Switch/Router Question

[ILoveC4]

Hey guys. I have been using a Linksys WRT54g (total bad boy - I know ) for years with my system, and it has been working great. I decided due to some upgrade plans I have in the near future that I should get a new router. I went and bought the linksys 4400n, and have been having nothing but problems. I don't benefit from the wireless N, because everything I have is wireless g. I spent two hours on the phone with linksys on two different occasions, and it started acting up again this morning. I pulled it out and put my WRT54g back in and it is working flawlessly. The question I have is if I buy a 16 port gigabit switch, can I hook that up to the WRT54g and still benefit from the gigabit? Will I be able to bind/assign IP address for certain devices?

I will essentially hook everything up to the switch and just use the WRT54g to serve up the wireless internet.

Thoughts?

[thecodeman]

If you use the gigabit switch, and the devices you plug into it are gigabit capable, you will see the benefit on those devices.

Since the WRT54G is a router/switch, you'll want it to serve the DHCP on your network, and plug the switch into one of it's switch ports. Make the DHCP scope range on the opposite end of the subnet than your static IP addresses, say make DHCP 192.168.1.200 - 192.168.1.250. Put your static IP gear (WRT54G, control4 gear, etc) at the beginning of the range (192.168.1.1-192.168.1.10 for example).

In using the WRT54G, it could be the "bottleneck" between your ISP and your network gear being "only" 10/100, but since the c4 gear doesent use gigE and no one here has a residential ISP connection that can take advantage of gigE it's not an issue. The main benefit is going to be between your devices on your network, for music / video streaming.

Internet

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Modem

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WRT54G --- wireless clients

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Switch

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Gear

[lippavisual]

You have to remember that the 54G is not rated for gigabit, so a gigabit router would suit you better.

[thecodeman]

You have to remember that the 54G is not rated for gigabit, so a gigabit router would suit you better.

True, but is gigE at the router really needed? I can see gigE on the lan, for sure. But we are just now seeing 18 and 50mbits/s (mega*bits* per second, not bytes) theroetical to the home.

[ILoveC4]

That was my thought as well. As long as I hook everything up the way that thecodeman stated all the devices should be able to communicate with each other over gigE becuase the switch is gigE. All the router will do is pass the internet connection along. I have a great internet connection from Comcast, but as thecodeman pointed out it doesn't exceed the capabilities of the WRT54g.

I think I will go exchange my router for a 16 port gigabit switch with 8 PoE ports.

[thecodeman]

That was my thought as well. As long as I hook everything up the way that thecodeman stated all the devices should be able to communicate with each other over gigE becuase the switch is gigE. All the router will do is pass the internet connection along. I have a great internet connection from Comcast, but as thecodeman pointed out it doesn't exceed the capabilities of the WRT54g.

I think I will go exchange my router for a 16 port gigabit switch with 8 PoE ports.

Good luck, and have fun

[bog]

Using the WRT54G is totally fine as your router. It's not going to be a bottleneck unless you have over 100 Mbps Internet access.

As mentioned above, just use the ports on the gigE switch for any devices and you're good. The WRT54G can still be the router and DHCP server.

I have a gigE Dlink NAS that will plug into the switch and will benefit when transfering files on the LAN with other gigE devices. hmmmm... now I wonder if there are any gigE media streamers.

[ILoveC4]

You bet there are gigE media streamers. The one I am waiting for is the Netgear 9150, which should be launching any day now.