upgrades.

thanks for help me.