Help! Ethernet Switch 101

[benjamin051000]

Hello! I am considering purchasing an ethernet switch for LAN parties. They are a great alternative to school wifi that uses a potato as a router for 2000 students. 

 

Thing is, Linus hasn't answered my prayers and made a video about the differences between the hundreds of kinds!! A am a newbie at networking, but am curious. Feel free to tell me all about it while you stop by this thread

 

For example,

 

https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Gigabit-Ethernet-Desktop-TL-SG108/dp/B00A121WN6/ref=sr_1_3?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1480558813&sr=1-3&keywords=ethernet+switch&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A7306161011

 

What does desktop unmanaged mean? And easy smart? Which should I choose? What are the differences?

 

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https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Gigabit-Ethernet-Desktop-TL-SG1008D/dp/B001EVGIYG/ref=sr_1_7?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1480558813&sr=1-7&keywords=ethernet+switch&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A7306161011

 

This looks more like a consumer-grade switch. Should I go for this one or the blue, business-looking switch? What are the differences?

 

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https://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-ProSAFE-Gigabit-Desktop-GS108-400NAS/dp/B00MPVR50A/ref=sr_1_14?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1480558813&sr=1-14&keywords=ethernet+switch&refinements=p_n_feature_keywords_two_browse-bin%3A7306161011

 

And about the Netgear, is it better than the TP-Link? How can I tell? And what are the differences between it's different types?

 

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Do I even need Gigabit? Or will "Fast ethernet" settle? What are the better brands and models? I want an 8-port switch, and I've heard they daisychain nicely in case we need more ports for our LAN party.

 

Thanks so much for your help!

 

Sincerely,

Benjamin

 

P.S. How do you connect an access point to the internet? Would that be a router or? Thanks again. You're awesome!

[suchamoneypit]

Managed switches allow configuration; which you do not need or can really take advantage of. The first switch would work well for your purposes with no special configuration needed.

[benjamin051000]

1 minute ago, suchamoneypit said:

Managed switches allow configuration; which you do not need or can really take advantage of. The first switch would work well for your purposes with no special configuration needed.

What can I configure? Just curious

[suchamoneypit]

Just now, benjamin051000 said:

What can I configure? Just curious

stuff like VLANs, and it gives the switch an IP address you can type in to configure via a browser like a router has. 

[benjamin051000]

Okay. So which of the three is the best buy for me?

[zMeul]

get the cheapest

[Ringthane]

I like Netgear better than TP-Link but either brand is fine.  As zMeul says, just get the cheapest one and it should be fine.

[benjamin051000]

2 minutes ago, zMeul said:

get the cheapest

Are they all the same in terms of features? Quality? Sorry I'm really lost. I'm used to computer parts where they're all usually slightly different

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

I just throw extra ethernet ports into my spare PCI slots, much more cheaper and easier than a switch

[DaShesano]

Get the cheapest switch that suits what you are planning to do with it, you won't need anything fancy, just make sure it has enough ports and extra for growing room.

[AshleyAshes]

Every unmanaged network switch will basically work exactly the same.  The differences between any of them, other than the number of ports they have, is negligible.  There are no 'good ones' or 'bad ones' even.  One won't run faster than the other or anything.  The devices are so 'dumb' you basically can't make them poorly unless you somehow make one that occasionally catches fire.

 

Get the cheapest one that has the speed you need and enough ports. 

[zMeul]

Just now, benjamin051000 said:

Are they all the same in terms of features? Quality? Sorry I'm really lost. I'm used to computer parts where they're all usually slightly different

don't think about it

for consumer grade:

• ports
• gigabit
• price

[benjamin051000]

Can you daisy chain them together? In case I for some reason needed more than 8 ports

[DaShesano]

Just now, benjamin051000 said:

Can you daisy chain them together? In case I for some reason needed more than 8 ports

Yeah, its possible to daisy chain them together, just know that the clients on the two switches will have a combined total of 1 gigabit transfer between the two switches.

