Repacing two 8-port switches with a 16-port switch, need recommendations

[beermati]

Hi - in this post, I describe issues I was having with a DAP-1522 Access Point. It looks like my issues were, in part, caused by a failing network switch, an 8-port TrendNet TEG-S80G, which completely failed today.

As I described in the previous post, my setup is: TWC provided internet (200mbs), with Arris TG1672g modem, Netgear WNDR3700 N600 router, and distributed wired network to multiple points in home via two Trendnet TEG-S80G Gigabit 8-port switches.

With the failure of the one switch, I am looking to replace the two 8-port switches with one 16-port switch.

In reading other posts, TP-LINK seems to get a lot of referrals in the forum. Here are three I have found:

TP-LINK TL-SG1016D 10/100/1000Mbps Unmanaged 16-Port Gigabit Switch here

NETGEAR 16 Port Gigabit Business-Class Desktop Switch here

TRENDnet TEG-S16DG Unmanaged Desktop Gigabit GREENnet Switch here

Although several posts state that there's not much difference between the different switches, any feedback regarding these, or other suggestions, would be appreciated!

 

[kanewolf]

For a 16 port switch I would definitely get a managed switch. Dell powerconnect switches are good so are HP. You can probably find a 24 port commercial switch used on e-bay.

 

[bill001g]

In general you will not find a huge difference between switches and even if you do it is unlikely you could exceed the capacity of the switch in a home installation.

There are 2 numbers you look for. The first is what they call forwarding speed or backplane speed. What you want is 2 times the speed of each port times the number of ports. For a 16 port switch you want at least 32g. This means all ports can send and receive 1g of traffic all at the same time. This is called non blocking or wire speed. It is a very common feature, you used to have to pay big money in the past.

The other number is not as simple and many switch manufacture do not list it. It should tell the number of packets per second the device can handle. Pretty much if you take the worst case of a 64byte packet and calculate out how many bits/sec that comes out to based on the packet/sec the switch can do that will be the limiting factor. But all 64 byte packets would cause load issues with the end devices also so it is not really a valid assumption. The real number is hard to say but I have yet to see a switch bottleneck a network.

 

[beermati]

Bill - thanks again for replying to my post! I will research these switches for the specs you mention.

Also, I have a question regarding the router vs. switch (I'm not sure if I should start another post): Does it cause any issues if I connect some devices (PC, NAS) to the router and others to the switch? Or should the switch be the single connection to the router and then all devices to the switch?

 

[kanewolf]

Bill - thanks again for replying to my post! I will research these switches for the specs you mention.

Also, I have a question regarding the router vs. switch (I'm not sure if I should start another post): Does it cause any issues if I connect some devices (PC, NAS) to the router and others to the switch? Or should the switch be the single connection to the router and then all devices to the switch?

If the router and the switch all have the same speed (gigabit) then the difference should be negligible. A managed switch as as a single connection point has some benefits if you are trying to monitor your network via SNMP.

 

[beermati]

Edit: Starting separate thread for troubleshooting.