router plus switch or just switch

[velocci]

Hi all, is there a performance difference between having a 16 port switch and having 10 devices plugged into that, versus having an 8 port switch and having 8 devices plugged into that and the other 2 plugged into the router?

 

[derekullo]

It depends what cpu the switch / router has and what you are trying to do.

If you are multicasting from 1 device to all the others then it is much less of a computational workload versus 16 discrete data channels.

 

[derekullo]

In my opinion having 1 device to manage beats having 2.

Having a switch plugged into your router doesnt cut back on the workload the 8 port router has to do.

The router still has to forward all packets to the port the switch is on.

 

[dark_lord69]

Hi all, is there a performance difference between having a 16 port switch and having 10 devices plugged into that, versus having an 8 port switch and having 8 devices plugged into that and the other 2 plugged into the router?

A real router that is NOT also a switch is fairly rare for the consumer market and is typically used by corporations and IT departments. That type of router typically has 1 port you can plug a PC or switch into.

The answer: There should not be a performance difference unless there are issues with your network/setup. Switches are not affected by the number of devices you've connected because the communication is direct. (Not broadcast like a HUB.)

Most pro IT departments do it like this:
ISP Connection > Router > Switch > Computers and other devices

Most home setups combine the router, switch and wireless AP.
ISP Connection > Router/Switch/Wireless > Computers and other devices

 

[derekullo]

Do note the difference between a router and a switch.

You can't buy all switches.

Your connection to your isp always has to be a router because only routers have layer 3 capability.

Edit: As the diagram above shows.

 

[velocci]

i'm asking this question because I have a 4 port router right now and have a bunch of devices and more coming. in total I will have about 10 devices. so I can either buy an 8 port switch and use those 8 ports and 2 on the router, or i can buy a 16 port switch plug all 10 devices on that. but the 16 port switch is more money and I don't really need 16 ports. but if there is better performance having all the devices on the same switch as opposed to splitting them up between the switch and the router, then i'd buy the 16 port switch.

 

[derekullo]

Having room to expand is always a good thing.

Having an 8 port switch hooked up to an 4 port router should work well if all you need is 10 ports.

But this can get complex very quickly if you continue to add switches.

 

[bill001g]

It likely does not matter...i will assume you are talking gigbit ports.

Lets say you take worst case and you put a server on the router and all your PC on the switch. This would mean that all the pc would have to share the 1 gig connection between the switch and the router. Still this is not as bad as it sounds because the server itself only has a 1g port so you would likely exceed the server capacity also.

Pretty much you would have to design something silly to have a impact in a home network.

The lan ports on the router are actually a small switch. On most routers the traffic will never even get to the main cpu of the router unless it is going to the internet so traffic between devices will not be impacted by the speed of the router or your internet connection speed.

 

[velocci]

i wouldn't add another 8 port switch later on. I would just change the 8 port switch to something bigger. but I might aswell get the 16 port switch now. what do you think of the Dlink DGS-1016A?

 

[jsmithepa]

Agree with bill, shouldn't see much performance hit in a home network but if you can swing$ for a 16 porters, it would be kinda nice, have everything hook up to this one box.

 

[derekullo]

The D-Link switch has great reviews but make sure you get a decent warranty with it.

I've had 2 D-Link switches go out in the past 8 months.

We use tend to only use Cisco switches here at work but they are a lot more expensive and have a lot more options to setup.