A few Switch facts I need help with...

[Caveman]

Cutting to the chase... Looking for the best bang for the buck 16 port Gigabit router. The 10/100 I have now doesn't cut it. It only feeds all lines with ~30Mbps (when fed with 115 from Comcast). I guess I need a 10/100/1000? Can you recommend one?

Some related questions:


1) Seems "odd" that switches are rated as 10/100 or 10/100/1000. Seems like they should just be rated to their top end... Or... is the way they are specified purposely done to show they are "down compatible" to the slower speed?

2) Should I care if it's managed?

3) Should I care if it's "smart"?

 

[Puffnstuff]

If you want to set the parameters on each port then go managed, otherwise go unmanaged. Smart refers to power usage and some of them will power down unused ports to save electricity. Again it is self explanatory, either you want it or you don't. If price is all you care about look at a trendnet and yes you want a 1 gbps switch.

I've used trendnet switches in individual rooms and they worked alright but I fed them from a HP procurve enterprise switch which isn't cheap but worth every penny to me.

 

[Engineer]

Edit #2: Forget everything I typed as your clarification below changes everything I was thinking. Sorry about that....

Edit: Nevermind, I read your title and assumed you were talking about simply a switch. Looks like you need a faster router. Good choices are Netgear R7000, Asus RT-AC68U (or AC68P which has a faster processor). They have good firmwares and both have good 3rd party firmware support. It's not the switch performance you're talking about, it's the routing performance.

Unless I'm mistaken, shouldn't a 10/100 switch be able to feed from port to port at 100Mbps?

If your switch is slowing you down, it's not a switch, it's a hub.

Also, are you talking about your router not being able to feed or the switch? Sounds more like a router question than a switch question.

 

[azazel1024]

If you are only getting 30Mbps, then you have something else going on. After TCP/IP and other application layer overheads, you should be getting something in the area of 90Mbps. Have you tried wiring directly to the router to see if you are actually getting 115Mbps?

I'd just go with an unmanaged 16 port TP-Link, DLink or Trendnet gigabit switch. They are all roughly the same quality level (decent) and reliability level (good) and price level (low). However, I'd trouble shoot first as, unless your current switch is dying, you are having a bottleneck/issue somewhere else.

 

[Caveman]

I'm very sorry gents, I can see the vagary of my original post leaves much up for grabs:

Here's my system and specs:

Comcast "Extreme" signal I'm paying for is supposed to be 100Mbps

MODEM: Surfboard SB6183 yields 115MBps (was tickled to see I'm actually getting more than I paid for which so rarely happens).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16825390006&cm_re=SB6183-_-25-390-006-_-Product
Modem Feeds Router 1.

ROUTER 1: Asus RT-N66U
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...320091&cm_re=Asus_(66U-_-33-320-091-_-Product
gets ~105-110 going out to the switch. Not sure why there's a small loss here but this "N" Router is supposed to be capable of 450Mbps. Main purpose of this router is to feed the main line into the switch which handles the house's qty 12 Cat 5 drops.

SWITCH: Cisco model number: EZXS16W 10/100 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=Linksys-EZXS16W-_-33-124-006-_-Product
Switch feeds 12 drops. I get approx. 25Mbps, regardless of which drop I test. The switch appears to be the issue. I did no configuration of it... Just plugged and played... One of the 12 drops feeds Router 2 in the office.

ROUTER 2: Asus AC2400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320208&cm_re=ac2400-_-33-320-208-_-Product
This router seems to be passing nearly 100% of what's its getting wired, to a wireless connection. I also have an Asus USB AC receiver and that makes no difference on the laptops. No surprise the AC router can't pass more than it's getting.

The idea is to get 100Mbps at each useable line. The assumption is that I can only get 100Mbps one line at a time or 10Mbps if 10 lines are in simultaneous use. The most I ever see in use at 1 time is 1 or 2... Everyone else will be using wifi.

