Question Thinking about a new switch, 16 port vs mess of 5 and 8 ports

[mikeford]

Current network is cable modem, wifi router w 5 ports, 8 port switch, another 8 port switch, and a 5 port hub supporting all the devices for one user. I'm thinking next switch needs to be a 16 port GBE with at least a couple faster ports for expected new PCs. Two main NAS units both have dual GBe and support bonding the two NICs, which uses up 4 ports alone, and seems like its more common to find bonding in 16 port switches. No plans to buy until the two main PC users get upgrades, not likely added NICs, but next gen motherboards with faster ethernet.

 

[razel]

Buy whatever suits your needs.

 

[mikeford]

Figuring out those needs and how best to accommodate them is the idea.

What is starting to look good as a "next" move is to take advantage of existing GBe hardware with a 16 port switch that supports bonding, and adding a dual port card to my main PC. Both of my main NAS units support bonding their dual NICs, and most of the big data moving will be sorting, shuffling files, etc between the two NAS units and the main PC. Should give me double speed at a very moderate cost, less than $100 total, some speed and/or latency improvements for the rest of my network, with the downside of increased power consumption until faster, cheaper and green devices show up.

 

[sdifox]

Used enterprise gear? Example

Cisco WS-C2960S-24TS-L 24 Port Managed 10/100/1000 Gigabit Switch | eBay

Model Number :CISCO WS-C2960S-24TS-L. Quantity Available: 50.

www.ebay.com

 

[JackMDS]

I hope that you are aware that LAN Bonding will improve Local Wire Transfer but would not do anything for Wireless and Internet "Speed".