looking for switch to go with my Netgear WNDR4500 router

Any off the shelf switch is good enough for the purpose, but that is really becoming legacy solutions with Wireless making things plug and go (just plug in a USB Wifi and your done). Is there a reason for the wired solution ?

All depends what your doing, most are normal and you don't need to be expensive to get one. Uplink is where the connection is to the 'world' from the switch. PoE is Power Over Ethernet, which is powering a device off the wired connection. QoS is Quality Of Service, which respects the QoS Table of your router you setup that say Skype has higher preference for 'Data' then just opening a single web page, so Skype doesn't stutter and such. Jumbo Frames comes into play for using Cat6 (Gigabit) connections which is the norm now. As your talking about a Media Streamer and NAS device, setting up the network that they have precedence (QoS) is important and may want to just be on the switch vs on the Router, and have the PCs on the Router only. This will isolate the traffic control as well to avoid it bleeding over causing the router to become too busy 'routing' the Media Streamer / NAS from going out over the Internet and instead to the devices asking for them inside your network.

As I mentioned for the PCs, you could just plug in a USB Wireless or simply a Wireless NIC card. The issue with wired connections is they are just long metal strips of hair thick wires, and a good bend, table rubbing them, or just something chewing on them can't be "seen" as why 'my internet doesn't work, I can't get on webpages reliably" etc. Wired connections, unless maintained visually or in a cabling structure (piping, cable trays, etc.) always fail without our expectations but there is no 'diagnosis' it is the problem EXCEPT to replace the cable to see if things work 'better'. Just to FYI.

Actually both perform the same job, segmenting your network that those devices are on a switch connected to the router can alleviate the router's job to do the connecting to the Internet more, but it won't "make things faster" in any way. They are all the same speeds these days, except Wireless, which depends on what your paying into. Currently 802.11ac is supposed to be up to Gb speeds to, though once your over 100Mbs really there isn't much difference unless you have ALOT of different things going on (multiple Media stream machines, Gb game downloads all the time, etc.)

You will find little difference between any of the small 8 or 16 ports switches. Pretty much if you do not understand the extra features you likely do not need them.

Almost all small switches run at full wirespeed. This means every port on a gig switch can send 1g and receive 1g of data all at the same time. Unlike wireless specifications that quote total shared bandwidth. A 8 port switch with gig ports would be called a 16g data device if you told the same lies wireless tells.

I would not use wireless if you have the option to use wired. Once you get it cabled you can forget it and it will run for ever. Wireless you always run the risk of a new neighbor installing equipment and interfering with you.

Wow a bit of hate there? While true, there WAS potential of the issues, your thinking back mostly in 802.11b days. Since N revision, there has been many changes, especially MiMo (Multiple In Mulitple out), which is why most routers have multiple 'antennas' to handle multiple devices asking at the same exact moment to do things, rather then back in B/G days where a single antenna was used for all devices 'on a turn basis' to EITHER send OR receive, but not both and not to all devices at once.

Revision AC (as I was noting) is even 'smarter' and there aren't any lies as your speaking of. The problem your 'forgetting' with Wired is, you can't "see" when there is a problem because they get buried under a corner of a desk, or around something and rubbed, and crushed and cause all sorts of 'inconsistent' problems that make the End User thing thier PC is the problem when it is actually the cabling. Further most people are 'mobile' so be it thier Android Tablet, iPad, Smart Phone, or a laptop (which still sell 3 to 1), wireless is the easiest solution to allow the flexibility people demand of the 'Internet Everywhere I stand' mantra.

