Gigabit networking. Can I update my current setup? Help

[chrispholt]

Hi all.
I want to buy a NAS http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS210j/index.php as i regularly download things and have a lot of data. However I currently only have a wireless router with fast Ethernet http://en-uk-support.belkin.com/app/product/detail/p/4701 . So I want a gigabit wired network but need to keep the upgrade cost to a low. So my main question is how could I upgrade to a gigabit network? Preferable keeping my wireless router (which has a built in modem)

Here's some general information;

1. My connection is pppoa (in the UK)
2. Four people use the wireless
3. I only use the wired connection (will need 2)

Thanks in advance.

 

[bkspero]

Cabling is the biggest issue

Hi all.
I want to buy a NAS http://www.synology.com/enu/products/DS210j/index.php as i regularly download things and have a lot of data. However I currently only have a wireless router with fast Ethernet http://en-uk-support.belkin.com/app/product/detail/p/4701 . So I want a gigabit wired network but need to keep the upgrade cost to a low. So my main question is how could I upgrade to a gigabit network? Preferable keeping my wireless router (which has a built in modem)

Here's some general information;

1. My connection is pppoa (in the UK)
2. Four people use the wireless
3. I only use the wired connection (will need 2)

Thanks in advance.

Your current wireless combo cablemodem/wireless router should work fine with a gigabit switch for the wired network. Simply attach the ethernet output of the modem/router to one of the switch's ethernet jacks. Connect all of the other ethernet cables to the gigabit switch, as well. The current router will continue to be the DHCP server assigning IP addresses (assuming you are using DHCP). You will continue to only have Fast Ethernet speeds from the router to the switch to handle all of the internet and wifi connections, but your wired computer and the NAS will be gigabit. This means that download speeds will be no faster, though. However, they are almost certainly bottlenecked by the ISP's download cap and would not benefit from gigabit anyway.

The biggest question will be your ethernet cables. They should be Cat 5e or Cat 6 to be certain to handle gigabit. However, I have run lots of gigabit over Cat 5 and it works ok. You'll have to judge your risk tolerance. If you only have a few, short, accessible cables to replace between your desktop, the switch location, and a NAS device, then I would just plan on doing that. If you have to do a major rewire that is not practical without ripping out walls, then I would make certain I could return the gigabit switch if there were issues with the existing cables.

Good luck.

 

[waw74]

just get a gigabit switch, and plug one port into the wireless router. and the others into your 2 devices.

*if you are using existing wiring, gigabit uses all 8 conductors where 10/100 only uses 4, as long as you cable is made correctly, it should be fine.

*you will probably not see an increase in internet speed, most home internet connections are about as fast as a wireless network with a fairly strong, interference free signal. and definitely faster than 10/100. the only speed increase you will see is between your computer and the drive.

 

[chrispholt]

Ok, thanks a lot.
My internet is 8mb as i live in a rural area so yes it is bottlenecked.

The biggest question will be your ethernet cables. They should be Cat 5e or Cat 6 to be certain to handle gigabit.

Yes i will be buying new cables as they are not going very far.

Do you know if there is anyway of making the NAS have a static ip address and another computer would not be given the same ip from the router (DHCP)? ( so i can use dns)

And do you have any recommendation for a switch?


Thanks again.

 

[chrispholt]

Do you know if there is anyway of making the NAS have a static ip address and another computer would not be given the same ip from the router (DHCP)? ( so i can use dns)

Just looked at my router config. Am i right in thinking that if i reduced the IP pool and give the nas an IP out of that range it will stay static ( wont conflict)

 

[bkspero]

Just looked at my router config. Am i right in thinking that if i reduced the IP pool and give the nas an IP out of that range it will stay static ( wont conflict)

I'm not familiar w your router, but what you suggest is exactly what I've done to assign static ip addresses in a dhcp network using routers from dlink, linksys, netgear, or trendnet. Worked as hoped.