Using a Gigabit switch with an adsl router.

sunama

sunama

sunama

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Hi,

I am currently using my broadband modem/router as my network router.
At present I have 3 PCs connected on my home network.
The speed is terrible though, topping out at around 11MB/s.
So, what I want to do is put a Gigabit switch in there.

I also run a server (using port forwarding). By forwarding a particular port number to a specific computer/server, all incoming data on a particular port is sent to a particular computer. This is important.

Now, if I connect the switch to the adsl router and connect the 3 PCs to the switch, I will have a Gigabit network, BUT, will port forwarding be possible?
 
Home switches operate at Layer 2, they don't care what is going on at the layers above them, and switches are transparent to the PCs and the Router. As far as your port forwarding is concerned, that'll continue to work just as normal without any need to change any configuration.
 
Ok, just to clarify, if I use a switch below my adsl router (plugging all computer ethernet cables into the switch, with only 1 cable going from the adsl router, to the switch), will I be able to see the computer names (connected to the switch), in the adsl router properties page (which is where I set the port forwarding)?
 
Yes everything will work as it already does. As Dist says, it's a layer 2 device so it doesn't care about TCP, IP addressing or anything else on top of it. L2 switches forward traffic purely based on MAC addresses and the router would still have total visibility of all the MAC addresses on the network segment.

So yes, plug one cable from the router into the gigabit switch then your PCs into the gigabit switch. You'll be able to see everything on the network as you currently can, they'll still pick up the same IP addresses from your router's DHCP server and your port forwards from the Internet will still work. Should cause you no issues at all :)
 
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how did you make a connection to your switch with an ADSL modem broadband router.

Also, will the switch improve your laptop internet speed if the laptop ethernet adapter hasnt got gigabit feature?
 
Very simple.
I bought a TP Link Gigabit switch.

Modem connects to the TP Link switch (using a single ethernet cable).

All computers are connected to the TP Link switch using ethernet cables.

The whole system is plug and play. No configuration required. Everything works. No fuss.

Its been running rock solid for 8 months.

Sometimes, the internet connection goes down, but the network is still operational, allowing me transfer files, between computers, using the switch.

Speeds: transfer speeds between computers have gone from approx 11MB/s, to around 70MB/s. If I transfer between 2 computers with SSDs, I should be able to hit around 100MB/s.

In summary, I advise everybody to use a Gigabit switch, in conjunction with the ADSL modem, if they have more than 2 computers which are equipped with Gigabit ethernet ports. The cost of a simple Gigabit switch is less than £20 these days, so it won't break the bank.
 
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jamlays said:
Also, will the switch improve your laptop internet speed if the laptop ethernet adapter hasnt got gigabit feature?
Click to expand...

No.

The switch will not improve your internet speed, even if you have a gigabit ethernet port. Remember, most internet speeds are not yet fast enough to saturate a standard 10/100 Mbit connection...let alone a 100/1000 Mbit connection.

The big advantage is that when you transfer files between 2 computers, a gigabit network has a theoretical maximum which is about 10 times faster than a standard network.
 
Some bad terms being thrown around in this thread.


You can't just connect a switch up to a modem. You can connect one to a router (which may have a modem in it)

Personally, I just ditch the router that the isp provide and replace it with a gigabit model.
 
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