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I was wondering if anyone could answer me a quick networking question.
I’m looking into upgrading my internet/LAN gaming network from wireless to some sort or wired deal, and i’m not too expert at this kind of stuff yet.
I’ve looked into an 8 port D-Link switch, and into some 8 port routers, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this kinda stuff. Having the internet through a router would be nice, but not really needed unless there is some advantage to a router over a switch.
The load for the network will usually be above 5 computers, so it’s nothing too serious.
Anyone know what I should look around for? Or if I’m totally off on something?
Thanks in advance 😀
a router will act as a gateway and hardware firewall. it can also handle dhcp (assign an ip address to each computer on the network). with a switch (basically a smart hub), one computer will have to handle being the gateway (and dhcp server unless you assign static ip addresses to each computer).
i’d just find a good deal on a router and go with that. if you’re not going to use wireless, then look for one without a wireless radio and it will be even cheaper.
My essence still senses Bucho's women.
What he said. Provided you mean router as in what you plug the modem into, and not the old-style in-network routers upon which switches were an improvement.
Also, I think I know you can do this, but It’s possible to run a LAN from a router even if you don’t have a network along with it, right? Because that’s another think i would like to do, is be able to be fairly portable with this.
Personally, I’d go with a Linksys router. I know some people don’t like them, but I do.
As for your other question, I’ve never tried it before but it sounds feasible. If you tried it and it didn’t work, you could always take the router back.
@Ben 41408 wrote:
Also, I think I know you can do this, but It’s possible to run a LAN from a router even if you don’t have a network along with it, right? Because that’s another think i would like to do, is be able to be fairly portable with this.
that should work just fine. the only caveat i would mention is that i had a buddy with an old d-link router that wouldn’t work this way unless he assigned a static ip to the network side. i highly doubt you’ll encounter this, but just thought i’d mention it.
linksys is fine. when it comes to soho networks you’re not going to find a lot of difference in performance of all the well-known brands when you’re dealing with a wired-only network. and you’ll also be fine with 10/100 ports even for gaming. you’ll find most issues are with latency and not bandwidth when it comes to gaming lag.
okay. just did a quick search on newegg for linksys and they have a 8-port 10/100 wired-only router for $74.99 w/ free shipping. it’s a LINKSYS BEFSR81.
as always, definitely read all the reviews you can. and from multiple vendors. an informed consumer is a happy consumer.
My essence still senses Bucho's women.
Sorry to disagree here, but I want to correct and add to a few points, based on my experience. First, the types of routers in discussion here, are typically router/residential gateways and will not require the use of a separate DHCP server (Lark mentions this), as all of the modern ones in this category will come equipped with it. The other important thing to note that’s related to this, is that you will not require a WAN (internet) connection to use the functionality of a new/modern residential gateway router. There are still a few bizarre ones out there, but with the brand recommendations you are seeing here, you will not run into this issue.
Routers by definition are not hardware firewalls, however most of the residential gateway type routers will have a software firewall running on them.
What will your budget be like here? Latency is going to be the killer, and although I don’t know that LAN gaming is really a network killer, Windows workstation traffic is going to really increase your latency on consumer devices with other traffic going on when it comes to these consumer devices. Typically, they all do some degree of port prioritization, and are not good performers above 4 devices connected. That said, you may be fine with the traffic needs of LAN gaming.
Avoid the consumer D-Link stuff if you can, they are generally very poor performers. The Linksys stuff is okay, you’ll see that performance roll-off after 4 devices with these. You can look into Netgear’s ProSafe line, those are decent, but you won’t get as much performance out of the consumer Netgear stuff.
If 8 ports is really a requirement, you may even consider a decent 4 port router, and an inexpensive switch… you’ll avoid port prioritization this way, but this could get clunky for a portable setup.
The Linksys Lark posted, is probably a good enough way to go, just understand that you will see performance drop off when you max that thing out, not just because of increased traffic, but also because it’s not really providing full performance to all 8 devices.
@Version3 41414 wrote:
If 8 ports is really a requirement, you may even consider a decent 4 port router, and an inexpensive switch… you’ll avoid port prioritization this way, but this could get clunky for a portable setup.
dat’s a güd won.
My essence still senses Bucho's women.
@Version3 41423 wrote:
At least someone besides me says that one. 🙂
that’s funny you mention that because i initially was just going to put “good idea”. then i thought “no, i’m quoting the captain, i need to personalize it.”
because that’s how the lark rolls. 😎
My essence still senses Bucho's women.
I really don’t care about the price, as long as I can get something that’s going to serve me for the whole purpose. I would rather have better than what I need than settling for something that’s below par for what i need.
@Ben 41431 wrote:
I really don’t care about the price, as long as I can get something that’s going to serve me for the whole purpose. I would rather have better than what I need than settling for something that’s below par for what i need.
nice little 8-port cisco small business router for $200.
My essence still senses Bucho's women.
@Ben 41431 wrote:
I really don’t care about the price, as long as I can get something that’s going to serve me for the whole purpose. I would rather have better than what I need than settling for something that’s below par for what i need.
Sounds like something you would say at a massage parlor.
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