Managed switch or unmanaged switch for lanparty

[Drakoy]

Hello

 

Me and my friends are planning to do a lan party in a few weeks we are with 17 people and we are looking into buying a switch together for the lan party.

The thing is what we don't know is what switch would be the best for own needs a managed or a unmanaged switch.

We will use the network pretty heave because some of us will be streaming it and some maybe need to download games or updates there.

We have a prize range from 100-200 euro I was looking into NETGEAR GS724T and the NETGEAR  JGS524.

 

Thanks in advance for the help and if I have anymore questions be sure to ask 

 

[Bananasplit_00]

im not a network expert but i think an unmanaged one should be the right pick but like i said im not amazing at this so i might be wrong

[Lean18]

Taken from: https://blog.udemy.com/managed-vs-unmanaged-switch/

 

Benefits of Managed Switch over Unmanaged Switch

Managed switches give you better control over your LAN traffic and offer advanced features to control the traffic. Managed switches have all the features of an unmanaged switch and additionally have the ability to configure, manage, and monitor your LAN. So this helps you to monitor and decide who should have access to your network and gives you greater control over data flow through your network.

But you cannot configure unmanaged switches as they do not support any configuration interface and options. They are like plug-and-play devices and you need to connect your computer or other network devices directly to the unmanaged switch. If there are no advanced applications needed, then unmanaged switches should be the best choice.

Managed switches have several other benefits. They use protocols such as SNMP or Simple Network Management Protocol for monitoring the devices on the network. SNMP helps in the exchange of management information between network devices. SNMP queries also determine the health and status of devices on a network. So an IT administrator can read the SNMP data, monitor the performance of the network from a remote location, and detect and repair network problems from a central location without having to physically inspect the switches and devices. Managed switches also support more advanced functions. They can be used to insert loops in the network, increase the security level of a network, and support multiple VLAN as per requirement.

The Quality of Service (QoS) feature of a managed switch also allows you to prioritize your network traffic by assigning a higher priority to the critical traffic. This helps to improve network performance and helps in better transmission of delay-sensitive data such as real-time voice. So by assigning highest priority to voice data you can ensure the voice packets don’t get dropped or delayed and mangled during transmission and you can hear crystal clear voice during a conversation.

Switches can be used in VLAN configuration to logically group devices as per the working departments and managed switches can be used to isolate traffic between these groups. This segmentation and isolation of network traffic help to reduce unnecessary traffic. For instance, you can segregate traffic between your finance and marketing groups, so that critical finance information can flow without delay to the finance users and not get bogged down by marketing traffic. This allows better network performance and additional level of security.

Another important feature of a managed switch is redundancy. Redundancy means to provide an alternate data path to network traffic to safeguard a network in case a connection or cable fails. Managed switches incorporate Spanning Tree Protocol or STP to provide path redundancy in the network. This provides redundant paths but prevents loops that are created by multiple active paths between switches. STP allows one active path at a time between two network devices, prevents loops, and establishes redundant links as backups so that there is lesser downtime. This makes job for a network administrator easier and also proves more profitable for a business.

The port mirroring feature of a managed switch along with a network analyzer also helps in diagnosing problems. It copies the switch network traffic and forwards it to a single port on the same switch for analysis by a network analyzer. You can use the analyzer on a monitor port to troubleshoot network problems by examining traffic on other ports or segments. This enables you to troubleshoot problems without taking the network out of service.

Conclusion

Managed switches are costlier than unmanaged switches. But managed switches definitely have more benefits and ensure improved, consistent network performance. Weighing the pros and cons of both the types of switches, each business needs to evaluate its network needs. When their network requirements out grow and they need better control and monitoring over their network traffic, then they may consider managed switches. Also, if they are planning to deploy advanced services such as wireless LANs or IP telephony in the near future, then managed switches can lay the foundation for these technologies. But as long as networking needs are simple as in homes and small businesses, unmanaged switches are good options to consider. During the above discussion if you came across networking terms and protocols you are not familiar with, then browse through the course TCP/IP Training Video A Definitive & Easy To Follow to recollect information on networking. If you are considering taking the CCNP Switch Exam then CCNP SWITCH 2014 Video Boot Camp With Chris Bryant is a good resource to refer to.

[jj9987]

Unmanaged is most likely enough for you. It is cheaper and for LAN parties, you do not really need any configuration.

As said above, managed switches bring along features that are more useful in large-scale network deployments, such as VLANs, QoS prioritizing, routing possibilities on some models etc. These aren't needed for LAN parties, at least in my experience (with up to 100 people events).

[The Benjamins]

I am would get a used 24 port 1Gb managed switch.

