Switch or No switch
 

I run my shub2 in modem mode, but between my develo 3 port 500av plug and my asus rt-65u ive basically run out of ports, would it make any difference enabling the ports on the shub and using them, or for better speed would i be better adding a switch like the Netgear GS108?
Thanks.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

I would add a 3rd party switch as you have suggested so you are still letting your asus router do the routing. In order to use the ports on the shub you would basically be using it as a switch which means it would have to be taken out of modem mode and put into router mode and you are only asking yourself for a whole load of trouble if you do that. You have already taken the first step and got a proper router, now you just need a switch and you can get perfectly decent ones for £10-£20.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

Cheers general, what do you think of the GS108, its been out a while, i basically dont want any bottleneck with what i need to plug in.
Thanks.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

I've got a GS108 doing exactly what you want to distribute BT Infinity from the Devolo.

Also I use the Netgear FS108P to provide distribution from my router connected to the SH2 in modem mode.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

Ta mate, off to get one.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

i've used the "managed" version of the GS108 for last few months but it's about double the price (Amazon) of the unmanaged switch and most likely an overkill for the OP anyway:
https://www.cableforum.co.uk/images/local/2013/10/1.png

Re: Switch or No switch
 

The stats available looked attractive until I checked out the price and saw this is only a 10/100 swich according to Amazon :( I see yours shows gigabit ???

Re: Switch or No switch
 

FS108(T) = Fast = 100M
GS108(T) = Gigabit = 1000M

I'm assuming you got confused over the model numbers since the Amazon GS108T does clearly say Gigabit in the title and description:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-GS10.../dp/B000RAILSQ

Re: Switch or No switch
 

A managed switch seems rather overkill for domestic use. You'd have to be pushing loads of data for any difference to be noticeable. Even at NTHW's infamous LAN parties, we only daisy chain unmanaged gigabit switches, and don't have problems with people gaming, whilst others are leeching 10s of gigs of "stuff" between PCs.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

The point of a managed switch isn't anything to do with how much data or throughput you need, it's down to well, obviously manageability.

Even cheapo gigabit switches from ten years ago had no problem maintaining maximum wire-speed throughput, the advantage of managed is being able to see and control what goes where and how.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

Is there anyway to 'run' the managed firmware on the unmanaged device or are they different hardware?

Re: Switch or No switch
 

Probably, but if you screw up you'll get no help fixing it.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

I don't care I'm daft like that, do I get any help potentially breaking it that is what I'm asking...

Re: Switch or No switch
 

I wouldn't imagine they're the same hardware at all, unmanaged switches are incredibly dumb and don't need to do much but managed switches actually do quite a bit.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

The manufacturers certainly won't condone it - whether you can do it depends on the make and model of the specific device.

Actually you'll find most "unmanaged" switches have the same circuitry and hardware as required for those managed functions - hence even the £5 DIR-615 can be software modified to perform all the functions of the GS108T above. Except the gigabit part.

It's often actually cheaper to equip home wireless routers with switches incorporating those management functions than without, so most do by default - hardware wise that is. It's only the really high end (large enterprise/carrier/ISP grade rackmount chassis) that have real dedicated hardware for management features, often business/SME stuff is just a few lines of code layered on top of some standard ethernet chip

Re: Switch or No switch
 

There's a difference between a router (DIR-615) and an unmanaged switch, though. I'm talking about your general unmanaged switch.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

Routers almost always have a separate switch chip in them to handle the ethernet ports, which will be of the same range if not the same model as those used in pure unmanaged switches.

Turn off the router part (or wipe the router firmware) and the thing just boots up as a dumb unmanaged switch.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

Yeah, I'm not debating that. I'm saying that if you go out and buy an unmanaged switch, it's very unlikely to contain the hardware that will let you turn it into a managed switch, even if you could find some way to flash its firmware.

A router is a different matter entirely, though.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

But is it not the case that most electronics manufacturers just use the same hardware in a variety of models because it is cheaper to run one line and just enable/disable features via software?

Re: Switch or No switch
 

Well sure it is, but the hardware required for a managed switch is several times more powerful than what you need for an unmanaged switch. In fact, it's probably into router-grade territory.

By all means, find me a cheap unmanaged switch that can be flashed with a managed switch firmware, I'll be on that in a shot. If it has PoE, even better.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

TBH I find all standalone consumer switches to be pretty overpriced these days. But part of that bias is from my knowing how much more powerful a similarly priced and similarly specced consumer router is.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

I wouldn't generally pay more than about £15 for an unmanaged gigabit switch and even then I'd be pushing for an 8-port one. Anything more than that and as you say, a router would probably do a better job, though finding gigabit routers at that price (that can be flashed with something beyond a basic firmware) is a challenge as well.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

I know what you mean but i dont nind paying an extra few £££ for something which i know is going to work. When i got my nas and two media players this time last year i bought a Linksys/Cisco switch for £25 because i wanted a switch which i knew was going to handle the streaming between the devices properly and pass all the youtube traffic and stuff up to the router

Re: Switch or No switch
 

For £15, yeah, back when I last checked the cheapest 5-8 port gigabit switches were around £30.

And for £30 there's quite a wide range of Openwrt capable gigabit routers available.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

You can't have checked recently, here's a quick google:

TP-link 5-port Gigabit switch for less than £14

Netgear 8-port gigabit switch for less than £18

I'm sure I've seen the odd 8-port go for about £15 as well, but these are entirely unmanaged. I'd be shocked if they could be software upgraded to anything else. As you say, for anything more then your next step is to buy a cheapish router.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

You're right, last checked around 2009. Since then I've just been buying up N routers with built in gigabit switches. To be fair prices hadn't changed much in the few years prior to that so I'm surprised they dropped so much since.

Re: Switch or No switch
 

Yeah, I think the manufacturers must have hit a turning point where it was cheaper to produce all gigabit chipsets than some gigabit and some 10/100. I still see a lot of routers that are only 10/100 though, which annoys me.