Help! Internet speed drops when connected to a switch

[ottoll]

I here to ask for some Network help.

My router is located in my living room, while my PC is in my bedroom. So I connected them directly with a 15 meters CAT 5e cable and the internet speed was pretty fast (around 60Mbps, which is already the maximum).

Now with the pandemic, I have to work from home. Since I'm using the same desk to game and to work, now my bedroom needs 2 internet access points, one for my PC and another for my work notebook. So I bought a Mercusys 8-port 10/100Mbps Switch.

 

The problem is, when I connect my PC to the switch, the internet speed drops from 60Mbps to 10Mbps!

 

In this FAQ I found my problem, but couldn't solve it: https://www.mercusys.com/en/faq-277

 

I made this chart to ilustrate the connections.

First I tried to connect the switch directly to the ISP's modem, but there was no internet available, only local network (I don't really know why).

I use this D-Link router to improve the Wi-Fi signal, since there's too many walls from the living room to my bedroom and the ISP's modem has a poor wi-fi signal.

[Kanna]

4 minutes ago, ottoll said:

I here to ask for some Network help.

My router is located in my living room, while my PC is in my bedroom. So I connected them directly with a 15 meters CAT 5e cable and the internet speed was pretty fast (around 60Mbps, which is already the maximum).

Now with the pandemic, I have to work from home. Since I'm using the same desk to game and to work, now my bedroom needs 2 internet access points, one for my PC and another for my work notebook. So I bought a Mercusys 8-port 10/100Mbps Switch.

 

The problem is, when I connect my PC to the switch, the internet speed drops from 60Mbps to 10Mbps!

 

In this FAQ I found my problem, but couldn't solve it: https://www.mercusys.com/en/faq-277

 

I made this chart to ilustrate the connections.

First I tried to connect the switch directly to the ISP's modem, but there was no internet available, only local network (I don't really know why).

I use this D-Link router to improve the Wi-Fi signal, since there's too many walls from the living room to my bedroom and the ISP's modem has a poor wi-fi signal.

What cables? is internet used somewhere else?

[Electronics Wizardy]

Why did you get a 10/100 switch? Can you return it and get a gigabit switch? Don't get 10/100 switches these days, gigabit ones are basically the same price.

 

What is link speed, 10 makes me think there is a 10mbit connection somewhere.

[Falcon1986]

@ottoll - Are you sure those are Cat5e cables and not plain Cat5 between the switch and the computers? Please avoid sharp bends and EMI with unshielded cables.

 

You're using a 10/100Mbps switch so your link speeds will negotiate to either 10Mbps or 100Mbps. Check the network adapters on each PC to make sure that they are both set to 100Mbps full duplex.

[ottoll]

1 hour ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Why did you get a 10/100 switch? Can you return it and get a gigabit switch? Don't get 10/100 switches these days, gigabit ones are basically the same price.

 

What is link speed, 10 makes me think there is a 10mbit connection somewhere.

Well, I just bought the cheapest one. I don't think I'll be able to get a internet faster than 100Mbps here in my region very soon anyway... 

About the link speed, I'm not sure how to test it. But without the switch, with the cable going from the router ditectly to the PC I get full speed. Which is 60Mbps.

 

1 hour ago, Kanna said:

What cables? is internet used somewhere else?

About the cables.

The long one, from the living room to my bedroom is a 15m long RJ45 CAT6.

The cables from the switch to the pcs are RJ45 CAT 5e.

I'm not really sure what these names means. But the first one was working pretty good before, without the switch.

 

1 hour ago, Falcon1986 said:

@ottoll - Are you sure those are Cat5e cables and not plain Cat5 between the switch and the computers? Please avoid sharp bends and EMI with unshielded cables.

 

You're using a 10/100Mbps switch so your link speeds will negotiate to either 10Mbps or 100Mbps. Check the network adapters on each PC to make sure that they are both set to 100Mbps full duplex.

Well, the package says it's CAT5e. I'm not an expert in networks, so I just bought them in amazon.

The long one is CAT6.

 

About the network adapter, it is set to "auto mode" as it was already before and is recommended by the manufacturer FAQ I linked.

I'm going to attach a print here, it's in portuguese, but I think it's understandable (if it's not, tell me)

 

 

Thank you all for the replies!

 

[Falcon1986]

@ottoll - Is the detected link speed for the network adapters 100Mbps on both PCs?

[ottoll]

17 minutes ago, Falcon1986 said:

@ottoll - Is the detected link speed for the network adapters 100Mbps on both PCs?

Yes, either connected to the switch or directly to the router.

[Falcon1986]

@ottoll - And you’re sure that when you’re running the speed test, nothing else is accessing the network in the background? E.g. Windows Updates, file downloads, WiFi activity, etc.?

[ottoll]

2 minutes ago, Falcon1986 said:

@ottoll - And you’re sure that when you’re running the speed test, nothing else is accessing the network in the background? E.g. Windows Updates, file downloads, WiFi activity, etc.?

Yes! In fact I swapped from the switch to the router many times and did the test in different websites.

The connection from the router comes very stable, but when it comes from the switch, it's very low and unstable until stabilizes at 10Mbps.

[Falcon1986]

@ottoll - Try plugging into different ports on the switch and run the speed test again.

[ottoll]

58 minutes ago, Falcon1986 said:

@ottoll - Try plugging into different ports on the switch and run the speed test again.

Just because I asked here, now the download speed went up to 60+.

But the problem now seems to be with the upload speed. Sometimes it didn't even could finish the test because there was no upload connection.

In the attached file, the first five are the tests when connected directly to the router. The upload speed should really be like this. Around 5Mbps.

The last five are tests when trying different port connections in the switch, as suggested.

 

I'm starting to think that I shouldn't have gone to the cheapest switch in amazon...

[Falcon1986]

@ottoll - Try another switch and stay away from unfamiliar brands. Decent 8-port unmanaged switches from TP-Link and Netgear can be found for under US$20.

[ottoll]

I'm going to try to have a refund...

 

Thank you for you atention and support!