Ethernet switches connection to router etc

[mansr]

I don't know - some give the impression that they can but you might know better. As I say, they're all built aroud the same chips...

There are switch chips with varying capabilities. For example, this is not something you'll see in an 8-port switch for home use:
https://www.broadcom.com/products/ethernet-connectivity/switching/strataxgs/bcm56990-series

Of course, switching throughput isn't the only metric that matters. For example, smaller/cheaper switches are likely to have more limited MAC address memory. That has no impact in a typical home use case with one computer per port (if that). Connecting lots of such switches together in a multi-layered tree might not work out so well.

 

[davidsrsb]

For home use the chips don't matter.
What does is that the CE mark on the power supply and switch (it usually has a SMPS inside) actually means something. You have to pay a little more for this

 

[Stew B]

This should be fine.

https://www.mcru.co.uk/product/melco-s100-audiophile-dataswitch/

Innuos has just bought out one around the same price. I got a refurbished 8 port Cisco 2960 G Gigabyte switch off eBay for £50 and it work great and is very fast

 

[Suffolk Tony]

Please can I ask a naive question? Is it acceptable to “Chain” network switches together? I've a 16 port TPLink connected up to the BT router, & I need two ethernet connections at a distant part of the house. There's already one cable to there, can I use a spare Netgear switch on the end of this to give me the extra connection?

 

[Cereal Killer]

Yes, you can daisy chain them. I use a Netgear GS105 that is dedicated to the NUC and NAS, this is then connected to a TP-LInk Switch/Router.

 

[Stew B]

Yes I have done this too and it works fine

 

[gavreid]

Please can I ask a naive question? Is it acceptable to “Chain” network switches together? I've a 16 port TPLink connected up to the BT router, & I need two ethernet connections at a distant part of the house. There's already one cable to there, can I use a spare Netgear switch on the end of this to give me the extra connection?

It'll work, that's what I was getting at yesterday...

 

[ToTo Man]

I'm in need of an Ethernet switch so that my parents' tech (Mac Mini, AppleTV, Marantz MCR611, Virgin V6 box) can all be hard-wired instead of relying on flaky wifi (I've commandered three of the four Ethernet ports on our VM Superhub router for my own tech!).

This will be our first switch so I'm looking for some advice. I was going to toss a coin between these two:
Netgear GS305
TP-Link TL-SG105S

Am I likely to notice any difference between these two switches when in use? They both apparently have 1mb buffers. (According to www.hayksaakian.com/best-ethernet-switch the larger 8-port GS308 only has a 128kb buffer, which is said to be undesirable?).

There's also the Netgear GS305E, I'm not sure how this differs from the GS305?

Please help .

 

[Amber Audio]

The E has brains and can be managed/configured for VLAN and QoS which is useful for VOIP Telephones.

We deploy both Netgear and TP Lnk switches, I prefer the Netgear ProSafe ones as I have used their small networking kit for decades. Prosafe switches themselves have lifetime warranty, the PSU only has 2 years.

 

[ToTo Man]

I prefer the Netgear ProSafe ones...

Would that be the GS105?

 

[Amber Audio]

Would that be the GS105?

Yeah. It’s very confusing cos there are umpteen very similar model numbers, the Prosafe ones are metal cased and blue with UK at the end but not always. GS105UK or GS105.
https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/stor...gigabit-switches/?t=376&sort=3&page=1#content

 

[suzywong]

Would that be the GS105?

The ones in the blue box? Ports out the front.

Got several of those around the house, as well as a few of the "pretty" white ones with the ports at the back and a set of fancy LEDs on the front. One run has 'em daisy-chained to a depth of three - amazingly it still works....

 

[davidsrsb]

One run has 'em daisy-chained to a depth of three - amazingly it still works....

There is no sensible limit to how many switches that you can cascade.
Each hop adds a tiny delay, microseconds probably, which means nothing if your packets have crossed the Atlantic.