 

What router are you plugging this into

[Drakoy]

12 minutes ago, The Benjamins said:

I am would get a used 24 port 1Gb managed switch.

 

What router are you plugging this into

we would plan to plug it straight into the modem the modem is a telenet eurodocsis 3.0 

[The Benjamins]

1 minute ago, Drakoy said:

we would plan to plug it straight into the modem the modem is a telenet eurodocsis 3.0 

Is that a modem/router combo or just modem. (does it have more then 1 Ethernet port). if it is just a modem then were is the DHCP server?

[Drakoy]

1 minute ago, The Benjamins said:

Is that a modem/router combo or just modem. (does it have more then 1 Ethernet port). if it is just a modem then were is the DHCP server?

it has 4 ports https://ic.tweakimg.net/ext/i/imagelarge/2000734544.jpeg

[The Benjamins]

4 minutes ago, Drakoy said:

it has 4 ports https://ic.tweakimg.net/ext/i/imagelarge/2000734544.jpeg

ok then that will work.

 

since you said people will be streaming and downloading stuff will you internet speed be ok and will the modem/router handle it?

 

make sure to have everything plugged into the switch for best results.

[Drakoy]

internet speed should be able to handle it and we will have everything plugged into the switch but you advise managed switch but if i read the rest i don't really need that can i ask why you stil advise for a managed switch @The Benjamins?

[SuperCloneRanger]

i disagree with The Benjamins, If you have no interest in monitoring or manipulating the connections you should get an unmanaged switch, why add complexity and pay for features you do not intend to use. an unmanaged switch will treat all connection equal and will be plug and play out of the box. also if you do not intend to mount it inside a rack i would not bother with a rackmount switch, i recommend a desktop switch, the same amount of ports but takes up less space. i've used this one in the past without issues;

http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-42_TL-SG1024D.html

and its available on amazon for 80-90 euro

[The Benjamins]

4 minutes ago, SuperCloneRanger said:

i disagree with The Benjamins, If you have no interest in monitoring or manipulating the connections you should get an unmanaged switch, why add complexity and pay for features you do not intend to use. an unmanaged switch will treat all connection equal and will be plug and play out of the box. also if you do not intend to mount it inside a rack i would not bother with a rackmount switch, i recommend a desktop switch, the same amount of ports but takes up less space. i've used this one in the past without issues;

http://uk.tp-link.com/products/details/cat-42_TL-SG1024D.html

and its available on amazon for 80-90 euro

But you can get a used 24 port 1Gb managed switch for under $50 on ebay.

I got 3 Dell Powerconnect 2024 for $90.

[Oshino Shinobu]

If you just want to connect things to the network and have them communicate with each other and connect to the network, get an unmanaged switch, it's plug and play. If you have specific requirements like VLANs, LACP and such, get a managed switch. To be honest, if you need a managed switch, you'd probably know you need one. 

 

 

[mariushm]

A 24 port unmanaged switch will do. 

Managed switches are usually higher quality and usually have higher bandwidth fabric which won't matter unless a lot of the people you have will transfer huge amounts of data...

Still, considering it's for a lan party, it's not like everyone is going to transfer files constantly like crazy people, so there would be little traffic on the switch, therefore pretty much any switch should be fine.

 

It should be fairly easy to find used 24 port switches on eBay or in specialized stores because lots of datacenters take them out of circulation after a few years and change them to 10gbps switches or newer higher quality ones. It's fairly easy and safe to buy used network switches (worst case scenario you buy one with an unusable port or two due to bent or broken contacts) so it's worth checking into it.

 

In fact if you really want to, you could go for a 24 port 100 mbps switch with 1 or 2 gigabit uplink ports. This way, nobody in your lan party will be able to use more than 100 mbps of your internet connection, leaving room for others and saving you from the hassle of using QoS or other things to keep things nice.

Though the price difference is so small these days, it doesn't really matter... you can buy new 24 gigabit port switches for 70-100$ these days, like this one : https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833166118&ignorebbr=1 and good 24 port 100mbps switches are around 50$.

 

Games don't use lots of data, they use something like 10-100 KB/s and 100 mbps connections are just fine for that. You also don't get lower latency or other benefits from using 1 gbps connections.  Your people would only suffer if they have to download big files from the net (and if your internet connection can do more than 100mbps) but in that case, they can just pull out their network cable and temporarily move it to one of those 4 ports in the back of your router for a period and get gigabit speeds.

 

 

 

[mynameisjuan]

1 hour ago, Oshino Shinobu said:

if you need a managed switch, you'd probably know you need one. 

Exactly.