Routers

[Booth1]

I have been looking at this switch Linksys SLM2008 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch any one have recmondations please let me know

thanks

[slemay]

Dell Switches are GREAT - and if it's a tiny network - yes the switch built into the WRVS4400N is also great (only 4 ports though).

[joed]

I know this thread has moved past the "what router" phase, but I wanted to add that I use a Cisco ASA 5505 for my router. Its a full commercial grade firewall, with a 8 port switch and supports IPSEC and SSL VPN's. Two of the 8 ports are also POE capable.

I agree with some of the previous posts that if you are going to spend $10,000's of dollars on our automation gear, it also makes sense to go with a commercial grade network.

The base ASA can be had for under $400 at places like Amazon.

- Joe

disclosure - I work for Cisco

[thecodeman]

Someone reccomended to me the 3com 3C1670500B-US. They no longer are available. I bought a 3C1670500C-US instead and have yet to get it and install it. Keep in mind that all this HD streaming sounds great but you wont get Master Audio quaility and you wont get BD quality.

If your source is BD and includes those audio formates, and the player supports those formats, then yes, you can

[c019740]

I'm talking about recording a movie off of one of those internet sights.

If you record a BD onto something I'm sure you could. Lots of storage space though.

[hehateme]

jdorman can you recommend a CISCO gigabit adapter that supports POE.

I want to upgrade to a gigabit router. I am getting Control4 system installed.

It is very hard to find a good gigabit router that also supports POE and is less than $500.

I might just buy a non POE router like the one you have mentioned and buy POE injectors.

[Matt]

Good luck on finding a router with POE

My recommendation would be to get a Linksys wrvs4400n and then getting a switch with POE.

[hehateme]

Matt,

I misspoke. I actually wanted a 24 port gigabit switch with POE.

I have wired network at home.

I would love to get Dell Powerconnect 3524p or something made by HP Procurve line but they are too expensive.

[slemay]

PoE is very expensive when it's on every port. Look at the business line of Linksys products - they make smaller configurations that work quite well. But Dell is some of the cheapest out there for 24 ports!! Trust us - we've tried others that were only a little less - and they failed. Dell is the best price for what you're asking for.

[hehateme]

After doing a lot of searching I came to the conclusion that 16 to 24 Port Gigabit switches with POE were very expensive.

Since my Control4 system will only have 5 touch screens I decided to buy HP Procurve 1800. It is a 24 port Gigabit managed switch.

It comes with a life time warranty. It wasn't the cheapest switch but it will be the backbone of my home av and computer network.

I will just use POE injector for now.

[slemay]

Managed switches have been known to have issues / problems with Control4. I'd 2nd think that and maybe go with a non-managed switch if possible.

[dgbrown]

With all do respect that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Every high end commercial/enterprise grade switch is managable. I assume you mean mean via snmp. If C4 fails with network gear that is enterprise ready then I have to question c4 not the gear. For a company that has such a focus on network stability, and extra training of their dealers to school them up in internetworking this makes no sense. First hand, I can tell you my C4 install works seamlessly with managed catalyst poe swicths, ASA firewalll's and cisco WAP's in my own residential environment.

Any defect is likely the due to the installer not the gear.

[Kevin L]

Managed switches have been known to have issues / problems with Control4. I'd 2nd think that and maybe go with a non-managed switch if possible.

let me fix this statement..

Control4 has problems with Mac Authentication and Spanning Tree. and its also best to disable any bandwidth management. If you disable those you are fine.. I only use managed switches on my jobs

[dgbrown]

When you say mac authentication are you speaking of 802.1x which may be applicable to certain wap environments or just mac filtering ? In terms of QOS/COS, what are the specific issues ? I don;t run the former but do run the later for VOIP priority and have not seem any issues.

[Kevin L]

mac filtering.. you can use mac authentication for your wireless needs. as far as QOS goes i dont see giving VOIP priority a problem

[joed]

Managed switches have been known to have issues / problems with Control4. I'd 2nd think that and maybe go with a non-managed switch if possible.

let me fix this statement..

Control4 has problems with Mac Authentication and Spanning Tree. and its also best to disable any bandwidth management. If you disable those you are fine.. I only use managed switches on my jobs

I would be curious to know what the issues are with MAC authentication and spanning tree. As Control4 moves into other business (like their hospitality suite solution) those would become more important.

- Joe

[dgbrown]

Any time sensitive network application or isochronous traffic (think voice) will be susceptible to spt convergence. So I can see some glimmer of truth here. That said, we're talking about small residential networks, likely with limited loops (read redundant paths), and hence minimal convergence time. Like I said earlier, most network issues related to C4 are going to be installer related no the fault of gear.

To you're partial restate of my questions: what's the deal with C4 and 802.1x or mac filtering ? Still no answer.

Audio Atmosphere seems no problem with COS or QOS, nor do I.

[joed]

Any time sensitive network application or isochronous traffic (think voice) will be susceptible to spt convergence. So I can see some glimmer of truth here. That said, we're talking about small residential networks, likely with limited loops (read redundant paths), and hence minimal convergence time. Like I said earlier, most network issues related to C4 are going to be installer related no the fault of gear.

My question is more of a general one based on what Audio Atmosphere has said a couple of threads back. I stated that it would be more of an issue in the new applications that control4 is getting into, rather than the home market. A hotel running the hospitality solution from Control4 will have spanning tree and some type of network authentication configured......or at least i would hope.

Regarding spanning tree, 802.1w can reconverge a network at sub second speeds vs 30+ sec with 802.1D. Unless you are running something like circuit emulation over IP, you should not see any impact once 802.1w is configured.

I have yet to see 802.1w make its way down to many commercial grade switches.

Regarding MAC authentication, this is done once the machine joins the wired or wireless network. I have seen issues with enterprise customers where host based authentication can mess up a machine trying to reach is domain controller. Does control4 has a similar issue.....

I assume that control4 is using the default network stack in whatever linux build they are building equipment on. This makes it sound like they tweaked that stack?

I would like to understand more about what Audio Atmosphere was saying. What are Control4's issues with spanning tree and network authentication?

- Joe