Router with built-in switch VS router w/o switch

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ayjay2016

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Jan 9, 2016
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I currently have a router that has 4 ethernet ports. I am with comast. So the router has a built in switch.

I want to have my home set up with an internal network through the walls. I have connected to switch to my router then connected to my computers and have had problems.

Should i get a router with 1 connection only then put my switch?
 
Solution
InvalidError
You are going to have a hard time finding a router with only one LAN port, those have gone practically extinct since they all use a six ports monolithic switch IC and VLANs to connect the WAN, LAN and SoC together using a single (G)MII port on the SoC.

Unless the wiring or equipment is defective, there should be no problems with connecting one of the router's LAN ports to the switch you connected the rest of your LAN to.

The connections should be:
Modem -> router (WAN)
router (LAN#1) -> switch -> everything else
router (LAN#2-4) -> may be used by other devices such as ATAs that do not get much traffic over the LAN

If you looped the WAN through the switch or connected multiple LAN ports between the router and switch, you created loops...
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InvalidError

InvalidError

Titan
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May 18, 2007
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You are going to have a hard time finding a router with only one LAN port, those have gone practically extinct since they all use a six ports monolithic switch IC and VLANs to connect the WAN, LAN and SoC together using a single (G)MII port on the SoC.

Unless the wiring or equipment is defective, there should be no problems with connecting one of the router's LAN ports to the switch you connected the rest of your LAN to.

The connections should be:
Modem -> router (WAN)
router (LAN#1) -> switch -> everything else
router (LAN#2-4) -> may be used by other devices such as ATAs that do not get much traffic over the LAN

If you looped the WAN through the switch or connected multiple LAN ports between the router and switch, you created loops and that does have a tendency to cause weird issues. Consumer-grade routers and switches do not like that.
 
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Solution
jsmithepa

jsmithepa

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Jun 14, 2014
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Switches can be cascaded just fine. Say adding a stand-alone 8 ports switch box hooked up to a LAN port on the router, perfectly kosher, no idea why you are having problem, unless you have one of them old switch that can't auto-MDIX (rare these days) in which case you may have to use a special "crossover" CAT5 cable between the two switches.
 
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InvalidError

InvalidError

Titan
Moderator
May 18, 2007
23,815
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You only need one end to support auto-MDI for it to work: on auto-MDI/MDI-X ports, the PHY layer "listens" to both the RX and TX pairs for the far-end's idle tone and when it detects it on the "wrong pair", it switches the pair mapping internally to use the connection as-is.
 
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ayjay2016

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Jan 9, 2016
41
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I am using comcast Arris TG862G connected to a netgear 5 port router (bought at Frys). I did figure the problem out i took out one computers ethernet and plugged it straight into the router/modem or whatever it is. and it worked fine. I'm guessing the router crapped out, even though the traffic indicator/connection LED is lit up.
 
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