Advice on a switch please

azibux1

azibux1

azibux1

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Hi,

I have been looking at getting a switch for a little while, so I can have my PC/TV/PS3/Laptop wired at the same time without needing to change around the wire in the wall and now I need another one too for my parents business so wanted some advice on a sensibly priced one that would do the job.

The one in my room will be used like I said above, connected to a wall jack in my room then I will connect my PC, TV, PS3 and Laptop to it, would be nice to have a spare port too maybe.

And the one at the business would be connected to a wire from the router (upstairs) and that switch will have a DVR and a credit card machine connected to it.

Please can you suggest a switch for both of those situations as I'm not really sure what to look for when buying a switch, as in do I need a managed or unmanaged one? What's the difference?

Don't want to spend too much, but don't want it to be slow either

Thanks, :)

EDIT: A switch is the component I need right?
 
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http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-012-TP&groupid=46&catid=1626&subcat=

Get the 5 port version if your Parents don't need so many ports.

Any old Unmanaged Gigabit (or 10/100 to save more money if you're just using the net or streaming video around the house ) will do. Don't worry about brand, they're all pretty similar, just plug, play and forget about them for the next 5 years.
Rule of thumb is that if you don't know why you'd want a managed switch, you probably don't need one :) Basically they let you use advanced features that are useful for the enterprise if you want to control which devices can communicate through the switch, and which devices they can communicate with. Lots of other stuff too, but nothing you need to care about in a home environment.
 
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Zarf said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=NW-012-TP&groupid=46&catid=1626&subcat=

Get the 5 port version if your Parents don't need so many ports.

Any old Unmanaged Gigabit (or 10/100 to save more money if you're just using the net or streaming video around the house ) will do. Don't worry about brand, they're all pretty similar, just plug, play and forget about them for the next 5 years.
Rule of thumb is that if you don't know why you'd want a managed switch, you probably don't need one :) Basically they let you use advanced features that are useful for the enterprise if you want to control which devices can communicate through the switch, and which devices they can communicate with. Lots of other stuff too, but nothing you need to care about in a home environment.
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Hi,

Thanks for the info about managed and unmanaged switches, makes more sense now :)

I will probably get the 5 port version of that for the business then, the reason we are buying one for the business is because we are getting a credit card machine you can connect to broadband, compared to the current one we have that just connects to the phone line and is very slow, my Dad was wondering if we do this and use a switch (there is already a wire coming from the router that we will connect to the switch), will there be any speed difference between using a switch and going through that or getting a direct connection from the router straight into the credit card machine, we want it to be as fast as possible.

We can move the router and run some cables if a direct connection would be quicker

And for the house, I think I will get a gigabit one as we recently got a NAS and were considering upgrading the network to a gigabit one, so it makes sense to get a gigabit switch rather than 10/100

Thanks for your help and hope you can help with my questions :)
 
There won't be a speed difference between connecting to the router and the switch. Your internet speed probably isn't 100mbp/s so that will be the limiting factor of anything connecting to the internet. Devices connecting to each other in your house will run at the full speed, but if your laptop is 100mbp/s and NAS is gigabit, then you can only pull things off that at the speed of your laptop.

Hope this makes sense.
 
Lol I wouldn't go that far, i've got a 3 month old toshiba C660 laptop with only a 10/100 port, yet it's got wireless n, yet my 3 year old toshiba has a gigabit port, think it's more todo with cost saving!!
 
Sin_Chase said:
Definitely buy gigabit, the premium over 10/100 is minimal and future-proofing is well worth it.
Click to expand...

Was thinking of maybe gigabit for the home, and standard 10/100 for the business (as Dad doesn't want to spend that much if we can just move the router and run another cable that we already own instead).

What do you think about this one for the business? Or this one? Is one any better than the other?

And maybe this one for the home? I say that one as I have two wall jacks in my room, and 4 devices I want to connect, so they can all go in the switch and I will have one wall jack spare for future use

Good choices?

