connection issues with 2 switches inline

[Lizlodude]

I have a gigabit switch connecting my main devices, and a 100Mb/s switch connecting the gigabit one to the router and a few test machines; the bandwidth seems fine and speedtest etc check out the same no matter which switch the router is connected to, but I'm getting some issues with streams like youtube pausing for a few seconds before buffering and getting stuck when connected to the 100Mb/s first. It almost looks like a really bad ping time, but only on a few sites. I know running it through two switches probably isn't ideal, but I'm out of ports ;P, any idea what might be causing it and how to fix?

(My internet is WELL below 100Mb/s with up/down combined, so it's not being bottlenecked by the slower switch)

[leadeater]

Try running a pathping to youtube on your computer as currently configured and see if there is excessive packet loss etc. Do the same thing but just move the router from the 100Mb switch to the 1Gb switch and then test again with the 100mb switch unplugged.

 

Two switches connected together doesn't normally introduce problems and is common place in larger networks. It does become an issue if one of the switches is slightly faulty or operates in a way that the partner switch doesn't like which is why you only see the issue when they are connected together. The switches likely being unmanaged there is little you can do if this is the case as they have no configuration options.

 

Moving the router to be connected to the 1Gb switch is the best option if that configuration doesn't have the issue you are experiencing