Does this make sense?

Morte66

Morte66

Morte66

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Location
Woking, Surrey
At the moment I have a single PC connected to my ADSL phone line with a USB ADSL modem (which seems to be dying). I want to start using two PCs, shuffling lots of HD video between them, and give them both internet access. Both PCs have gigabit ethernet on the mobo.

I figure on buying:
Netgear GS605 5-Port Gigabit Desktop Switch
Netgear DM111P ADSL2+ Modem (includes cable)
2x1m cat 5 patch cable for connecting the PCs to the switch

Is this a sensible option, or do I have no idea what I'm doing?

Thanks for handholding...
 
BillytheImpaler said:
Forget the switch, you need a router to manage the traffic between the local network and the wider Internet.
Click to expand...

Eep. I thought the switch did that. I thought the modem connects the local network to the internet, pugging into the phone line at one end and the switch at the other, and the switch glues the PCs to each other and the modem.

Oh well.

Is there such a thing as a wired gigabit ADSL+ modem/router?
 
Not with gigabit, unless you want something prohibitively expensive. Do you actually need gigabit networking?
 
Daegan said:
Not with gigabit, unless you want something prohibitively expensive. Do you actually need gigabit networking?
Click to expand...
Shifting HD video at 10MB/s, no thanks....

To the OP, replace the modem you linked to with a Netgear 834G router (or similar), plug everything into the gigabit switch. That way the PCs will be able to communicate at gigabit speed while still having access to the internet.
 
you've got a couple of options. instead of a modem and a switch you can either a) buy a router with a 10/100 switch in and then a 10/100/1000 switch and connect that up to it or b) you can buy a router with a 10/100/1000 switch built in. depends how much you want to spend, and how tidy you want it to be.

just to explain that a bit further. your isp allocates you one publilc internet ip address via dhcp. at the moment as you have your modem directly on your pc so your pc will be picking up that address. very bad practice to have a machine directly connected to the internet. what the router does is puts that public address on its public interface and then provides a local network for your pc's to sit on on the private interface(s). typically they also come with a built in switch, though you can get single port ones for you to connect your own switch up to. then, when you request stuff from the internet the router translates the addresses for you from private to public. similarly, if you want to provide access to an internal host from outside you would setup something known as a port forward.

hope this helps.
 
Thanks, folks.

Just to make sure I've got this... I originally thought "router" and "switch" were the same thing. But as I now understand it a router features network address translation between LAN/internet, while a switch connects things together in a LAN. So if I buy a box with a phone jack and a bunch of sockets for cat 5 cable, I'm getting modem + router + switch + usually firewall.

Now it seems OcUK don't sell gigabit modem/router/switches, and the two wired ADSL modem/routers that they sell are both out of stock...
 
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Morte66 said:
Thanks, folks.

Just to make sure I've got this... I originally thought "router" and "switch" were the same thing. But as I now understand it a router features network address translation between LAN/internet, while a switch connects things together in a LAN. So if I buy a box with a phone jack and a bunch of sockets for cat 5 cable, I'm getting modem + router + switch + usually firewall.

Now it seems OcUK don't sell gigabit modem/router/switches, and the two wired ADSL modem/routers that they sell are both out of stock...
Click to expand...

yeah you've pretty much got it sussed. i've got the wifi version of that router and it is excellent. i have no need for gig at the moment, not that it wouldnt be nice but i'm in rented accomodation at the moment so wiring is a no-no. unfourtunately we're not allowed to link to competitors here. it might be worth sending ocuk a webnote to see if they are getting any in, alternatively google is your friend! if you need any help getting it setup just shout! good luck! :)
 
Thanks, Atomiser. I think I have a plan...

Buy a Netgear DG834G which is a modem/router/switch/firewall with 54mbps wireless and four 10/100 sockets, and ignore the wireless. Plug it and the PCs into a gigabit switch. The PCs will talk to each other by gigabit ethernet via the switch, and they'll talk to the modem at 100mbps which is plenty since that bit of LAN only needs to be as fast as the phone line.

If I find myself using a laptop or PDA one day, it can talk to the DG834G by wireless (54mbps should be plenty for the things I imagine doing on a mobile) or I'll wire it to the switch in special occasions. If I buy that NAS box I've been thinking about, it can plug into the gigabit switch and talk to the PCs at high speed.
 
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Morte66 said:
Thanks, Atomiser. I think I have a plan...

Buy a Netgear DG834G which is a modem/router/switch/firewall with 54mbps wireless and four 10/100 sockets, and ignore the wireless. Plug it and the PCs into a gigabit switch. The PCs will talk to each other by gigabit ethernet via the switch, and they'll talk to the modem at 100mbps which is plenty since that bit of LAN only needs to be as fast as the phone line.

If I find myself using a laptop or PDA one day, it can talk to the DG834G by wireless (54mbps should be plenty for the things I imagine doing on a mobile) or I'll wire it to the switch in special occasions. If I buy that NAS box I've been thinking about, it can plug into the gigabit switch and talk to the PCs at high speed.
Click to expand...

you've hit the nail on head there! this way it allows you to be a bit more picky over the gig switch you use rather than being stuck with what the oem of the router provides. if, however, you can find a router with a gig switch built in that your happy with it will be a neater solution. good luck! :)
 
Morte66 said:
Thanks, Atomiser. I think I have a plan...

Buy a Netgear DG834G which is a modem/router/switch/firewall with 54mbps wireless and four 10/100 sockets, and ignore the wireless. Plug it and the PCs into a gigabit switch. The PCs will talk to each other by gigabit ethernet via the switch, and they'll talk to the modem at 100mbps which is plenty since that bit of LAN only needs to be as fast as the phone line.

If I find myself using a laptop or PDA one day, it can talk to the DG834G by wireless (54mbps should be plenty for the things I imagine doing on a mobile) or I'll wire it to the switch in special occasions. If I buy that NAS box I've been thinking about, it can plug into the gigabit switch and talk to the PCs at high speed.
Click to expand...
That's exactly my setup. I use a slightly different Netgear router (DG834PN) and only turn the wireless on when I need to use my laptop in a different room.
 
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