looking to replace router/ speed question/ should I use a switch ?

[Kremerica]

ok, my current setup is this:
3Mbps Roadrunner -> Netgear Gateway Router RT314-> connects 3 computers and printer on network

my internet has been bogging down lately and wondering if replacing old router will speed things up?
I am wondering if doing internet sharing on the gateway router is slower than getting a dedicated switch. I still want the Routers firewall functionality of subnet masking, I don't share alot of files, so I don't need gigabit speed. (it wouldn't speed the internet connection up at all anyways)

I have done the latest firmware upgrades to the netgear router.
Just thinking of two setups that might be faster for sharing internet.

A. keep the router I have and get a 5 port switch, attach the switch to one of the router ports, that way, the switch is doing the internet sharing and switching functions instead of the router. Would this actually be any faster ? looking at getting the Netgear FS608 if I add a switch. If I add a switch to the router, will I be able to assign ip's to each computer on the switch ?

B. replacing the router with a new one. but I need 5 ports. so... Linksys BEFSR81 would solve the port requirements, its a router with 8 port switch.


so my basic question is:
1. if I get a new router will it be any faster than the old one I have ?
2. if I put a switch on the current router will it function any faster ?
3. is there something I am missing ? whats the best way to handle my setup?

thanks for reading, any info would help

 

[JackMDS]

In most circumstances ?Internet Bogging? has nothing to do with Routers.

Put the computer directly on the modem and use it for while to see if the ?Bogging goes away?.

A1: I doubt that any New or Old Working Routers will make any difference.

A1: Adding switch will do nothing as far as Speed Concerns. down).

A3: Try first to optimize you TCP/IP Stack.

Download DrTCP: <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.dslre
ports.com/front/DRTCP021.exe">http://www.dslreports.com/front/DRTCP021.exe</a>

Run the program, it will show the current settings of TCP/IP parameters. Write them down.

You can change any variable that you want, click Apply, and reboot the computer, if no good; you can always change to your original values.

Start with:

MaxMTU - for DSL =1492 Cable=1500 ISND =1322 DialUp=576

Tcp Receive ? 256960 (This is the variable to play with)

Window Scaling - Yes

Time Stamping - No

Selective Acks - Yes

Path MTU Discovery - Yes.

Black Hole - NO

Max Duplicate - 2

TTL - 64

Notice it said above Start with

These settings are not written in "stone" there is variability depending on the computer other setting. So try few setting and measure your Download for each setting.

In addition, in case a person has a Router the Router's MTU if set differently can affect the general MTU.

Link: Measuring the "Speed" of Internet Connection.

:sun:

 

[Goosemaster]

I used to have a Netgear router much like that one, and it's specs said that it's WAN ports max speed was 1.5Mbps using Stateful Packet inspection. HTat one does not seem to have SPI though.

Also, subnet masking by iteself is not considered a "security " feature.

 

[Goosemaster]

keep this in mind.

A switch by itself, assuming your IP's are setup correctly, allows you to use various protocols such as TCP/IP and Netbui between terminals. This basically means that you can use an ftp server etc to access stuff on other machines connected to the switch if they are configured correctly. A router handles data that is traversing a joining of two networks. This is why you have a different PUBLIC IP address than the ones your pc's usually have(192.168.0.x for netgear's default) This model, as many others, has a switch built-in. In light of this, you must realize that a switch is NOT a router, and should not be used to connect two sperate networks. COX will only give you one public IP, and switch will be asking for an IP for every attached device...it will not work for more than one connected machine.

Basically, your internet performance and any relation to the speed of the switch are irrelevant. The switch can transfer 100Mbps in both directions simultaneously, while, as you stateds, your internet connection maxes out @ 3Mbps. Adding another switch behind it will do nothing more than give you more ports.


In some cases, such as with my router which is like 7 years old, it has a built in 4-port 10Mbps HUB, which proves to be awfully slow when transfering files (think of switches as smart hubs) , so a 100Mbps switch connected to one port allows for 100Mbps transfers between PCs but it does not affect traffic going to the router and to the internet. THis is not your case, but merely an illustration of my network setup so you can visualize the application of a switch.