No it uses all mac addresses and it will automatically detect if they arrive on a different port and updates its table. The switch is completely transparent when it comes to IP addresses. It is a very stupid device which is why it is so fast

Wow calm down. First MIMO is exactly what I said and also the point of multiple antennas "In radio, multiple-input and multiple-output, or MIMO (pronounced my-moh by some and me-moh by others), is the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver to improve communication performance. It is one of several forms of smart antenna technology. " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIMO . Futher "This specification has expected multi-station WLAN throughput of at least 1 gigabit per second and a single link throughput of at least 500 megabits per second (500 Mbit/s). This is accomplished by extending the air interface concepts embraced by 802.11n: wider RF bandwidth (up to 160 MHz), more MIMO spatial streams (up to 8), multi-user MIMO, and high-density modulation (up to 256-QAM).[4] " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IEEE_802.11ac

That said, yes you can 'SEE" wireless issues, simply by using simple tools like Xirrus (http://www.xirrus.com/Products/Network-Management-and-Software/Network-Management/Wi-Fi-Inspector) you can see the amount of transmitting wireless points, what channels are being hogged, named Access Points, types of encryption used and so on. Simply by 'managing' your wireless network settings (for example don't leave it set to the default name) you EASILY avoid the 'magical' inteference your talking about from neighbors. Given there is 11 channels to choose from, the odds of being surrounded by 10 or more overlapping HIGH STRENGTH signals is very low except in HIGH DENSITY apartment buildings (aka Ghettos). Further Wireless signals are for inside a structure, even if they were broadcast say 'outside' in your backyard there is no interference because it is raining (your thinking of degrading signals for other spectrums quality or some really shoddy 802.11b cheap product you got fucked over with).

It isn't "magical" and obviously you are biased by any other solution so don't bother replying. Know your facts before you spew off about what you don't know. Since 802.11N revision massive drops, interference or other things your spewing aren't issues for a long time now. If your stuck in the past, then stay in the past but don't be so angry about it.

A switch does not manage IPs, that is what the Router does, the switch just manages data packets, and doesn't really 'think' about them except to keep them from crashing (collisions) into each other, or misordering (packet loss) them in transmitting and receiving.

So as long as your device MAC stays the same, when it asks for it's IP from the DHCP table, the router will still assign it the reserved IP. Personally I think that is a dumb way to do it for such a small network. It is best in a small network to just manually put in fixes IPs that are above the DHCP table range. So for example if your DHCP table is set for IPs 192.168.1.50 to 192.168.1.150, you could manually put in the Video Server 192.168.1.200 as its IP and the router will respect that. So no matter what happens that Video Server is always 200 because you set it like that, even if you made other changes in the router, switch, etc. (say for example you have to reset the router you would lose all those fixed IPs).

Go away Mr google cut and paste monkey.

How about you post quotes from the IEEE standards rather then the wikapedia for dummies

You clearly said it would share the antenna between users. Sure I know that mimo increases the bandwidth for a user but it does not in anyway increase the ability of multiple users to share the bandwidth. Just because you can cut and paste a definition.

You are a fool if you think you can SEE wireless with that stupid tool. Show me how it sees weather radar, a baby monitor, a security camera and any other wireless that is not broadcasting a SSID. You are also a fool if you really believe their are 11 usable channels. Show me how even 2 neighbors can both run at 150m and not interfere on the 2.4g band. I promise only 1 person can

I can promise I know the facts much better than you do. I am not as insecure as you that I need to post all my certifications to my signature like you do. I have multiple CCIE certs if that makes you happy. I am not angry I just do not tolerate people who post garbage.

You views on wireless being better than wired are completely at odds with every other expert there is in the networking field. The last statement in your post clearly shows you are selecting technology with YOUR emotions rather than a technical analysts of what is best. You just want to be cool and trendy having the newest and shiniest toys so you can feel you are better than other people in your mind.

Wow you really have some serious issues that you want to start telling me about how you have "supposed' multiple CCIE certs and well your just some post on the web. So I guess this entire website here saying the SAME THING "Multi-user MIMO – supports simultaneous transmissions to multiple clients and maximizes RF band utilization. Up to four distinct clients can receive data simultaneously from a single AP at full channel data rate." http://www.merunetworks.com/products/technology/80211ac/

Oh yeah and from this 'Unknown Source' too "With the advent of 802.11ac, a new technology is defined, called multi-user multiple input, multiple output (MU-MIMO). Here an AP is able to use its antenna resources to transmit multiple frames to different clients, all at the same time and over the same frequency spectrum" http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/wireless/ps5678/ps11983/white_paper_c11-713103.html#wp9000443


JACKASS. I am providing the 'links' to show, as compared to you, I am not spouting TROLL Bull shit just to shout TROLL bull shit that I am backing up with what I am saying with other SOURCES. It is called CITATION, a way to validate by multiple independent sources what your stating IN the context your stating is accurate.

