Network upgrade

[johnridley]

I've been doing a lot of stuff lately that really shows the speed limit on the 100 MHz network at home. Newegg just put a decently rated 8 port gigahertz switch up for $23, so I decided to go for it since I'm ordering a couple more SD cards from them for export to Oxford this summer anyway.

8 ports won't do everything in the house but it'll do everything that is gigahertz capable. 16 port gigahertz switches are $65 and up so it's cheaper to cascade switches anyway if it comes to that.

Comments

[dave-ifversen.livejournal.com]

I picked up an ASUS RT-N16 (Gigabit Wireless-N Router) from Tiger Direct a month or so ago. I put Tomato on it, and it works great.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

That exact router is also on my list (#1 review amongst consumer grade dual band routers by The Register recently), and it's on sale right now, but right now my priority is in-house speed. The router I have (an older ASUS model) is probably already wringing out all the speed my connection has anyway.

I prefer to plug everything into a separate switch, not the router's switch, because I sometimes need to power cycle the router (because our cable company acts weird sometimes) and also most routers only have 4 ports, which isn't enough anyway.

If I do anything for the connection it should probably be upgrading my modem to DOCSIS 3. That's $90. I'll probably do that later this year. Then maybe a new router.

[dave-ifversen.livejournal.com]

All the (wired) computers are plugged into a NetGear 16 port Gigabit switch (the vet clinic I volunteer at gave it to me when they upgraded, along with a couple of HP thin clients and a pile of LCD monitors). One thing I found out about the NetGear - it runs *hot* (at least, hotter than I am used to). Turns out that is normal for that switch, according to all the reviews I've read. It doesn't seem to affect its running in any way.