[Darkend]Viper;22080695 said:
There won't be a speed difference between connecting to the router and the switch. Your internet speed probably isn't 100mbp/s so that will be the limiting factor of anything connecting to the internet. Devices connecting to each other in your house will run at the full speed, but if your laptop is 100mbp/s and NAS is gigabit, then you can only pull things off that at the speed of your laptop.

Hope this makes sense.
Click to expand...

Hi,

Yeah what you're saying makes sense, the things at the business won't be communicating through the switch anyway, like the credit card machine will obviously never communicate with the DVR, or the computer will never communicate with the credit card machine, etc.

EDIT: And what you're saying is connecting directly to the router, or going through the switch to the router, won't have any speed difference? If so, then that's fine :)
 
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I've had TP Link stuff and it's worked, never bothered me about the throughput because it never seemed slow. I'd be tempted by one of each of the tp link ones. Also bear in mind that if the nas is plugged into the router, then that probably has only 10/100 ports, what router is it?
 
[Darkend]Viper;22081162 said:
I've had TP Link stuff and it's worked, never bothered me about the throughput because it never seemed slow. I'd be tempted by one of each of the tp link ones. Also bear in mind that if the nas is plugged into the router, then that probably has only 10/100 ports, what router is it?
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Sounds good. TP link is good as it is the cheaper one of the two lol. Don't think there's any benefit of getting a gigabit one for the shop as we have no intentions of upgrading that router

The NAS is plugged into a BT Homehub 2 (no gigabit port) but I'm only getting the gigabit one for the house as we 'might' upgrade it to a Homehub 3 or another router with a gigabit port
 
From personal experience i'd go with tp link, i've had an edimax print server and the psu blew in 2 weeks, replacemnt lasted 2 months, where as i've got tp link powerline adaptors and they work, have a tp link router, and also a couple of switches and they're fine.

So long as your aware that only the devices that support gigabit devices plugged into the gigabit switch will operate at them speeds, the rest will be 10/100 depending on the device.
 
[Darkend]Viper;22081292 said:
From personal experience i'd go with tp link, i've had an edimax print server and the psu blew in 2 weeks, replacemnt lasted 2 months, where as i've got tp link powerline adaptors and they work, have a tp link router, and also a couple of switches and they're fine.

So long as your aware that only the devices that support gigabit devices plugged into the gigabit switch will operate at them speeds, the rest will be 10/100 depending on the device.
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Okay, will probably stick with TP Link then as I have (sort of) heard of them and never heard of Edimax before haha :p

Yeah that's okay, as long as the non-gigabit things will still work in the gigabit switch that's fine, even if it is at standard speed. Out of interest, I have:

- PS3 Slim (just purchased)
- Custom PC (ASUS mobo, built in October)
- Dell Studio 1555 laptop (few years old)
- Sony LCD TV

Do you think those will have gigabit ports or standard ones?

Thanks for your help :)
 
PS3 will be gigabit, custom pc couldn't tell you, best to look in network connections and see what it says there. Dell laptop I think has from a quick google, but again check to make sure, and my sony tv has a 100mbp/s port if thats any help.

Non gigabit items will work in the switch, just at the max speed, either 10 or 100.
 
[Darkend]Viper;22081399 said:
PS3 will be gigabit, custom pc couldn't tell you, best to look in network connections and see what it says there. Dell laptop I think has from a quick google, but again check to make sure, and my sony tv has a 100mbp/s port if thats any help.

Non gigabit items will work in the switch, just at the max speed, either 10 or 100.
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Okay cool :) Don't use the laptop that often anyway, use the PC more, just checked and the PC has a 'gigabit LAN controller'. And same with the TV, don't use the internet features really often, just nice to not have to keep switching the wires in the wall if I want to use it. So the two things that will get used often like PS3 and PC are gigabit :D

Okay, that's good then :) Think I will read some reviews and then order the two TP Link ones later tonight or tomorrow :) I'll let you know what I get in the end (Y)

Thanks for your help :D
 
Both of the switches got delivered today, tested them both at home and they work perfectly :D Given Dad the other one to take to the shop so hopefully that will work there too, don't see why it wouldn't

Thanks for your help everyone :)
 
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