All tests were done using speedtest.net

So, does the above data make sense. I would have though the specs on the swich would have made it much better than it's measuring... The obvious answer seems to be "get a better switch", but the switch I have should still be doing better I'd think... Someone already mentioned it should be passing more like 90Mbps...

Thoughts?

 

[Engineer]

Edit: Forget what I said. Looks like I jumped the gun and didn't read very well.

If you are getting 105-110Mbps out of the router and only 25Mbps out of the switch, then I've screwed up and agree with others. Either you have a cabling issue or the switch is bad.

Sorry for mis-reading your OP.

 

[freeskier93]

Get a better switch, even a cheap 10/100/1000 switch will run circles around that thing you have now. Something I have learned since switching to a real gigabit connection is that manufacturers are flat out lying about speeds. We had a so called gigabit router, not a cheap one either, that fell flat on it's face when confronted with a gigabit fiber connection. So just because the Cisco/Linksys switch you have is expensive and claims 10/100 doesn't mean it's going to get anywhere near 100. A cheap 10/100/1000 switch might not be able to handle 1000 but it will at least guarentee to handle your 100 meg connection.

 

[mxnerd]

Did you test the Linksys 10/100 switch using a patch cable with a laptop or PC?

It's odd every ports on that switch gets 25Mbps only. Could it be in-wall patch cables and the switch make some kind of loop? Or probably the cable installation guys used low quality cat5 cables. Or maybe it's time to upgrade all cat5 cables to cat5e?

And like other users said, 16 ports TP-Link or TrendNet switches are so cheap now, no reason not to upgrade.

unmanaged http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0044GJ516/ref=psdc_281414_t1_B0001LS12C

smart switch http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704204

 

[Engineer]

By the way, when you were testing, did you have only the one port connected (or everything else turned off)? Just making sure that one (or more) rogue devices aren't sucking up your bandwidth (virus, etc)?

 

[Caveman]

By the way, when you were testing, did you have only the one port connected (or everything else turned off)? Just making sure that one (or more) rogue devices aren't sucking up your bandwidth (virus, etc)?

First test was in one of the unused ports (16 port switch where 11 are used). Then, unplugged all 11 and did multiple tests from some of the other drops and kept getting approx the same performance... Same cable was used to verify 115 out of the Modem so cable is cleared of being the weak link.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

First test was in one of the unused ports (16 port switch where 11 are used). Then, unplugged all 11 and did multiple tests from some of the other drops and kept getting approx the same performance... Same cable was used to verify 115 out of the Modem so cable is cleared of being the weak link.

Sorry if I missed this part, but what about from the first router to the switch? Have you verified that the Switch is getting 100+ Mbps?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

2) Should I care if it's managed?

3) Should I care if it's "smart"?

For your application, the answer to both of these questions is "nah, probably not worth the bother or expense."

 

[Caveman]

Yes, the switch was getting ~105 Mbps.

I figured the managed and smart are beyond what I need... FWIW, I ended up getting the following. I'm hoping it solves my issues...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...yMark=False&IsFeedbackTab=true#scrollFullInfo

 

[Caveman]

Ok... Here's how the story is unfolding:

The new switch works great. I can "see" up to 120Mbos on the backside of the switch at remote drops across my house and can get that much over Wifi as well with an AC router at a remote location that's getting the Ethernet feed (CAT 5E cabling everywhere).

Unfortunately, it's an inconsistent COMCRAP signal feed.

Noticed after running Speedtest.net and Comcast Xfinity tests that the speed varies from 15Mbps to 115Mbps. Sometimes it will stay at 100+ for 5 tests in a row... Sometimes 50+ for 5 tests in a row... Then 1 at 30, 1 at 55, etc... All over the map. Discovered the Surfboard modem was not sending a MAC address (Comcast was using ASUS router's MAC). Found this out when we tried direct connection to the Surfboard and could never make a valid Network on the PC and it would never "register"...

Swapped out the Modem to the CISCO modem that Comcast had... Could now see the modem MAC and could register but no difference in erratic speeds. All Dbs, etc "in spec"... Scratches head...

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Cable modem? My assumption is that you are on a congested network segment.