Large home network with wired and wireless connections

[joeregin]

Hi Everyone,
I presently have an older Netgear FVS318 router with 8 ports but it only gives me a fraction of the download speed (8.4mbps versus 64.7mbps) that get if I plug straight into the Comcast modem.
I'm considering whether to get a new router with 8 ports or use a new standard router with four ports and use a switch with (I already have an 8 ports switch) and plug that into the new router.

I currently plug my wireless router into the wired router (sounds redundant) so that the wireless devices can connect to the internet. I do have 8 wired connections, 3 desktops, 1 backup server, 1 Roku and 1 micro cell for my cell phones, 1 magic jack and of course the wireless router.

I'm considering buying an 8 port Ubiquiti Networks Edgerouter Pro 8. Any advice is appreciated.

Joe

 

[bill001g]

Using a switch will increase your options for which router you choose. There are not a lot with more than 4 ports.

Until very recently what you found inside a router was a small 5 port switch with the 4 lan ports and the 5th port connected internally to the CPU chip. Lately it is all on one physical chip but many still function as 2 separate units.

In effect you still only have a single cable running to the router chip so it really doesn't matter if the switch is inside the box or outside.

That said some of the devices you are looking at are not actually switches they are firewalls/routers. This means the ports can be configured as interfaces. Ie you can have mulitple different LAN and WAN networks.

It really depends if you are going to use that feature. If you are going to use the ports as a simple switch you likely will save money using 2 physical boxes to accomplish it.

 

[joeregin]

Ok, I happen to discuss the issue with a friend of mine who is an engineer and he suggested that I plug my Netgear N600 into the cable modem and then plug my switch into the N600 and just do away with the Netgear FVS318 router all together. Well I did that and now I'm getting 66Mbps downloads and I didn't even have to buy anything.

That's pretty cool when you get someone with a fresh set of eyes to look at something that I had added over the years without looking at the big picture.

Joe