Router Vs. Switch Performance

[krotchy]

Here is my setup:
2 Desktop Computers with gigabit ethernet ports
1 Laptop with 100 megabit ethernet, Wireless G Internal
1 Laptop with Gigabit, Wireless G internal
1 Network Printer
1 Xbox 360
Possibly a Wii and/or PS3 in the future

Which setup would you suggest? Currently I have a Linksys WRT54G router with the DD-WRT v23-SP1 firmware

Idea 1 (assume N isnt a draft, because I wont buy anything N until it is final)
Wireless N Router with 4x Gigabit ports: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127215

This router has 4 gigabit ports, so I could connect the 360, Printer and 2 Desktops via gigabit and have the future proofing of N when I get a new laptop(s). My question here is does a router performance act similar to a Hub or a Switch typically? As in will this thing provide 1Gb of speed for each of the 4 ports in a networking environment or just 1Gb for all to share.

Idea 2 (much easier upgrade and likely choice)
Buy this 8 port switch or similar: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127082
Then buy a wireless N router of any type later on (100 megabit or Gigabit)

Attach it directly to the router and hook up everything to the switch (including the laptops when I'm transferring big files). My question here is will I notice any delay or problems having a switch in between my router and my computer(s). I know that file transfers will definitely be improved between computers, but I dont know how good a router and a switch interface, especially with 100Mb WAN and 100Mb LAN ports on the router.


P.S. I plan to upgrade to N at some point, I am mainly trying to figure out if I need to find an N router with gigabit ports or if the switch will be the better solution in the end.

 

[nweaver]

a router is a NAT device hooked up (internally) to a switch. So switch performance == router performance (assuming there are no major h/w problems in one or the other)

 

[robmurphy]

I may be mising something here but from what I can see the Linksys WRT54G has a 4 x 10/100 switch, not gigabit.

Rob Murphy

 

[krotchy]

Originally posted by: robmurphy
I may be mising something here but from what I can see the Linksys WRT54G has a 4 x 10/100 switch, not gigabit.

Rob Murphy

That is precisely my point. Im deciding if my gigabit upgrade should be a new router, or just throwing a gigabit switch in front of my router.

 

[amdskip]

I would go with the switch in your situation.

 

[James Bond]

Maybe I didn't read your post thorougly but it seems like you never said where you're going to be putting the router/switch.

If it is at the entrance to your network (ie, right after the modem), then you need a router. Having a switch after the router (connecting to each host) would be a good idea.

 

[robmurphy]

Sorry, I miss-read your post.

The switch you link to has jumbo frame support so that should be OKand will give you more ports. It seems relatively cheap so if its not much more that a 10/100 switch you may as well get it. In the UK gigabit switches are about twice the prices of 10/100.

A word of caution, much depends on the Gigabit ethernet chipset in the PCs and laptops. I struggle to get anywere near the gigabit bandwidth on my home network. This seems to be quite common. Unless you are often moving arround large files (I do) you may not see any real benefit. Most people seem to get around 1 Gig per minute on file transfers. This corresponds to about 130 Mbits/sec, i.e. only 30% better than 100 Meg.

There would be no benefit in the wireless N router until you have a laptop with wireless N. You would be better of with the Linksys until then.


Just my 2p worth from here in the UK.

Rob Murphy

 

[Madwand1]

Originally posted by: krotchy
Idea 1 (assume N isnt a draft, because I wont buy anything N until it is final)

Final 802.11n's still a long ways off, so the question's pretty much answered for you from that perspective.

Originally posted by: krotchy
Idea 2 (much easier upgrade and likely choice)
Buy this 8 port switch or similar: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833127082
Then buy a wireless N router of any type later on (100 megabit or Gigabit)

Attach it directly to the router and hook up everything to the switch (including the laptops when I'm transferring big files). My question here is will I notice any delay or problems having a switch in between my router and my computer(s). I know that file transfers will definitely be improved between computers, but I dont know how good a router and a switch interface, especially with 100Mb WAN and 100Mb LAN ports on the router.

When you have another switch between the computers and the router, the limitations of the router's performance don't come into play for the bulk of the LAN communication -- that communication goes only as far as the switch, and from there goes directly through the switch to the other computer in the LAN. So it won't really matter how slow or fast your router is for local communication. And for non-local communication -- going through the router to the internet, it typically doesn't matter how fast your LAN connection is (unless you're in the very small minority with Internet service in the 100 Mb/s range or higher).

Consumer GbE switches are typically pretty fast. I have had performance problems with a slightly older D-Link with jumbo frames enabled (DGS-1008D). I'm not sure if the DGS-2208 cured the problem. The Netgear GS608 certainly doesn't have that problem.

30 MB/s is a reasonable goal for consumer gigabit, and is commonly achieved these days.

You can do much better with specific knowledge and equipment, but that isn't common yet.

 

[Fallen Kell]

Personally I would go with a dedicated 10/100/1000 multi-port switch and a separate wireless access point/router.

This way, you can upgrade either component as needed in the future, and not have to wait for a full featured all-in-one type device of the next generation stuff before you can upgrade. I personally have a 16 port 10/100/1000 managed ethernet switch and a Linksys WRT54GL running DD-WRT v23-SP3.

I have the following connected:
Sun E250 server (10/100 wired)
Sun Ultra60 workstation (10/100 wired)
1x Win2k server (10/100/1000 wired)
1x HTPC (see sig 10/100/1000 wired)
PS2 (10/100 wired)
Gamecube (10/100 wired)
2x laptops wireless G
Wii (wireless G)
mvp (media video player, can control and view all content from HTPC, wireless G)

Everything works great. I have a clean easy upgrade once the new wireless devices are available without effecting my wired network and vice-versa.