Looking to buy a 5-port switch, but.......

JamieLee2k · Post by **JamieLee2k** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:47 am

I don't know anything about them, I don't need wireless and the only thing I need is for it to work on fibre optic 40mbps and a fast response time.

I have found a D-Link one DES-1005D but know nothing about them.

Any advice would be great!

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 8:23 am

Re: fiber optic....you talking about a "router" to connect a LAN to the internet, or just a switch for your LAN?

JamieLee2k · Post by **JamieLee2k** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 10:19 am

Switch, I have a modem and a hub

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 12:33 pm

If you just need a little 5 port switch, there are lots of them available for under 60 bucks. The little Netgear units in the blue metal cases are good, lifetime warranty on this GS105
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... alParent=1

Might want to get an 8 port model...leave room for growth.

If you just have a modem..a pure modem, and a hub though...I highly advise getting a router, get yourself behind the NAT firewall. You don't want your computer(s) all to be on public IP addresses..yikes! You might be behind a combo modem/router already which is already doing that. What make/model do you have?

JamieLee2k · Post by **JamieLee2k** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 1:40 pm

Let me quickly explain my setup

I have Sky Fibre Unlimited which means I get 40mb/10mb and with that I get a Modem and a Sky Hub

In the corner where I have my computer I have my modem and hub and from there I have 2 cables connected across the room to share between a TV, 2 Xbox 360's and Sky box so that is why I need a switch to put in that corner.

I only need a 5-port switch as I will have spares once I get a new switch but what switch do I buy? There are different ones like "Unmanaged switches" "managed switches" "Smart Switches" and "Enterprise Managed Switches"

I have also read somewhere there are different specs for them so what are the differences in cheap/mid/expensive ones?

Also I am from the UK so prices are irrelevant from US

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Thu Apr 18, 2013 4:29 pm

For a home, a simple unmanaged switch is fine.
Managed switches are more for businesses...when you get a few 24 port switches together or 48 port switches..and large networks.

Differences in cheap/mid/expensive..well, warranty for one. Also cheap ones may require you to power cycle them once in a while because they can get flakey. "You get what you pay for!"
As for gigabit switches, some support jumbo frames, some don't. Many people don't care..but some people that like to extract the highest LAN transfer speeds possible will want a switch that supports jumbo frames. I'm talking about people that copy huge files across their network like to a storage server or NAS unit. For just sharing internet...or watching online TV or streaming video...jumbo frames is irrelevant.