gigabit switch with 100/10 router

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kornflake

409 posts

Ultimate Geek

#140691 17-Feb-2014 19:59

I am wanting to have a gigabit switch connect my devices on the lan, however since it is a cheep switch it is not managed or inc's a dhcp server, so the dhcp server will still sit on the 100/10 Adsl router.

The question is, will this limit the network to 100mb, does all traffic need to go via the router to be directed to the correct device, or will only a "who is" message go via the router.

l43a2

1779 posts

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#989164 17-Feb-2014 20:02

if the device your sending files too is connected to the gbit switch it will go at gbit speed regardless of the routers speed.

nzkc

1572 posts

Uber Geek

#989165 17-Feb-2014 20:04

Short answer: No - it wont limit your network to 100Mb.

The "things" connected directly to the switch will function at 1Gb (assuming they support it of course). They can talk to anything else that is connected to the switch at 1Gb/sec (in theory). Anything that doesn't support 1Gb, such as your router, will connect at whatever they do support. In your router's case this will be 100Mb/sec. It will talk to the network at 100Mb/sec. Anything talking to it will only have a maximum throughput of 100Mb/sec but it does not force the whole network to the slowest link.

What you have described is what I have run (in the past) and it works fine. Whether you'll get the full 1Gb/sec is open to other factors too and you'll need to test to see what you get. In saying that, you have a good chance to get close to 1Gb/sec without any effort.

webwat

2036 posts

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#991486 20-Feb-2014 23:16

Dodgy network cables can limit the speed of your network, but if one of the connected devices (such as the router) is slower it only affects traffic going to that device. DHCP is not a layer 2 function (hence not being part of the switch) so it doesn't affect the speed if its working reliably. DHCP does help your computers know who's who on the network, and to only send traffic to the router/gateway if its going to internet. The switch will forward the traffic to whichever device your computer sends it to.

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