Mad Cow Posted August 1, 2011 Posted August 1, 2011 Hi all! I have a 3 year old Linksys WRT45G wireless router that is due for an upgrade. However, I have dd-wrt running on it with specialized configuration, corporate level features, and a great interface that I'm reluctant to give up. Currently, I have wired connections for my computers to minimize latencies and maximize bandwidth to my NAS, but they're only 100mbps. I'm not super knowledgeable on the details of networking, so bear with this (probably very simplistic) question. Can I just buy a gigabit wired switch (newegg), and wire it into my existing linksys router? My goal would be to retain the configuration and utility of the Linksys router, while gaining gigabit speeds between my NAS and wired computers. if I hang a gigabit switch off the 10/100 infrastructure of the router, will that restrict the speed of the remaining switched ports? Thanks for your help! Let me know if I need to clarify anything or if you have any other suggestions. -Mike Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjloki Posted August 1, 2011 Posted August 1, 2011 i have an e2000 running so nicely here at the house that i had 3 more purchased at work to replace the old linksys fast ethernet's we had ...gigabit work site, and gigabit home, fast wireless and capable of my nas and all my rigs. only issue you'll have is reconfiguring your settings. but once it's done you'll be able to save them onboard the router... (maybe there's a way to save your settings and transmit them to the new router)...a gigabit switch will speed up your gigabit machines but won't increase the speeds of the fast ethernet router... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
medbor Posted August 1, 2011 Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) The port on the switch going to the router will be downgraded (obviously to 100Mbit) but all others on the switch will be the maximum of what the device plugged in can handle (unless it is a really crappy switch). I don't know how the data is set up to travel on your network, but usually all internet traffic will go through the router, and all traffic between wired and wireless will be clogged on the 100mbit connection (between switch and router) not that wireless is that fast ever though... But speed between devices connected to the switch directly will be gigabit if the devices support it. Edit: speling Edited August 1, 2011 by medbor Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Cow Posted August 2, 2011 Posted August 2, 2011 The port on the switch going to the router will be downgraded (obviously to 100Mbit) but all others on the switch will be the maximum of what the device plugged in can handle (unless it is a really crappy switch). I don't know how the data is set up to travel on your network, but usually all internet traffic will go through the router, and all traffic between wired and wireless will be clogged on the 100mbit connection (between switch and router) not that wireless is that fast ever though... But speed between devices connected to the switch directly will be gigabit if the devices support it. Edit: speling great! that's what I was looking for. Since I only have a 12Mbps internet connection and wireless reception caps at ~36mbps, I'm not worried about the 100mbps limit to the router. All wired devices support gigabit. Will the router's DHCP work on devices hooked into the switch? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjloki Posted August 2, 2011 Posted August 2, 2011 great! that's what I was looking for. Since I only have a 12Mbps internet connection and wireless reception caps at ~36mbps, I'm not worried about the 100mbps limit to the router. All wired devices support gigabit. Will the router's DHCP work on devices hooked into the switch? you're 12 mbps at the modem, the modem would be connected to the gigabit switch, your isp's modem/dhcp would work on what ever nic's you connect the switch to (computer, router) ...if the 10/100/1000 switch is connected to a computer, the dhcp of the isp will assign an ip address for that nic ...same will happen when you connect the gigabit switch to the old slow fast ethernet router, the dhcp of the isp will assign an ip address for that router nic (the wan) and everything connected to the old slow router, will access the dhcp ip addy assigned to the router, ...the old slow fast ethernet router is not gonna get faster just because you connected it to gigabit ...the wireless is still gonna be like 56mbps or less (depending on the signal strength) and the wired is still gonna be 10/100mbps. the only way the existing network will be upgraded to 10/100/1000 gigabit is to replace the old 10/100 linksys router with a gigabit router... i chose the e2000 for our work network because we have several workstations that have wireless only and the signal of the e2000 is much better, (up to 300mbps) depending on locationof the WS and signal strength, ...we thought it was a cost effective solution for our needs but there are also other good quick gigabit routers out there that will give the same quality for a reasonable price....research them all and choose what will work best for your net/situation...good luck with that, best wishes going out your way ! ... http://www.speedtest.net/result/1413149678.png Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IVIYTH0S Posted August 2, 2011 Posted August 2, 2011 We really like our DLink DIR-655, I think everyone has owned the old WRT54G router and had some issues with it. I gave another company a chance and couldn't have been happier. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
medbor Posted August 3, 2011 Posted August 3, 2011 you're 12 mbps at the modem, the modem would be connected to the gigabit switch, your isp's modem/dhcp would work on what ever nic's you connect the switch to (computer, router) ...if the 10/100/1000 switch is connected to a computer, the dhcp of the isp will assign an ip address for that nic ...same will happen when you connect the gigabit switch to the old slow fast ethernet router, the dhcp of the isp will assign an ip address for that router nic (the wan) and everything connected to the old slow router, will access the dhcp ip addy assigned to the router, ...the old slow fast ethernet router is not gonna get faster just because you connected it to gigabit ...the wireless is still gonna be like 56mbps or less (depending on the signal strength) and the wired is still gonna be 10/100mbps. the only way the existing network will be upgraded to 10/100/1000 gigabit is to replace the old 10/100 linksys router with a gigabit router... i chose the e2000 for our work network because we have several workstations that have wireless only and the signal of the e2000 is much better, (up to 300mbps) depending on locationof the WS and signal strength, ...we thought it was a cost effective solution for our needs but there are also other good quick gigabit routers out there that will give the same quality for a reasonable price....research them all and choose what will work best for your net/situation...good luck with that, best wishes going out your way ! ... http://www.speedtest.net/result/1413149678.png Are you saying that the devices connected to the gigabit won't get speeded up? All he wanted was to upgrade the wired part of the network and all the stuff connected to the switch will benefit greatly from the upgrade. I see no bottlenecks with this setup: Wireless<->36Mbit<-> Router Internet <->(12Mbit)<-> Router <->(100Mbit)<-> Switch <->(Gbit)<-> Devices Just make sure to connect anything fast to the Switch, and you can always upgrade the wireless/router later (i would STRONGLY recommend Ruckus if available). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjloki Posted August 3, 2011 Posted August 3, 2011 the WRT45G router will always be (10/100), it's the best it can do, so if you put it in front of the switch it will only give the switch 10/100 its like having a large straw and replacing it with a coffee stirrer. you would not get the same soda through the smaller straw : ) i googled the rukus and it sounds very interesting, i'll have to look more into that... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
medbor Posted August 4, 2011 Posted August 4, 2011 the WRT45G router will always be (10/100), it's the best it can do, so if you put it in front of the switch it will only give the switch 10/100 its like having a large straw and replacing it with a coffee stirrer. you would not get the same soda through the smaller straw : ) i googled the rukus and it sounds very interesting, i'll have to look more into that... The router won't get faster, but the lan will get faster. If you would plug an 10Mbit device to your network, only that port on the router would reduce its speed, not the entire network (unless using a hub or something very low quality). I have not found any resellers of ruckus, and i think they probably are quite expensive, although they are the best!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now