Switch without input port

[4ce_Games]

Do network switches not have input jacks? I am using as switch at my work that I share with a few people, and the wired network never works, then I notices that all the ports are labelled 1-8, no network in, is this correct?

[saintlouisbagels]

We're talking about an average "ethernet hub" (Unmanaged Switch), right?

Correct, as long as one of the ports is receiving internet, the remaining 7 ports will provide internet.

 

Just keep in mind that you are bottlenecked by the receiving port.

For example on a Gigabit switch, all ports are 1gbps which means you can only receive a maximum of 1gbps.

This means, you only have 1gbps TOTAL for the remaining ports. So if 1 person is using 900mbps, then the remaining 6 ports only have 100mbps left to fight over. Something like that. edit: never mind, not sure why I didn't assume the switch would simply try to evenly divide bandwidth among people.

 

If we're talking about a Managed Switch, then you need to mess with settings.

There's also the possibility of the IT Manager seeing a problem with so many IP addresses coming from 1 port and toggling some settings that are making it hard for you guys. Contact your IT Manager in that case.

Edited May 29, 2024 by saintlouisbagels

[mariushm]

31 minutes ago, saintlouisbagels said:

For example on a Gigabit switch, all ports are 1gbps which means you can only receive a maximum of 1gbps.

This means, you only have 1gbps TOTAL for the remaining ports. So if 1 person is using 900mbps, then the remaining 6 ports only have 100mbps left to fight over. Something like that.

Note quite.

 

The switch will make a "best effort" to give each port traffic an proportional  amount of time on the outgoing (to/from the internet port) .. if a user downloads with 900 mbps and another user starts downloading at 50 mbps, both users will get that speed.. if the second user's speed increases to 300 mbps, the first user will be slowed down to around 650 - 700 mbps

 

Also if user on port 1 transfers from port 2 and user from port 5 uploads to port 7, both users will get nearly 1 gbps because there's separate paths, switch chip doesn't have to merge data from multiple computers and squeeze it through one port.

 

It will also depend on what kind of data packets and how many simultaneous connections but these days even the cheapest 8 port unmanaged switches can handle a lot of data packets  and tens of gigabits of traffic.

 

A router will have a port called WAN because inside the router, this connection is split into a path going to the wireless system and a path goes to the integrated network switch that creates the ethernet ports. Though some designs have a ethernet switch and connect the wireless chip to the ethernet switch chip.

[Needfuldoer]

2 hours ago, 4ce_Games said:

Do network switches not have input jacks? I am using as switch at my work that I share with a few people, and the wired network never works, then I notices that all the ports are labelled 1-8, no network in, is this correct?

Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, Ethernet hubs had dedicated uplink ports. They couldn't auto-detect if they had to flip the transmit and receive pins in the connector, so plugging one hub to another with a regular straight-through patch cable might not work.

 

On modern unmanaged switches, all ports are equal. You can plug your "uplink" into any port you want and the switch will figure it out. (I usually plug it into port 1 just for cable management reasons.)