Please help me with this network setup, PIC inside.

[I0s]

Hello,
I am helping someone with a home office network, would appreciate any help or advice you can give.

Hardware:
-Linksys WRT54GL with Firmware Version: v4.71.1, Hyperwrt 2.1b1 + Thibor15c
-Dell Powerconnect 2708 8-Port Gigabit Switch
-All Cable will be Cat6 cables

Please refer to the attached picture for the setup. Setup Picture
Please let me know if the setup is right and will work. I already have a WRT54gl and going to buy a Powerconnect 2708. Connected Port1 of wrt to port1 of 2708, simply to access the internet. I will assign a static IP for the 2708 and turn off DHCP on 2708. The 4 computers connected on the 2708 will be backing up data on the NAS server almost everyday, also the NAS server will be accessed regularly for shared data.

My concerns are:
1. what static IP should i assign for 2708, linksys is 192.168.1.1?
2. Since wrt54gl is the one assigning IP addresses will my network slow down because wrt54gl is only capable of 100Mb? I really need the speed of the 2708 gigabit switch due to the constant data transfer between the 4 computer and NAS server on the 2708 switch.
3. Does the RJ45 Modular (plug) matter if one the packaging it says only 10/100?
4. How can I increase security to the network? btw, the wireless on the wrt54gl will be on for 4 laptops

Thats all I can think about. Please do question me if you see flaws in the design.

Thank you for your time.

 

[nweaver]

1. don't build cables, buy them
2. turn off DNS on the 2708????
3. Why are you assigning the switch an IP (managment?)
4 100 Mb/s is PLENTY for DHCP to hand out ip's...

 

[I0s]

Originally posted by: nweaver
1. don't build cables, buy them
2. turn off DNS on the 2708????
3. Why are you assigning the switch an IP (managment?)
4 100 Mb/s is PLENTY for DHCP to hand out ip's...

Thanks for the quick reply. Btw, I am not a expert on networking, just know basic home networking, please bare with me and apologize in advance for my newbieness =).

1. Buying them individually might become very costly, I do have experience in making cables.
2. Ops, I meant DHCP, my bad.
3. Do not I need to assign an IP to the switch so that the router knows where to assign the packets?
4. What I meant by was will not the traffic need to go all the way back to the wrt54gl router since it assigns IP or will the traffic from a computer on the 2708 switch directly go to the NAS server without going through the router?

Thanks

 

[JackMDS]

You got a fancy Super Switch, but it is not a Managed switch. Using it with a small peer-to-peer Network, you should leave it alone and let it act like any other passive switch.

 

[I0s]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
You got a fancy Super Switch, but it is not a Managed switch. Using it with a small peer-to-peer Network, you should leave it alone and let it act like any other passive switch.

Oh, so just plug the 2708 switch into wrt54gl router and change address if conflicting with address of wrt54gl and done??

 

[JackMDS]

Yap, all address should be assigned by Router's DHCP.

Static addresses shiuld be of the same subnet as the Router core IP.

Linksys WRT54GL with Firmware Version: v4.71.1, Hyperwrt 2.1b1 + Thibor15c has a Static DHCP capacity. Therefore, instead of Static IP you can reserve an IP to each device within the DHCP range.

You would get a more stable easy to use Network if you would assign/reserve Static IP atleast for the Printers and the NAS.

But since you the Router with Static DHCP you might as well reserve an IP to all Networked devices.

 

[I0s]

Thx again JackMDS and putting up with me, appreciate your patience.

For the setup, I will leave it as its drawn, but for the software part, please correct me if I am wrong, I will have to turn off DHCP on 2708 switch and on wrt54gl assign say 192.168.1.009 and done. So if I want to access the 2708 management interface, i just type 192.168.1.009 and I am in?? btw wrt54gl is 192.168.1.1.
Or, if you think there is a better and more efficient way of setting this up , I am open to options.

Thanks

 

[JackMDS]

Yap, use such a configuration and start using the Network.

Once every thing is working and you become familiar with what your Network can do you can change as you go.

 

[I0s]

 

[I0s]

Originally posted by: JackMDS
Yap, use such a configuration and start using the Network.

Once every thing is working and you become familiar with what your Network can do you can change as you go.

Thanks Jack (Bauer), another job well done =)