Daisy changing switches vs running extra drops?

[Kelemvor]

So just a question on whether or not this matters.

In my house, I have one main switch that then feeds a line to each room in my house. I've come to the point where at certain points I'd like to have more than one device plugged in (E.g. Xbmc PC and Xbox360 next to each other).

This leaves me with 2 options.
1) I can slap a small switch behind them and plug them each into that and then plug the switch into the wall jack.
2) I can run another line from the basement up to that spot and have two separate connections that would run back to the main switch.

Is there any benefit to doing option 2 in a real world situation? Meaning anything I'd actually notice when viewing movies or anything?

Thanks.

[theevilsharpie]

Expanding an Ethernet network with downstream switches is perfectly acceptable. The only disadvantage is that the downstream devices are limited to however much bandwidth your uplink has.

If you're using Gigabit Ethernet, I doubt you'd have any problems. If you're using an Ethernet link with less bandwidth, you may want to run another drop.

[kevnich2]

For home use - adding switches downstream is perfectly fine. In a business environments, however, you run into issues where I think it's cheaper to run home run lines to a larger central central switch.

[_Rick_]

If you're pulling wire anyway - pulling two strands won't hurt. More is probably not worth it.

Daisy chaining switches is okay, as long as you don't decide to loop them up.
If you need a bigger-than-8-port switch on both sides of the interconnect, then you might want to start looking at switches with 10Gbit uplink.

[Kelemvor]

Everything is already pulled. It's just a matter of if I go pull another run just for this one area, or if I just find a small switch and plug it in there.

I have an 8 port switch in the basement that feeds 7 spots in the house as I never need them all up at once. Would just be adding a little 4 or 5 port one behind the entertainment center for the above listed devices to use.

[Zap]

Originally Posted by Kelemvor

Would just be adding a little 4 or 5 port one behind the entertainment center for the above listed devices to use.

You're in luck! Black Friday deals...

TRENDnet TEG-S80G 8-port gigabit switch with metal casing and "green" operation (uses less power) $19.49 shipped.

There's also one that is 50 cents cheaper but uses a plastic casing. Unless mounting it to something the metal one stays put better due to weight - cables won't pull it off a shelf.

[nusyo]

if you can, just run the wire (when (if) you'll sell the house you can point out this)

The only possible downside of using more switches as opose to 1 big switch is that if one of those small switches fail, you can't use more than one device at that location until you replace the switch (but you're talking about home use, so it's not life & death situation)

I have 3 going to media center (1 for tv, 1 for htpc & 1 for dvd)

[dave_the_nerd]

Chances are you're not using multiple devices at the same time (won't be streaming video to the TV while playing X-Box.)?

In which case, a switch is fine.

[Kelemvor]

Originally Posted by dave_the_nerd

Chances are you're not using multiple devices at the same time (won't be streaming video to the TV while playing X-Box.)?

In which case, a switch is fine.

Exactly. It's more just so I don't have to change the cords every time I want to do something different.

[dave_the_nerd]

Originally Posted by Kelemvor

Exactly. It's more just so I don't have to change the cords every time I want to do something different.

Then no biggie - the upstream bandwidth limitation only comes into play if you're trying to get full throughput on >1 port.

[Red Squirrel]

I'm a big fan of centralizing everything. That way all the equipment is contained in one or more specific central areas. In a bigger building you'd have several wiring closets, in a house just one most likely. This opens up more options is to what you can do with the jacks. ex: have a port that goes to something else. Also it's easier to UPS protect network equipment that is in one location than spread all over.

[gsaldivar]

If you don't need gigabit speeds, you can use one of these on each end of a drop to turn a single cable into two drops:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

[mammador]

Don't you need STP installed to prevent Layer 2 loops?

Seems like too much configuration needed for a home setup.

That said, it will be easier to install than placing more drops in each room.

[kevnich2]

Originally Posted by mammador

Don't you need STP installed to prevent Layer 2 loops?

Seems like too much configuration needed for a home setup.

That said, it will be easier to install than placing more drops in each room.

Why would he need STP for a loop? There's never been a discussion of making a loop. His options are add a switch to his existing single cable or run another secondary cable back to his main switch so he has two home runs so he can skip the switch. Either situation would work. Now if he did two runs and also hooked up a switch and connected BOTH runs to the single switch....that would be a problem but that's never been brought up.

[dave_the_nerd]

Sufficient:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833166034

[ch33zw1z]

drop a switch in the room. you'll be fine.