Unmanaged Switch setup

John-SporJohn-Spor
edited January 2005 in Science & Tech
OK I'm worried about my next purchase. My 8 port Linksys router died and its time to upgrade(Long over due). I was looking at the DELL PowerConnec 2624 which is a 24 Port Gigabit Ethernet Switch with 1 Fiber Up link. They have them on sale for $249.00. I have a DSL Pipe modem from the IP and a wireless router (4 port)that i will probably use for the router to the switch. I have used what would be a managed system up to now. My DSL pipe is 192.168.1.1 and my routers have always been set to 192.168.100.1 with the computer address in this series. example of 192.168.100.111. My question is how does it work when your not setting the numbers yourself. Can and unmanaged switch work with 192.168.100.1 or do you set it differently and what do you set the computer and network printers to. I would go managed but the price is out of my reach.
Thanks for your help
John Spor

Comments

  • EMTEMT Seattle, WA Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    If I read your question right, this is the answer:
    None of that configuration would be done for a switch. That is all done in the router's config. There's very little difference between running a x-port router and attaching an x-port switch to a router.
  • primesuspectprimesuspect Beepin n' Boopin Detroit, MI Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    a switch is just an aggregation point for ethernet devices. It has nothing to do with addressing or protocols. You just plug the wires in. It will not change your network configuration one bit.
  • mmonninmmonnin Centreville, VA
    edited January 2005
    You will have to set the IPs yourself since a switch cant give out IPs.

    I think managed means it can set how much bandwidth between each port. I may be wrong. prime knows this stuff better than me.
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited January 2005
    And just to make sure your clear if your router dies you still need a ROUTER not a switch to replace it. The router connects two differant networks, usually for homes a internal network of computers with the internet. A switch connects computers into the same network ( like all your home computers in your case). Most routers have a switch built in but not gigabit.

    This is a very simple view on the two products and may not be correct in the very strictest verbage but in general thats the differance.

    Get a cheap router and if you want gigabit for the home I heavily recomend the smc 8508T for a nice 8 port gigabit copper switch. I also use the smc barricade router.

    You can buy the switch and the router for the price of that switch you wanted and don't need.

    Tex
  • John-SporJohn-Spor
    edited January 2005
    Thanks for the replies. The 8 port was to small for the house. I have two wireless routers also. I was having to plug and unplug cables even with the 3 routers(2 wireless and 1 8 port linksys) Thats why i want to go to a 24 port. I will still use the wireless for connecting to the modem (Lucent DSL pipe)and then one to the switch. Not having played with a unmanaged switch it just sound to simple. Plug and play :D Yea right, it never seems that easy. If your setting up the address for the computers do you just set it as the same numbers as the router and the switch forwards or what. example 192.168.100.1 for router and 192.168.100.111 for machine so you don;t need a address for switch? Primesuspect is this what your telling me.
    Thanks for all the answers.
    John Spor
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited January 2005
    As we tried to tell ya. The switch does nothing. Your current setup is a mess with 3 routers. Thats wrong in every sense of the term.

    Clean it up and get one router which does all the IP assigning etc.. and a switch which does nothing but connect computers. If all do not need to be gigabit you can even connect one switch to another with one being 10/100 and the other gigabit as no switch does anything with IP's but forward them. It may not be the most efficent but you can have a 8 port 10/100 swicth and a 8 port gigabit switch plugged into each other just like you can pluf the 4 port wired swicth from a router intoa switch.

    The router handles ALL ip assignments for everything downstream.

    You only need one router though and having three is just.... well lets leave it as wrong for now.

    Tex
  • John-SporJohn-Spor
    edited January 2005
    The reason i have 2 wireless is my modem has 4 ports not one and house is to large to have one wireless to cover and hate using repeaters. I have cat5 run from the modem to one side of the house and one run to the other with the wireless on each end. set up the IP and users as the same and could run from one side to the other and out side and still be on line. Not shared on the network. The the 8 port was on line connecting the computers in the house. but it was to small. I need more ports.

    Thanks
    John
  • EMTEMT Seattle, WA Icrontian
    edited January 2005
    Sure does sound like a complicated setup. It's OK to have extra routers for wireless access, no harm done except for your LAN's functionality (a better piece of equipment would be a wireless access point). The switch, though, is perfectly fine. It doesn't have its own IP address and doesn't even require the IP protocol -- it works on a lower level than a router. It'll just pass the info back and forth between the router and computers with nothing to worry about.

    If a router has more than one port it's got a switch/hub (call these interchangeable terms for the sake of this discussion) built-in anyway. Chaining switches and/or hubs together is the equivalent of having one large switch/hub save for some bandwidth bottlenecks.
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