New router/switch recommendations

nantucket66 · 19 Dec 2010 at 23:20

I'm looking to upgrade my router/modem and switch and want to go gigabit.

TT provide my internet and I have a 8mb connection.

I have the following bits:

Mac Mini and PS3 connected to a basic Belkin switch which is in turn connected to my router, I have 2 x 2tb NAS drives connected to my router.

I also have a laptop with a Pre-N USB stick (the Ethernet port on the laptop is not Gigabit).

I use the laptop for Internet and using db Poweramp to rip to the 2 x NAS drives. Mac mini is headless music server with ipad running remote app and amarra.

I don't want to the use the Mac for ripping (even though it would be quicker), as db Poweramp is more accurate than any ripping software available on the Mac. I hard wire the laptop to the router when ripping at present, with a decent gigabit router would it be any faster? (both Nas drives have gigabit), but my current Belkin router isn't.

What bits shall I buy? I have up to £200.00 give or take to spend.

Cheers

D

SimonR · 20 Dec 2010 at 00:39

Overclockers sell some 8port Gigabit switches. A popular choice over on the AV forums are the HP Procurve Switches, something like 1410-8G can be had for £40 (it is an 8 port switch which will be more than enough for your immediate requirements). I am presuming that your NAS drives are Networked NAS drives and not 2 usb drives connected to the usb ports on your router

Port 1 - Router
Port 2 - NAS 1
Port 3 - NAS 2
Port 4 - PS3
Port 5 - MAC Mini
Port 6 - Laptop
Port 7 - Spare
Port 8 - Spare

I dont know what laptop you have, but if it has a PCMCIA or ExpressCard socket you could look at a gigabit adapter for around £40

No more than £100 should comfortably see you upgrade. Remember if you are moving everything to gigabit make sure that your Jumbo Frame sizes are all the same to get maximum throughput on your network.

Will it be any faster? Probably

Syx · 20 Dec 2010 at 15:37

My concern with it being faster is whether you are actually being limited by the speed of your network, or the speed at which you can rip! In my experience it's likely to be the latter. Have you checked your network utilisation? There are lots of free tools but the first thing to do would be load up the Task Manager and have a look on your laptop as you rip.

nantucket66 · 20 Dec 2010 at 21:02

Thanks for the pointers.

The HP Procurve could be just the thing I need......

The speed of ripping using the laptop is a very valid point and this may well become the bottleneck

What I was thinking of doing which may be faster (?) is going down the bootcamp route and using db poweramp/windows on the mac mini to rip to the 2 nas drives.