Question Does having unused Ethernet cables hooked into managed switch hurt performance?

Wavve31

Junior Member
Dec 16, 2018
1
0
6
Hi. I have a brand new house where each room was pre wired with cat 6 Ethernet. Im only using 4 lines out of 12 at the momen. But all lines are currently hooked into a Cisco unmanaged switch. Will the unused Ethernet connections possibly hurt network performance?
 
Feb 25, 2011
16,777
1,466
126
Agreed. No.

It's not really plugged in until there's something at the other end of the wire to complete the circuit.

You can see on the switch which ports have their link/act lights blinking.
 

mv2devnull

Golden Member
Apr 13, 2010
1,495
143
106
As said, no. No active device at the other end of cable equals no cable at all.


Lets imagine different scenario. 48-port switch. Each port connected to a PC that is on. Only two PC's talk with each other just now.

Does that "hurt performance"? No.

Okay. 24 of the PC's talk to the other 24. All 48 ports active, 24 pairs of peer-to-peer communication.
Does that hurt? No. Quality switch is made for that.
 

Hi-Fi Man

Senior member
Oct 19, 2013
601
120
106
It's not a coaxial or SCSI connection where you need terminators to avoid reflections. The ports are independent from one another and are shut off at the switch when not in use.
 

dionasaur

Member
Nov 2, 2009
84
0
66
If this is a managed switch that is unmanaged, why not start managing it and shut down the ports that are not being used if you are suspicious?