Increasing available switch ports on a LAN

[GordonA]

I have a Cisco CPW1100 24-port switch that I have used for gaming LAN parties. I currently have no router, so the LAN is isolated from the Net. However, at my next LAN we may have more than 24 computers connected at a time.

I don't know exactly how switches work, in spite of my reading these threads, so my question is "Can I increase the number of PC's connected to the LAN simply by plugging another switch into one of the ports on my main switch?" In other words, if I go out and by another 24-port switch and connect it to my current 24-port switch, will I now have a functioning network with 48 ports (well, I suppose 46, if I need one port from each switch to connect them)? Basically, I'm asking about daisy-chaining switches. I don't know if this will work, and I also don't know if I need a router to configure this internal expansion.

Please advise.
Thx- Gordon.

 

[dphantom]

Switches can be daisy-chained often thru an uplink port on the switch. The CPW1100 is before my time so cannot speak to that.

 

[skyking]

If the new switch has an uplink port, connect it to the 1100 with a regular cable.
If no uplink but it has auto MDI/MDI-X, connect it from any port to the 1100 with a regular cable.
If none of the switches have MDI/MDI-X, connect it from any port to the 1100 with a crossover cable.
MDI/MDI-X means that the switch senses wether it needs to be a crossover or straight through port, and takes care of it automatically

 

[GordonA]

Very helpful, thank you both.

I take it that I do *not* require a router to sort out local packets.

 

[skyking]

you don't need a router, but you will need to either:
1) manually assign IP address, netmask, or
2)hook up a dhcp server.

 

[ScottMac]

And, of course, all of the PCs connected to switch B will be sharing the bandwidth of the link going to switch A ... if you have a number of systems attached to both, communication between the switches might slow down a tad.


Good Luck

Scott