Home Network: Router and Multiple Switches

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strider209

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Dec 11, 2008
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I couldn't find an exact answer on this. I have my cable modem connected to my router, I have 2 devices connected to the router. I have 3 switches (1 is a router being used as a switch - DCHP turned off). Switch 1 and 2 are connected to the router. Switch 3 (re-purposed router) is connected to switch 2. I have read that it is better to have only switch 1 connected to the router and connect any other switches to switch 1. Is it necessary to connect the existing 2 devices connected to the router to the switch instead. Please explain how this is better and how much better it would be - I could reconfigure everything but it would take me at least an hour of labor to re-wire/re-connect things. Thanks in advance for any info!
 
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strider209

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Dec 11, 2008
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It's a gigabit wireless router. So I have my cable modem connected to the WAN port, switch 1 connected to a LAN port on the router, switch 2 connected to a LAN port on the router and a computer and a TV connected to the remaining 2 ports on the router. I read it it better to reconfigure so only 1 switch is connected to the router and everything else connected to the switch.
 
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millwright

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I just told you routers only have 1 out port. you can't connect more than 1 switch.
If you have more than 1 out port it is not just a router.
It has a built in switch.
In that case you can't plug anything into the router, it has an internal connection, to the built in switch.
 
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bill001g

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It really doesn't matter a lot how you connect it. What you need to watch for is you do no bottleneck things. Say you take your router that has gig ports on it and connect it to a old switch that has only 10m ports and then you hook another gig switch to that switch. Since all the traffic from the final switch must pass though the 10m switch connection to get up to the router you will be limited to 10m. Of course traffic that is talking between machines on the final switch will never leave it so they can run at 1g.

If everything you have is gig then it doesn't really matter. Technically you will have limitation of single gig cables but unless you have some fear that you will exceed a gig of traffic you can plug them in any order you like.

As mentioned very technically the router has a built in switch which to you appears as 4 lan ports. You would want each switch plugged directly into one of these ports. But in a home install where you have almost no traffic it doesn't make much difference.
 
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bicycle_repair_man

bicycle_repair_man

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What make and model switches do you have? If they're dumb ones (i.e. they have between 4-8 ports and no configuration options) then it doesn't matter if you attach the devices to the router or the switch. My preference is to attach directly to the router so there's one less link in the chain; one less device to diagnose if you start having connection problems.



There's no need to be rude.

Granted, a router in the traditional sense had one LAN port and one WAN port, but things have changed. Modern routers almost always incorporate a switch, so saying that a router has a built-in switch is a redundent term nowadays.
 
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millwright

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Excerpt most DSL Modems have built in routers and no switch.
Hence 1 out port,
They also have radios that are built in but don't have to be.
It is not redundant when you are trying to explain, why you can't plug in more than 1 switch to a router.
It was the original concern.
 
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Av4fun2011

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Thanks for this reply. It makes a lot of sense and answers my question on another post. Your input: "..in a home install....it really doesn't matter..."

There are always a lot of opinions and sometimes misunderstanding when interpreting and responding to e-mail.

I have a modem w/ 1 port connecting to my main router with 4 ports out. From there, 2 are for network drives and 2 for switches that everything else is connected to.
My question was, are the drives connected in the right place for the best performance on my network? Your answer is ...it doesn't matter where you connect them.

many thanks

 
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