How should I go about adding more ethernets ports in my house?

[Appleboy45]

I currently got an Asus router and I have used used almost all of the 8 ports, and I may need more in the future. I was wondering how I can go about doing this. I have heard about network switches. Is there anything specific I need to know about network switches? Is there any other possible solutions for expanding the available amount of ethernet ports I have?

[kb5zue]

WIFI

[TrigrH]

A simple switch will let you add more ports off a single port. Try and connect the lower usage devices to the switch.

[mpsparrow]

Switch is what you need. Anyone off Amazon from a reliable brand like D-Link, NETGEAR, or TP-Link that supports 1000mbps should do it.

[Appleboy45]

One more thing I meant to add, are switches plug and play, or do I need to go into the firmware to set them up?

[Egg-Roll]

Where are the main places of use?

 

If you own and have baseboards you could always take them off and run the wire threw that way.

If you want threw out the house then that gets a little more tricky esp with stairs.

 

As for the main question at hand a switch is fine but you need to be careful about distance, but that shouldn't be a issue.

 

2 minutes ago, TrigrH said:

A simple switch will let you add more ports off a single port. Try and connect the lower usage devices to the switch.

Unless it works with CAT7 then it should be fine, should even be fine with CAT6 (note: the network can only go as fast as the slowest point, so if the router is CAT5 Cat 6/7 are ultimately useless)

 

6 minutes ago, kb5zue said:

WIFI

Nope, not if you have me as a neighbor  I hog 8 of the channels threw 3 devices, I basically own Channels 9-13...

 

Just now, Appleboy45 said:

One more thing I meant to add, are switches plug and play, or do I need to go into the firmware to set them up?

Most/all should be P&P as it connects directly to the router and continues the signal/connection elsewhere. Only limitations are the number of connection the router can handle.

[Appleboy45]

1 minute ago, Egg-Roll said:

Where are the main places of use?

 

If you own and have baseboards you could always take them off and run the wire threw that way.

If you want threw out the house then that gets a little more tricky esp with stairs.

 

As for the main question at hand a switch is fine but you need to be careful about distance, but that shouldn't be a issue.

 

Unless it works with CAT7 then it should be fine, should even be fine with CAT6 (note: the network can only go as fast as the slowest point, so if the router is CAT5 Cat 6/7 are ultimately useless)

 

Nope, not if you have me as a neighbor  I hog 8 of the channels threw 3 devices, I basically own Channels 9-13...

 

Most/all should be P&P as it connects directly to the router and continues the signal/connection elsewhere. Only limitations are the number of connection the router can handle.

Most of the ethernet devices are in the same room as the router. However, two of them run from the second floor of my house into the basement. Future devices should be in the same room so I shouldn't have a problem.

 

What are baseboards?

 

I bought my router early last year, so I would suspect it has CAT6 or better. (Actually, I didn't even know about CAT7 until now, I thought the latest was CAT6)

[Egg-Roll]

CAT 7 has been out for a year I think.

 

Baseboards:

 

You should be fine for what you need then. The 2 device going into the basement are they on 50+ ft cables? I think at 100 ft you start losing signal strength, I've not looked into it for a while ago I might be wrong. If so try a speed test on the network.

 

You can login to the router it should tell you via lan connections/settings or simply googling the model works likely faster.

[Appleboy45]

3 minutes ago, Egg-Roll said:

CAT 7 has been out for a year I think.

 

Baseboards:

 

You should be fine for what you need then. The 2 device going into the basement are they on 50+ ft cables? I think at 100 ft you start losing signal strength, I've not looked into it for a while ago I might be wrong. If so try a speed test on the network.

 

You can login to the router it should tell you via lan connections/settings or simply googling the model works likely faster.

I'm quite positive the length for those two devices are over a hundred feet. However, the internet has been working just fine. I had a Dell OptiPlex 755 which I think is new enough to have 10/100/1000 ethernet (I don't know for sure, I would have to look in the manual to check) that works just fine with the ethernet in the basement. The computer is back upstairs now since it is Winter time. We also have a Samsung TV that we bought early last year (2017) that does just fine with streaming Netflix in the basement through ethernet. I don't have the exact numbers, but when I ran SpeedTest from my Mid 2010 MacBook, I seem to have gotten decent results (Compared to tests from Wi-Fi, and tests when I used ethernet using a shorter cable.).

 

Regarding the type of LAN ports my router has, it shouldn't take much time for me to find the standard in the manual, on Asus's website, or somewhere else on the internet. It might even say on the router itself for all I know.

[Donut417]

1 hour ago, Egg-Roll said:

I think at 100 ft

Close. The standard is good for 100 Meters or roughly 328 Feet. 

[MWaldhauer]

Let's just get something straight here... CAT is by no means anything to consider on the hardware aspect. It is simply a cable standard. Cabels created with CAT5e is minimum requirement for Gigabit ethernet up to 100m.

The only exception you have to running higher than CAT5e is if you have a lot of interference in your environment (or if you are capable at running higher that 1Gbps).

 

A good example for a simple switch to expand your network is this:

https://www.amazon.com/Cisco-SG100-16-16-Port-Gigabit-SG100-16-NA/dp/B008B8CVTQ

[Egg-Roll]

12 hours ago, MWaldhauer said:

The only exception you have to running higher than CAT5e is if you have a lot of interference in your environment (or if you are capable at running higher that 1Gbps).

I actually disagree with this due to the price for CAT5e vs CAT6, since one doesn't know about interference till it is installed and the prices are pennies difference one might as well go with CAT6 if in the market for new ones.

 

I would also like to point out one thing, CAT7 isn't a actually standard as i found out today, so the next standard is CAT8 which should be this year.

[Looting]

At work and at home I use the "Netgear FS116" Plug & play, PoE, 16 ports, and budget friendly