Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Danmickread

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 12, 2012
29
0
Hi i have recently recieved a new wireless router from sky (uk) but it only has 4 ether net ports and one is used for dsl connection so my question is what is the best way to get more ethernet ports ideally 6 and with gigabit through put because the sky router is only 100Mb/s.

Could i get some kind of gigabit switch and plug that into the dsl modem and then plug my sky wireless router into that so that all ethernets into switch will be gigabit and the i can use the sky router just for wireless.

Or is it best just to get a new wireless router with gigabit and dual band wireless. But what number of ethernet ports can u get these with.

Thanks

Dan
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,132
15,595
California
Sure.... just add in a GB switch like this for example, and you will have GB connectivity inside the house between machines connected to the new switch. Of course, your connection to the outside world will remain limited by the 100Mb/s ports on the router and your internet connection speed.
 

Danmickread

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Nov 12, 2012
29
0
Is it best to connect switch to router and router to modem then as you say traffic to outside world and any wireless devices is limited to 100Mb/s connection to router.
Or connect router to switch and switch to modem.

I cant see that it makes much difference myself as in the first instance my internet speed is 40Mb/s and the connection between router and switch would be 100Mb/s but in reality runs at about 56Mb/s so still faster than internet with some head room for data transfers/streams wirelessly between say ipad and apple tv connected to switch.

Or in the second instance if router was connected to switch and switch to modem the only traffic between router and switch would be wireless connections so plenty of bandwidth for that and everything else connected to the switch gets direct access to the internet and each other.

That is if you can connect up both ways.
The second option sounds best to me.

Sorry if this sounds confusing, well it does to me but i think ive made it clear.

Thanks
Dan
 

Weaselboy

Moderator
Staff member
Jan 23, 2005
34,132
15,595
California
Here is what you want...

Modem >> router >> switch >> wired ethernet devices.

The router is what issues out the DHCP IP addresses, so it has to be ahead of the switch.
 

Randomizer

macrumors member
Feb 1, 2012
62
7
I have four D-Link DGS-2208 switches, one connected to the router, two others in one room (one connected to the other - they can be piggy-backed) and one each in two other rooms. They are inexpensive and work very well.
 

matspekkie

macrumors member
Oct 19, 2010
97
0
more info

Hi i have recently recieved a new wireless router from sky (uk) but it only has 4 ether net ports and one is used for dsl connection so my question is what is the best way to get more ethernet ports ideally 6 and with gigabit through put because the sky router is only 100Mb/s.

Could i get some kind of gigabit switch and plug that into the dsl modem and then plug my sky wireless router into that so that all ethernets into switch will be gigabit and the i can use the sky router just for wireless.

Or is it best just to get a new wireless router with gigabit and dual band wireless. But what number of ethernet ports can u get these with.

Thanks

Dan

Where are you going to use it for???
A few questions are in place to make the best decision.

1. How many wired devices do you need to connect and do they have 1 GB/s ports at all.
2. wireless is this only going to be used with mobile phones than speed is not an issue with your current wifi. Again what kind of devices how many what is the distance are they dual band to begin with.

In general GB/s routers have a limited number of LAN ports 3 or 4 in general.
switches are there in all kinds of flavors and in general cheaper than routers.
As far for internet speed it does not matter if it is only 100MB/s since you unlikely saturate this link, it will be you ISP speed limit being the bottleneck.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.