Router Vs. Switch

[Nephilim]

Hello, and greetings!

I have a bit of a delima here, i have to share an internet connection between my sister's PC and mine, however i am caught between a rock and a hard place, i can either:

1. Buy a TT$600.00 D-Link DSL router w/ 4 port switch build in and just fling away that speed stream crap TSTT give me, or

2. Buy a cheap advantek switch and use it to share the connection (TT$150)

all this and the cost of running the truncking for the cables and such.

if i get any network jargon wrong here odh bite off mehhead i aint no network Guru.

All i really care about is performance, will one connection be better perfomace-wise than the next? Or will they perform the same?

this is what i had in mind...

[Spazosaurus]

Your pocket will smile at the switch option, however if you go that route, the pc with the TSTT router connected to it must be up and running for the other pc to access internet. If that's no problem, fine, go with the switch, but if u want to be able to get net with any pc without the other being on, router iymc. Performance wise, they're pretty much the same.

[Nephilim]

if i plug the modem into the switch and all the other pcs to the switch wouldn't it be able to access independently of either being on?

[Crixx_Creww]

yeah if yu plug the dsl router into the switch in either the d link or the cheapo it will be functional independant of a pc

but why yu need to go on de trunking madness and stuff

[Nephilim]

lol my pc in my room upstairs and my sister's is in the study downstairs (which is way to crowded or i would have jusy moved my PC down there)

the shortest distance between the two at their closest relative points is about 30-40 feet.
hence the trunking and the wires, because i have to run on the groung and on the ceiling.

[disciple]

why don't you just go wireless an done? 
a wireless router go set yuh back same as the dlink..   and seein that it normally provides 4 wired ports , you only need to keep it close enough to one pc, and have the other one wireless... so is only one wireless card

might be able to get a linksys pci wireless card ( never used) , for cheap, if you interested

[W1nTry]

Well to begin with you can't chuck away the TSTT modem as that's pretty much your WAN connection. Sad to say less its some model (wireless router) I haven't seen, it's not gonna be doing PPP over ATM via your phone line. That aside, in this scenario I would suggest just getting a Wireless ACESS POINT (WAP). Alot of ppl have Wireless ROUTERS. There isn't much need for them save for the limited firewall capabilites they offer. That aside the WAP will distribute your IP scheme (over the air) and you could use it for a wired connection as well. Prolly best to have a static IP on the modem (LAN side) and on the WAP. Then let the WAP do the rest since its' feature set will more then likely surpass the modem (save those paradyne which seem to be alot more granular than the speedstreams). That way you will NOT have to run cables all over your house. I can even suggest some APs if you're interested. There is the draft form of 802.11n which offers bandwidths > 100Mbps or in other words better than your WIRED conenction (save for GE-Gigabit ethernet). Only catch with draft 802.11n is that you will need to get wireless cards of the same brand to ensure it will work at the designed throughput. However in most cases 802.11n devices are backwards compatible to 802.11b and g. I recommend Linksys over D-link, however lots of ppl have good and bad experiences with both so its really whichever you fancy. Linksys is a subsiduary of Cisco however hence why I give them more cred.

[TriniXaeno]

linksys earned their spot before becoming a subsidiary of cisco, so being a subsidiary earns them no additional cred.

Infact, cisco bought them to control them. Linksys was pushing out US$50 boxes that could easily rival US$300 products from cisco with simple firmware changes.

THAT is why the old Linksys deserved cred. The new linksys is Cisco's bxtch and they have since changed the design on some linksys boxes to prevent them from being soft modded into ultra killer routers.

my $0.02

as for the issue at hand, go with the switch if you don't mind running wires.

More performance for much less money.

[Nephilim]

well wireless had been an option in the begining but the cost of buying the wireless NICs was the downing factor, had though about Gigabit since 1 PC already has it but the cost again.

For now i think wired is best for me, i can't affors to buy a compareable wireless to wired solution an i need all the speed i can get, so i'll go with the cheap@$$ switch, until i see the need for i t o get wireless.

[Netizen1]

You may want to consider another alternative, such as the DSL-G604T
http://www.dlink.com/products/?sec=0&pid=372

I think it's on newegg as well, hold on for more...

Edit:
nah, not on newegg anymore, but I found it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0006GDCL2/yahoo-ce-20/ref=nosim
(hope link works)

[W1nTry]

Well as with most things, cost is the bottom line so yeah wired is cheaper (ATM). @ Baego, I would have to disagree with the Linksys being comparable to Cisco (even the old Linksys), Cisco's wireless gear is FAR more reliable, stable and suited to harsher environments. I've not seen a single Cisco AP go down vs. the MANY linksys and d-link APs i've seen DIE. Not to mention that Cisco makes gear for the Corporate market. We talking 300 concurrent wireless connections, tighter control etc. However like ALL of Cisco gear, there is a price premium that would make even the deeper pockets cringe.

[disciple]

hmm..

how much is it gonna cost to run the cable? 

just stringin it against the wall, or someone gonna come do it?
also, the actual cost of the cable..

reason being, as i said, you may just need one wireless nic.

the total cost might be comparable

[W1nTry]

hmm..

how much is it gonna cost to run the cable?

just stringin it against the wall, or someone gonna come do it?
also, the actual cost of the cable..

reason being, as i said, you may just need one wireless nic.

the total cost might be comparable

nah not even man. From the sounds of it, he's doing it himself and if its a simple upstairs to downstairs, even with conduit it'll be cheaper this way.

[Nephilim]

well i'm using conventional PVC as conduit, that i already have packed away in the store room since we built our house some years ago, running it is small thing drill a few holes put some wall plugs, and is only bout 60 feet MAX of cable i need, in fact i think is bout 10 feet too much but i allowing for unforseen "bumps" (b/c i rounding some corners). All in all only the cost of the cable and switch is the factors right now (and well about 20 wall plugs ),

TT$150.00 (switch)
TT$  50.00 (60' of cable)
TT$200.00

that good for now.

[disciple]

oh ho

well yeh..  the wired cheaper :-)

in your first post, you mentioned the 'cost of running the trunking etc', so i assumed you were getting someone to do it (i.e. labour costs)

but it's all good

[Nephilim]

my bad

[Arcmanov]

had though about Gigabit since 1 PC already has it but the cost again.

Point of note about Gigabit ethernet.
Its VERY expensive, and to get true gigabit throughput ALL hardware must be GbE capable.
You don't even want to KNOW the price of a GbE switch.

The cabling as well needs to adhere to the GbE standard (Cat6 I think), and that cable is VERY
expensive as well.  Most companies in TnT not even considering upgrading their existing 10/100 networks
because of the costs involved.

[Nephilim]

TT$1700, and that is the cheap one, i couldn't find cable and that price alone set me off, i could run my games fine on 100Mps qui! 

[W1nTry]

Actually you'd be surprised how man Government offices are running Cat6 right through now... even dare I say it... PRIMARY SCHOOLS, but thats privi info. Anyways, something else about cat6 is its stiff and you cannot bend it each and every way you may like to. The reason being becuase Cat6 has a plastic spine that separated the pairs and thus makes it much less pliable. And yes it is expensive, but if yuh was really interested I could give yuh info on where to get it. Cat5e aka 100mbps is more than enough most of the times so yuh good to go.