Upgrade Your Router by Adding a Network Switch

The new smaller routers are awesome, but they lack one thing; Ethernet Ports. That is where a Network Switch comes to save the day. Today I show you how to add a switch by upgrading my 8-Port switch, to a 16 port switch to give more devices a dedicated Ethernet connection.

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[TechWithBrett]

Is my network room under control or a complete mess? Did I miss anything?

[georgeyoung]

I believe it’s recommended to mount the equipment with the plugs facing downwards, so that dust and debris can’t get into any of the unused ports

[adetunjioye]

One of the best "fools guide to home networking" available.
I surely cannot mess up my setup now.
Nice one.

[DB-]

Also there is one thing where wired networks have great advantage over Wi-Fi. Wired networks are working almost everytime in Full Duplex mode and also switches have fast backplane, that can handle a lot of traffic among multiple ports. That means if for instance NAS communicates directly with PC and takes 800 Mbit/s of bandwith in direction PC -> NAS, then there is still free 1 Gbit/s bandwith in direction into PC, then second PC can pull 800 Mbit/s for instance from internet uplink to the switch.

On the other hand Wi-Fi can be imagined as "wireless hub". Hubs used to resend incoming packets to all other ports and could run only half duplex so for example 100 Mbit/s Ethernet line was shared bandwith for both directions. The same applies for Wi-Fi.

As an example: If Wi-Fi has theoretical speed 400 Mbit/s (practical 250 Mbit/s), then you can either use whole bandwith in single direction and get full 250 Mbit/s, but not 250 Mbit/s on Rx and Tx at the same time. However if Full Duplex Gigabit ethernet has 1000 Mbit/s, then there is dedicated 1000 Mbit/s Tx link and dedicated 1000 Mbit/s Rx link and they can be used at the same time unlike on WiFi or archaic hubs.

[popquizzz]

To help translate some of the stuff you didn't understand: First off the switch is operating in Full-Duplex natively but auto-senses the connection speed and connection type being either full-duplex (meaning like having a conversation over a normal phone call where one person can talk over the other), versus half-duplex (like having a conversation over walkie-talkies where only one person can transmit at a time and the other must listen). This full duplex effectively allows for 1000mbps transmission simultaneously in both directions giving your new 16-port switch a 32Gbps non-blocking (i'll get to this in a second) switching fabric. Now non-blocking basically means what it says; the switch does not block other ports from communicating when another port is busy with traffic. Jumbo frames are great to use if the high use devices on your network support it. Otherwise stick to the traditional 1500 bytes MTU size. The reason Jumbo frames work better in high use is less decoding of header traffic and more transmission of payload data per Ethernet Frame at layer 2, the datalink layer.

[JeffBreuer]

What a perfectly simple, straightforward, and comprehensive beginner's guide to home networking! My setup in our basement is shaping up to be very similar, so I may take a page out of your book and screw a piece of plywood to the studs and mount everything that way. Keep up the great work!

[TampaTec]

0:03 Wait, how did you know I was going to ask that?! Love that setup you did for your home Network, 👍 earned.

[superhardgel]

I love your clear articulation and explanation. Easily one of the most pleasant sounding narrators on YouTube! (IMHO)

[grgnfl]

Thanks for explaining what the network switch is and how to use it. Best explanation I've seen yet.

[Woodworking]

Good, simple video on basic networking with a switch. I recommend you ensure your modem/router from your ISP is in bridge mode so you can avoid double NAT situations and get unexpected conflicts at random times, especially after a power outage and devices power back up.

[Digmen]

I have a 4 port switch and its great for me at the moment.
I did not know there were so many devices you could connect to a switch!

[ronk]

A simple and easy solution. And switches aren't expensive at all. I had to get one as my video camera system needed ethernet connection. It's plug and play, with no headaches.

[David_Quinn_Photography]

nice quick video on setting up a simple switch, I was looking for a guide on how to set one up, and just so happened to be the same switch I bought

[gustavinus]

5:49 32Gbps nonblocking switching is the max summed throughput possible. For example, if you have all 16 ports uploading and downloading at max speed at the same time. Which will probably never happen, but is good to know.

[reinierv.]

Great vid! I connect the cat 6 cable directly from the xfinity Modem router to the switch and it works. But again you did a great job.

[rugfixr]

"I didn't drop it" hahaha

This was so easily explained. Excellent video!

[loudclearavsystemsllc]

Couple things I would recommend: Make sure that you not only disable WiFi from a modem/router combo but, that you also setup DMZ, as bridging an ISP modem/router is not always an option. This is based on a couple comments that I read. Next, consider a more robust mesh network, like Netgear Orbi, as their units are able to be wire back hauled, creating a hardline Wireless Access Point wherever you place the satellite. But don’t bother with the smaller version of the Orbi, similar to the Nest, as they too are not very strong. Get models like the AC3000 or AX4200. You could go down the road of Unifi, Pakedge or Araknis, however it will be quite a bit more expensive in most cases. A solid WiFi network needs to be established for toys like the Ring cameras that you touch on in another video. I recently retrofitted.a home with new wire, even to the ISP box, and installed the AX4200 with wired back haul, the client is getting over 600 down throughout the two story home, which won’t improve until they have fiber.

[TechnoGenuine]

Always comes up with great tips. I have been looking for something like this for years! Thanks a lot!

[clashwithmoi]

If you put a door hinge on the right side of the wooden board, you can route the wires behind it and use holes in the board for routing them to the devices. The swivel board will let you manage the cables easily

[flipflop]

Can I use a switch on my modem/router combo then run an either net jack to multi rooms all hooked to the switch