Proper Way to Connect Switches to Router

[KCrow]

I've read through the forum and have done extensive google searches, but it seems everyone has their own method for wiring multiple switches to a router. From what I understand, connecting a switch to a switch to a switch is the way novices wire a network. I am seeking advice on how to do this the most efficient way, with the equipment I currently have. I have a 1000ft spool of Cat 6a ethernet and a few dozen Cat 6a ethernet patch cables. All wall jacks are shielded Cat6a and all hardware is Gigabit Ethernet. Please take a look at the attached picture/diagram I drew of my network. Is this the correct way to wire this up? By correct, I mean, most efficient method, lowest latency, no echo-loops, etc etc. Any advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you for your time!

 

[bill001g]

You are over analyzing things. First the lan ports in the router are actually a switch. Now if all your trafffic goes to router and the internet then it doesn't matter because the wan port on the router will be the limitation.

Even if you went switch-switch-switch the delay is a tiny fraction of 1ms. It is so low you can not even measure it.

The only thing that really matters is your traffic. Your concern it overload of ports between the switches. So if you have lots of traffic going between the switch you may need to put server on different switches. Servers on the same switch will not have issues because almost all switches can run all ports at max speed up and down all at the same time.

Shielded cable is not a good idea unless you actually have a interference problem which is extremely rare. You must have a separate telco ground and both ends must be connected to it. You can not use the building ground (this is a safety thing). In addition is does no good if your equipment is not designed to use special plugs. The equipment itself must be able to have this special ground connection. Best case you wasted your money worst case the shielding will actually act as a antenna an increase interference. You either need to install it correctly or do not use it at all.

 

[nukemaster]

You connections are fine.

I agree with above about the switch to switch delay being very small. and it is 100% sure that a 4 port router is simply a 5 port switch inside the router[one used to connect to the router it self]

If you have devices that talk to each other allot then having them on the same switch will give you that fraction of a second improvement.

Clearly there are some exceptions. When 2 computers on the same switch talk, they never have to go back to the routers built in switch(leaving that lane open for other things). This would not be the case when computers from different switches talk(they have to go from switch to router switch to switch.).

These things are generally so fast now that I never have an issue with jumping switch to switch(I am sure if you add enough, it will be an issue. Traffic patters play a roll as well).

The reason some may call it novice could be that in a corporate environment you may want to separate your network sections. This is generally done with one or more V-LANs. So lets say you want office systems and public systems separated, but all(or even just one segment) to be able to access the internet(or even other network resources). It is insane just how customization a large scale network can have.

Example.
Office computers have internet access as well as access to a server.
Public computers have internet access alone(maybe even restrictions if you want)
Wireless are the same as public, but separated for security.

Managed equipment makes this possible, while most consumer stuff would just mash everyone together(most routers allow separating wireless guests, but that is about it).

 

[USAFRet]

The setup in your drawing is fine. Very similar to my house setup.

The only issue you may see is with that 1000ft spool of Cat6, and terminating the ends properly.
Looks easy, but does take practice.

 

[KCrow]

You connections are fine.

I agree with above about the switch to switch delay being very small. and it is 100% sure that a 4 port router is simply a 5 port switch inside the router[one used to connect to the router it self]

If you have devices that talk to each other allot then having them on the same switch will give you that fraction of a second improvement.

Clearly there are some exceptions. When 2 computers on the same switch talk, they never have to go back to the routers built in switch(leaving that lane open for other things). This would not be the case when computers from different switches talk(they have to go from switch to router switch to switch.).

These things are generally so fast now that I never have an issue with jumping switch to switch(I am sure if you add enough, it will be an issue. Traffic patters play a roll as well).

The reason some may call it novice could be that in a corporate environment you may want to separate your network sections. This is generally done with one or more V-LANs. So lets say you want office systems and public systems separated, but all(or even just one segment) to be able to access the internet(or even other network resources). It is insane just how customization a large scale network can have.

Example.
Office computers have internet access as well as access to a server.
Public computers have internet access alone(maybe even restrictions if you want)
Wireless are the same as public, but separated for security.

Managed equipment makes this possible, while most consumer stuff would just mash everyone together(most routers allow separating wireless guests, but that is about it).

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice...I had a feeling that would work, as it's how I've run everything in previous houses, but with Cat5 and/or Cat5e. Wiring up our new home (new to us - built in '97) now, and wanted to make sure everything was done correctly as this is not something I do for a living.

Bill001g is right, I am over analyzing everything. I would read an article about enterprise networks and the writer would refer to connecting switch to switch to switch as a novices approach. My thoughts were exactly "isn't a router just a switch with a built in WiFi Gateway?" And then I'd read where people would have single 24port switch coming off their patch panel, out to rooms, and a couple of those rooms might have a 5port switch in them since there might only be one or two ethernet drops per room. It started to confuse me and make me doubt my setup. To confuse things even more I saw where one writer suggested connecting the modem to the switch, then the router downline of the switch...but in my setup I feel like that wouldn't assign DHCP addresses properly. Anyways...ya'll helped tremendously!

Glad to hear that the delay, if I were to connect a couple switches in line, would be so minimal it wouldn't be noticeable. I saw somewhere they were using Managed Switches and connecting them with in Spanning Tree mode; that got me wondering, "do I needed to ditch my perfectly good hardware in favor of something more "enterprise" class?" My internet is only a mere 100Mbps, getting about 111Mbps peak speeds over Wifi and LAN. But it's perfect for streaming Netflix and Hulu, playing Playstation Online, and streaming Plex around and out of the house. I do transfer quite a few large files back and forth between server, desktops and laptops so having full Gigabit speeds within the house/network makes that an easier task. Can't wait for 10 Gigabit to become the standard and more affordable!

Thanks again everyone!

 

[USAFRet]

Can't wait for 10 Gigabit to become the standard and more affordable!

By the time I need more than 1GBe in the house...I'll leapfrog over 10GBe and go to fiber.