How to setup a 1GB Gigabyte Network

Neeliyo

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Hi I'm planning on building a gaming computer and I don't want it to run on my wireless network which is in the basement. I have absolutely no experience with networking, and I need help setting up a gigabyte network and trying to reaching 1GB of speed. I have heard of gigabyte networks and was wondering if anyone could explain in detail what gigabyte networks are and how to achieve 1GB of speed. Also could you include the necessary components and approximate price.

Thanks
 
Solution
That depends what you are asking. To run gig within your house you only need a switch. The vast majority of people that do this are streaming video from a media
storage device to multiple video devices in their house.

To connect to something outside your house you many times need a device to convert the cables coming in from the provider to ethernet. Most times you get telephone wire or cable tv. This device that does this is called a modem. Its only purpose in the connection it to do this conversion.

A router can do many things but its primary task in a home environment is to allow many machines to share a single connection to the internet.

So just from a internet access standpoint you almost always need a modem, of you have...

choucove

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Please note, that there is a difference between a 1 GigaByte and a 1 Gigabit network. A GigaByte is eight times a Gigabit, and pretty much all speeds in a network scenario are described in bits and not bytes, so you are looking more at setting up a gigabit network and not a gigabyte. Which, as 3tek states, is pretty simple to do with just a gigabit switch or router depending upon what you need for number of connections and other existing equipment in your network.
 

Neeliyo

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So all I need is a switch and a ethernet cables? Why is it that some are $20 and some are $150 is it because of the number of ports?

Thanks
 

3tek

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Correct. You will need a Router that supports Gigabit and then a PC/Laptop that supports Gigabit speeds. You don't need to go out and buy Cat6, because Cat5e can run Gigabit speeds. The more expensive switches usually have more ports (24 ports instead of 4 ports.) Unless you have that many machines, I wouldn't worry about those.
 

choucove

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The more expensive switches can also support additional features, such as jumbo frames or VLANs, which you won't really need in a home environment. If you have just a couple devices which are connected via ethernet cable, then you can make do with a single wireless router with built-in gigabit switch:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124415

If you have more than that which needs to be directly connected with ethernet, then you need a gigabit switch, and connect that back to any 10/100 wireless router is fine.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=33-124-412

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833316211
 

Neeliyo

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Wait so I don't need a modem. Can I use a switch instead of using a router or, can I replace the router for a modem?

Thanks
 

john-b691

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That depends what you are asking. To run gig within your house you only need a switch. The vast majority of people that do this are streaming video from a media
storage device to multiple video devices in their house.

To connect to something outside your house you many times need a device to convert the cables coming in from the provider to ethernet. Most times you get telephone wire or cable tv. This device that does this is called a modem. Its only purpose in the connection it to do this conversion.

A router can do many things but its primary task in a home environment is to allow many machines to share a single connection to the internet.

So just from a internet access standpoint you almost always need a modem, of you have multiple machines you will need a router. You can either buy a combo device or 2 separate devices.

All this has nothing to do with gigbit speeds. This only provides access to the internet. The speed of the internet is mostly based on how much money you wish to pay. But unless you live in japan or someplace you can get a fiber to the house solution no isp offers much over 100m and most offer much much less.

Now you CAN if you like buy a modem/router/switch combination that has gig ports in it. This will allow you to run gig between machines in your house and access the internet at whatever speed it can do.

I am going to guess by your previous posts that you already have a router and maybe a modem. You can just add a small 1g switch to that and it will allow any machine plug into the switch to communicate at 1g.....but don't expect much more than say 700m due to lots of complex things I will not explain.
 
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Neeliyo

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I have a router for my old desktop however, I am building a new computer and putting it my bedroom. I want that computer to have the gigabit speeds. I think all I need is a switch, modem, cat5e cable, and adapter for my pc.
 

john-b691

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If all you have is a single computer you will get little advantage.

You could just hook a single PC to a modem that has a gig port and not even use a switch. Would still be a waste of money since the ISP will not run gig.

The only time you want to worry about gig is if you 2 or more devices in your house you wish to connect at high speed. Of course the PC will come with a gig port since almost all do but it will easily connect to a 100m network.
 

Neeliyo

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Alright so just buy a modem and hook it up and forget the switch. Is there any special kind of modem that will be faster? Are you sure my pc will come with a gig port. Does that mean I can drop the adapter?

Thanks So Much
 

john-b691

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There might be some that still run 100m but a lot of the higher end boards actual have 2 gig ethernet...not real sure what you would do with them under a windows OS. Not sure what adapter you talk about. You will want a wireless adapter if you need wireless but the ethernet ports have been built into motherboards and part of the base chipset for many years.

The modem you buy depends on the type of internet. It needs to match. If you are not real sure I would ask the ISP to recommend one. They will know which works best on their system.
 

Neeliyo

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Thanks a lot John you were very helpful :D