Beginners guide to network switches

[News]

Regulars may recall that I ran CAT 5 cable direct from modem to son's room, to give him the full benefit of our high speed connection. The cable in his room terminates in a single wall socket.

Now, he wants multiple sockets, to add Xbox etc. Would the simplest solution be to spend a tenner or so on a switch? I've never used a switch. Wiring is simply a CAT5 cable from the wall socket to the switch then similar cables from the switch to PC, Xbox etc? Any complicated set up or plug and play?

Looking at a D-Link DES-105/B 5 Port 10/100 Metal Housing Desktop Switch from Amazon, or possibly a cheaper option such as Edimax 5 port 10/100 Switch at less than a fiver from eBuyer.

Thanks!

[Mike Barnes]

Nothing complicated, it really is as simple as it seems to install, despite the whizzy technology inside.

My advice is for the negligible extra cost make sure you get a Gigabit switch even though you have no use for the additional speed now.

[Andy Burns]

Yes, as far as home switches are concerned, they're plug and forget. You could push the boat out and get a gigabit one for a couple of quid more.

[News]

OK, thanks to you both (Mike and Andy). Point taken, and D-Link 5-Port Gigabit Switch ordered through ebuyer, partly because, having read the comments and reviews in another thread, I could not resist the Xenta 163 Piece Rotary Tool and Accessory Kit.

[AnthonyL]

Oh what a shame - so you're not interested in a fully managed (user has control of all the switch settings) switch then? Fits a full size rack.

[Bob Minchin]

When you set it up, you need to turn off DHCP in the new switch so that your current modem/switch still remains in charge of allocating IP addresses.

[Andy Burns]

Not likely to have DHCP ability, not likely to be managed at all.

[Tim Watts]

My advice is don't be cheap - use gig switches (You said Cat5 - I assumed you mean Cat5e?). 100Mbit might be enough for your internet throughput, but if you later add a media server on one part of the house or want to shift files between your computer and his?

But yes, it is an excellent idea.

Netgear GS series switches are reliable:

£35 ish.

For a simple home network, they need no configuration and there is no problem with mixing models and brands.

[News]

Noted, thanks, although I feel a further question may be necessary, when it arrives :-)

[News]

In message , AnthonyL writes

I prefer KISS!

[News]

I'll see what the instructions say, when it arrives. Am hoping for 'plug and play'.

[Brian Gaff]

The devices just seem to work on most routers, and although if one used them all together the effective speed of each does go down, most of the time it seems to have no effect even on streaming video is on one of the ports. Brian

[Tim Streater]

Nice that you can tell what speed a port is running at.

[Michael Chare]

A cheap solution is to use an old router. Just switch off the DHCP and make sure that the IP address does not conflict with the settings in your main router. I have one like that, and I also use it as a second WiFi access point with the same SSID and password as my main router but a different channel. I use 1 and 11.

[T i m]

A local shop I help out with technical stuff is just going 'CloudVoice' (SIP phones) and they ('BT') sent them a 24 port POE switch. Apart from being overkill, they said it was going to cost the shop £330 on the lease. I got them a TP-Link 16 port fanless metal cased 15 port Gb switch for about 60 quid (as they didn't need POE anyway).

It turns out they should have been supplied an 8 port (POE) switch and the £330 they quoted was for that. The 24 port could have been either £500+ or £800+ depending on features! ;-(

POE would have been little use in any case as because of the layout of the building they have a 'star' topology using smaller switches at the ends.

Cheers, T i m

p.s. Years ago I got a call from the boss of a place I wired up with thin ethernet saying 'Our network has stopped working'. I asked if they had any idea 'why' and he said he 'thought the network cables were melted'? Never having heard of that happening before I asked if he had any idea how and he replied 'ah, so you haven't heard about the fire ...'?

[AnthonyL]

Cisco Catalyst 2900 Series XL

I've got the cupboard too, small wall mounted. Handy for storing bits and pieces in as I don't have to open it to see what's inside.

[AnthonyL]

For resilience I used a second router, configured ready to as you did. If the primary router failed it would only be minutes to get the other live as a router.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I used the old wireless router for this - left over from my switch to BT fibre. It works OK to provide extra CAT5 outlets, and gives a second Wi-Fi signal which covers that area better.

[John Rumm]

Yup, just plug it in and it will work.

The only thing that might upset matters, is if you loop back one port to another!

[John Rumm]

Most of them these days have either second LED, or a multi colour LED to indicate connection and speed... (at least they indicate gig or 10/100 - not so many will differentiate between 10 and 100.