Home networking router/splitter

[fundmark19]

Wow reading this again I think just solved another problem. Well not problem just make life easier by putting another switch where all my media is. One day I will have an extra 60 bucks and do this. Once I am done wiring my basement up I will play with these ideas more. On to my next thread. Best way to wire my basement for future technology!

[The Yen Man]

Sorry, I'm really computer illiterate, so if I were in the process of wiring my house for networking, this is what should be the connection so that I can share all my files across the network?

Modem --> Router --> Switch--> Electronic devices

Edit:

Just to add, the modem and router would be located either in my bonus room or my master bedroom, the switch would be in my furnace room and then branching off to the rest of the rooms in my house. Could I then add another switch in these rooms in the future?

[GoinAllTheWay]

/\/\/\

Yessir

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by Boblobla

I don't think this question was answered in this thread. Can I use the following configuration?

Modem --> Switch --> Router?

I want the modem and the switch in the basement because that is where the Cat5 for the house is but I want the router hidden in the bonus room for the best wireless coverage, it has been spotty in the basement.

Just to go against the grain here- you technically couldset it that way- if and only if your ISP is Telus. Because the Telus modem is a router as well. But as others said, there are other sharing issues. So if you only care about wireless for surfing, you could do that.

I will caution that the Telus modem is pretty craptacular at being a router.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I will caution that the Telus modem is pretty craptacular at being a router.

How so?

[ken0042]

The setup is very poorly laid out- I wouldn't expect somebody who isn't a bit of a geek to be able to navigate it well. Also the wireless range is pretty limited; to the point where once you get below 3 bars you start to have dropouts. I've taken my netbook into the garage and it could no longer see the Telus router; but then take it across the lane and into my neighbour's house and I can still use my Dlink router with no problems.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by ken0042

The setup is very poorly laid out- I wouldn't expect somebody who isn't a bit of a geek to be able to navigate it well. Also the wireless range is pretty limited; to the point where once you get below 3 bars you start to have dropouts. I've taken my netbook into the garage and it could no longer see the Telus router; but then take it across the lane and into my neighbour's house and I can still use my Dlink router with no problems.

Which telus-supplied router are/were you using?

[ken0042]

I'll have to check when I get home in a few days.

Don't get me wrong, I have used it a few times for friends who are on Telus, need wireless, and don't want to spend $50 on a router. It just isn't high end.

[sclitheroe]

Originally Posted by ken0042

I'll have to check when I get home in a few days.

Don't get me wrong, I have used it a few times for friends who are on Telus, need wireless, and don't want to spend $50 on a router. It just isn't high end.

The 2wire units are quite good quality. Only thing I noticed with them is that by default I think the radio is configured to transmit at only 60 or 70 % power. Admittedly, I only run mine in bridge mode now, so its only really functioning as a modem

The Siemens routers (the square grey ones) don't seem particularly great if you have geek needs. No DMZ mode, port forwarding is difficult, etc.

[DownhillGoat]

Bump!

We take possession of our new house this week and I'll be doing the same thing. I currently have a wireless router w/4 wired ports.

Is using this going to be any different than using the switch that was posted on the first page? I assume the only difference is going to be the additional ports.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Bump!

We take possession of our new house this week and I'll be doing the same thing. I currently have a wireless router w/4 wired ports.

Is using this going to be any different than using the switch that was posted on the first page? I assume the only difference is going to be the additional ports.

So you're just wanting to go: Modem > Router > Switch > All of your devices? If your router is working OK right now, adding that switch will simply add a bunch of ports for you. This thread should be all that you need!

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Bump!

We take possession of our new house this week and I'll be doing the same thing. I currently have a wireless router w/4 wired ports.

Is using this going to be any different than using the switch that was posted on the first page? I assume the only difference is going to be the additional ports.

Your question is confusing. If you could give us more details on your situation it might make it easier to answer. If you have a modem, the only thing that should typically be plugged into it is a router/firewall. Anything else should be plugged into that router. If you want to add more ports, the best way to do it would probably be adding a switch that would plug into the router (on the downstream/non internet side) and plugging all or some of your devices into that.

If you plug a switch into your modem, then you are lacking the firewall that is provided in most home routers. This is not nessecarily a bad thing by itself, but it does open your network up to alot of bad things unless you have another solution for this such as a dedicated firewall device, or software firewalls on all your machines (which is a pretty poor solution for quite a few reasons)

This is all really situational dependant though, and how you plug everything in depends on what you are doing with the equipment, what equipment you have and what kind of connectivity you have/need.

[DownhillGoat]

Hope this clarifies. I wrote my question during a nightshift. That might have lead to the confusion

Current setup:

Modem > Router (located in the networking panel downstairs) > cat5 ports in each room/wired/wireless devices.

What I'm seeing in this thread is a lot of people are going:

Modem > Router > Switch > devices.

I'm assuming that the switch is optional (ie: if someone wants 6 rooms wired instead of 4), and is only used for more wired devices. As per Jimmy Stang's post I've got the right idea.

[Rathji]

Yes that is correct.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by GoinAllTheWay

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX1657(ME).aspx

Is there much of a difference between this and the DES-1108? It looks like it's essentially the same without the "green" aspect. And it's $20 cheaper.

[Jimmy Stang]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

Is there much of a difference between this and the DES-1108? It looks like it's essentially the same without the "green" aspect. And it's $20 cheaper.

It looks like the DES-1108 is only 10/100, whereas the DGS-1008D (the green version) is 10/100/1000, or "gigabit" as they say.

Most devices these days are capable of gigabit speeds in theory. Cabling, etc. makes a difference, but generally speaking, the DGS-1008D would be faster for you if you are connecting devices to it that are capable of gigabit speeds.

Personally, I'd spring the $20 extra for a little bit of future proofing, particularly if you're planning on transferring a lot of stuff between devices.

[Azure]

I would pay the extra bucks too.

Of course, you could have ran cat6 cable in your house, and then with gigabit routers/switches, along with cards on your computer/devices that are gigabit as well, you'd have blazing fast speeds.

[The Yen Man]

Bump

I'm not sure if people can help me out or not, but I thought I'd give it a shot. So I have my home network set up, and here's how it's set up:

In my master bedroom: Shaw Modem -> Router -> wall line leading to my furnace room

In my furnace room: (From master bedroom line) ->Switch -> The rest of the lines in my house

So I go to plug in my Xbox in the family room to stream media from my computer in the master bedroom to my TV in the family room. When I'm streaming stuff, it works for the first 5 minutes or so, and then the network cuts out. I restart my Xbox and the network comes back on, but again 5 minutes into the streamed video, it cuts out again.

I don't understand why the network would work and then cut out and work again when I restart the Xbox. Is there some kind of conflict between the router and the switch that I'm not aware of? I currently have the D-Link DIR-655 router and a D-Link Switch (the 10/100 mbit one)

Anyways, if anyone could shed some light into this, it would be greatly appreciated :-)

[ken0042]

Do you have a laptop you could plug into the jack that the Xbox uses? Just so you can test.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Do you have a laptop you could plug into the jack that the Xbox uses? Just so you can test.

Funny thing. I actually did that last night. And the weird thing was, the jack would not connect to my laptop. But if I went to other rooms in my house, the jacks would all connect properly. So maybe it's a wiring thing? But then, if I plug in my Xbox in the family room jack, it connects to the internet until I stream video. Then it cuts out after 5 minutes into it.