Further that you 'dismiss' a known tool from a known company as 'stupid' just because it does prove you wrong further shows your ignorance and baiting of a arguement. Yes it shows all BROADCASTING even without SSID attached signals, because it is measuring what your device (laptop, phone, desktop, etc.) signals it picks up on the spectrums for 802.11, based on the device (standard new devices pick up A, B/G, N).

Lastly, channels is how any wirelessly device is set to not interfere with others, so I will make it simple for you: THINK FM RADIO. How does 100.1FM NOT interfere with 100.5FM? They are both on the 100FM spectrum, because your channelizing it down to a set grouping to avoid 'bleed over' from one signal over the next. Same principle was and is applied in WIFI, oh wait here is a quote "802.11ac adopts a keep-it-simple approach to channelization. Adjacent 20 MHz subchannels are grouped into pairs to make 40 MHz channels, adjacent 40 MHz subchannels are grouped into pairs to make 80 MHz channels, and adjacent 80 MHz subchannels are grouped into pairs to make the optional 160 MHz channels, as shown in Figure 4. A BSS (that is, AP plus clients) uses the different bandwidths for different purposes, but the usage is principally governed by the capabilities of the clients." http://www.cisco.com/en/US/prod/collateral/wireless/ps5678/ps11983/white_paper_c11-713103.html#wp9000443

Oh look at the source a bunch of people whom don't know shit right? Again know your facts before someone shows what a ignorant lying asshole your being (oh wait I just did!).

Hi, please let's focus on Velocci's issue, which I also share. I have a older 4 port router with wi-fi that is not good enough in half my (crowded apt) flat, altho it's ok for android phones (we too cheap for iPhone).

I like wires, and now need more than 4. Am ready to buy a high powered 8 port router (in Slovakia) but didn't see the 10/100/1000 giga speed with 8 ports yet, or 12 would be better. Can I really just buy a switch and add it to my cable modem > router (4) > switch (8? 12?).
And if I do that, should I plug all 5 (or 6) computers into the switch or leave 3 in the router and just 2 (or 3) sharing the switch?
Is it really possible to have all 6 computers accessing an internet game at the same time this way (e.g. League of Legends 3 x 3; or a full team of 5 vs out of house other team)?

Old wireless is not good enough, maybe new would be, but we want to minimize our wireless use right now.

Our UPC cable connection is being upgraded to 150 MB/s so should be ok with 6 plus TV.

A switch is a smart device as compared to a hub. They allow segmentation of a network to avoid data collision and overload of data when your trying to keep similiar devices seperate without the use of VLAN. So if you have three computers that just play against one another all the time but the other three computers spend all the time on the Internet, then you would want to segment the 'gaming' PCs onto the switch so that data traffic stays there, away from the last three 'Internet' PCs connected to the router directly.

There is nothing you need to 'do' with a switch, other than (depending on the maker) use a cross over cable as compared to a normal thru cable for the Switch->Router connection. Many makers usually include the cross over cable if it is needed.

In your suggestion of multiple computers accessing the same internet game, yes but sometimes you need to be careful though some game makers cap that to avoid potentially multiple computers being run from one Internet IP all trying to hack / crack / troll a game. If you wish to setup a 'Internet Game Cafe' or 'LAN Party' connected to one game that all the people in the place are connecting, you might wish to review the FAQ of the game and use LAN PARTY or 'Shared IP' as the keywords. That is totally a Server based solution that can prevent it from happening unless you comply with specialized terms.