[zMeul]

1 minute ago, benjamin051000 said:

Can you daisy chain them together? In case I for some reason needed more than 8 ports

yes

[AshleyAshes]

2 minutes ago, benjamin051000 said:

Can you daisy chain them together? In case I for some reason needed more than 8 ports

Yup.  You know those four ports on your router?  Those are also a switch. The router has a switch built that gives it four ports (Well they USUALLY have four.  Some really do have just one...)  By hooking up another switch to your router, you are already daisy chaining and you can daisy chain more.

[fjdhdhcyfhf]

2 minutes ago, benjamin051000 said:

Can you daisy chain them together? In case I for some reason needed more than 8 ports

you can have as many as you can assign IP addresses 

[benjamin051000]

Alright. Thanks so much for your quick responses and great information guys. I really appreciate it. Happy holidays!

[mariushm]

If you want a switch just for a few friends, then i agree, any of those 8 port switches would be fine.

If you want something higher end, my advice would be to go on eBay and search for a 16 port or 24 port gigabit switch, optionally with management.

They're hard to break so they're safe purchases, in the worst case scenario maybe 1 or 2 ports could be broken but others would work just fine.

 

Fast Ethernet is just 100 mbps per port, don't bother with such old switches.

 

Here's a great examples from eBay :

 

$42 for 48 gigabit ports :  3Com 3CBLSG48 48 Port 2948SFP Gigabit Ethernet Switch #6073

$45 for 16 gigabit ports :  Netgear JGS516 v2 16 Port Switch #0817

~45 for 48 gigabit ports : Nortel 4548GT 4 x SFP 48 x 10/100/1000 Ethernet Routing Switch (AL4500 A04-E6)

$50 for 24 gigabit ports : D-Link Gigabit DGS 3324SR 24-Port Ethernet Switch

 

I think all of the above have some kind of management, they can all be stacked or linked to other switches for more ports, all should be fine. 

[benjamin051000]

23 minutes ago, mariushm said:

If you want a switch just for a few friends, then i agree, any of those 8 port switches would be fine.

If you want something higher end, my advice would be to go on eBay and search for a 16 port or 24 port gigabit switch, optionally with management.

They're hard to break so they're safe purchases, in the worst case scenario maybe 1 or 2 ports could be broken but others would work just fine.

 

Fast Ethernet is just 100 mbps per port, don't bother with such old switches.

 

Here's a great example from eBay :

 

$42 for 48 gigabit ports :  3Com 3CBLSG48 48 Port 2948SFP Gigabit Ethernet Switch #6073

 

Thanks, although I won't be needing 48 ports anytime soon...

[benjamin051000]

What kind of ethernet cables should I buy?

[mariushm]

Cat5e or better.  Cat5e is more than sufficient for 1gbps speeds. Cat6 and Cat6a are good for up to 10gbps.

[benjamin051000]

How about PoE? Is that necessary?

[mariushm]

No, that's Power Over Ethernet.  Don't need that.

 

The switch would need a power supply inside it to send power through a couple of wires in the network cable to the other end. The device on the other end would have to be aware and support PoE to use the feature.

It makes sense for example for Voice Over IP phones, you connect the phone through a single network cable and it's powered with electricity from the network cable.

The amount of power sent through the wires is not enough to use it for anything using a lot of power (it's about 15-30 watts per connector I think?)

 

Also, ports with PoE enabled would be limited to 100 mbps , 1gbps ports use all the wires in the cable to transfer data.

[benjamin051000]

5 minutes ago, mariushm said:

No, that's Power Over Ethernet.  Don't need that.

 

The switch would need a power supply inside it to send power through a couple of wires in the network cable to the other end. The device on the other end would have to be aware and support PoE to use the feature.

It makes sense for example for Voice Over IP phones, you connect the phone through a single network cable and it's powered with electricity from the network cable.

The amount of power sent through the wires is not enough to use it for anything using a lot of power (it's about 15-30 watts per connector I think?)

 

Also, ports with PoE enabled would be limited to 100 mbps , 1gbps ports use all the wires in the cable to transfer data.

Alright. Thanks.