 

[Cereal Killer]

The Netgear prosafe is the one I've been using for over 6 years, its never faltered and is totally automated. Get the 5 or 8 port version, then forget about switches.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0000E5SES/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21

 

[paulfromcamden]

Please can I ask a naive question? Is it acceptable to “Chain” network switches together? I've a 16 port TPLink connected up to the BT router, & I need two ethernet connections at a distant part of the house. There's already one cable to there, can I use a spare Netgear switch on the end of this to give me the extra connection?

As the other posters have stated - yes. Connecting switches together is pretty much how networks get built

In Dayes Of Yore a switch-to-switch connection required a crossover cable with RX and TX reversed but *most* switches these days are auto-sensing so a standard straight UTP cable will work.

 

[Wolfmancatsup]

I use GS103 and GS105 switches. A friend who worked in IT and used to install a lot of switches recommended those above the white plastic ones, as he said he’d never seen the metal boxed ones die but had had a number of casualties with the plastic ones, despite the internals being the same (or so he said). Maybe the metal casing helps with cooling? In the years before I moved to the current switches I had a couple of the plastic ones die.

Mick

 

[davidsrsb]

You can daisy chain or make "trees".
What you must not do is create rings or loops, which make Bad Things™ happen

 

[mansr]

Prosafe switches themselves have lifetime warranty,

I once had one replaced after about 10 years when a botched firmware update bricked it.

 

[ToTo Man]

I'm going to complicate things a little. Here's a brief overview of our home network:

- Virgin Superhub2 dual-band 2.4GHz/5GHz router located in upstairs hall.
- Three ethernet cables running from SuperHub2 (SH2) to Virgin V6 box, Mac Mini 2012 and Mac Pro 2008 all on same floor as SH2.
- Full strength 5GHz wifi signal obtained on MacBooks and iOS devices on same floor as SH2.
- Ethernet cable running from SH2 to old Apple Airport Extreme (AE) located in downstairs hall to provide stronger 5GHz/2.4GHz wifi downstairs.
- Ethernet cable running from AE to Virgin V6 box located in kitchen.
- Other kitchen devices currently connected by wifi.

The original plan was to add a switch in the kitchen connected as follows:
SH2 -> ethernet -> AE -> ethernet -> switch -> ethernet -> kitchen devices

However, I'm wondering if there's any performance/speed benefit if I also add a switch upstairs and daisy-chain it to the switch downstairs, and put the AE at the end of the chain instead of the middle, so that the LAN traffic between all wired devices is only going through the switches and not through the SH2 and AE? In other words:
SH2 -> ethernet -> upstairs switch (to which all upstairs devices are connected) -> ethernet -> downstairs switch (to which all kitchen devices are connected) -> ethernet -> AE.

AFAIK the SH2 and AE both have Gigabit ethernet so, in theory, there shouldn't be any difference in speed between running the LAN through these routers compared to running the LAN solely through the Gigabit switches, but I thought I should ask anyway in case the LAN traffic passing through two routers plus a switch is going to potentially reduce the integrity of the data being sent and received?

 

[ABCaudio]

I've just bought one of these from eBay, because I needed something: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cisco-WS...d=link&campid=5338728743&toolid=20001&mkevt=1

There's a very long and entertaining thread on Wigwam https://www.hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/149463-ethernet-cables-and-switches/ extolling the virtues of this and other, much more expensive switches. I bought this because it had the right number of ports, needs no set up (necessarily, though as it can be managed, you can set it up if you know how), I like the idea of an onboard PSU rather than a wall wart and it seems a bit of a bargain. It arrived the day after ordering.

It works fine and does just what I needed it to do, replacing a little Netgear 8 port switch, which is now upstairs near the HiFi, distributing one cable's traffic to the Bluray player, the streaming board, the chromecast and two laptops. It doesn't sound any worse. Does it sounds any better ? Who knows.

I did pretty much the same (minus reading that long thread), as our lounge is now pretty network heavy. Having an enterprise grade router with internal power supply, lots of ports, and a solid reputation seemed a good idea.

I also have no idea if it actually sounded any better, but I like the confidence it inspires (in particular my assumption that the inbuilt PS is of good quality). About £35 second hand.