Quick education/or tips on earthernet connection boxes needed please.

happyhero

Hi, can somebody give me a quick education on earthernet connection boxes.

My router only has 4 outputs and things have grown in our house over the years. Our wifi isn’t great and so over time I ran eathernet cables for some things. Currently we have on cable, the PC, the Sky Box, the Xbox, a link to the heating, 4 security cameras and some other bits I can’t remember so I was thinking of getting a 16 port switch.

 

Is it an unmanaged switch I need and what is the difference managed or unmanaged?

Is this one what I need

https://www.broadbandbuyer.com/products/38137-tp-link-tl-sg116/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2Oy6osr97gIVyrTtCh3qVASGEAQYASABEgLMr_D_BwE   ?

Why are they so expensive, they seem overly expensive for what they are if you know what I mean? And they seem to have suddenly gone up on Amazon, why would that be?

I assume they are all powered, so I need a spare socket nearby?

Am I suffering any loss connecting everything via a 16way switch, I mean is there a better way?

Would there be any reason that would make it better to use smaller one, i.e. 4 x 4way boxes instead of a 16 way box and does it make any difference which box configuration you get?

Can you for example plug a box into a box i.e. could I run 1 cable from a say a 4-way switch by the router (let’s say in the office) to another room to feed a 4-way switch in another room (let’s say the lounge) so that we only use the one cable getting from the office to the lounge but then feed 4 things off the one in the lounge, does that work without problems?

Any info/help appreciated.

[Deleted User]

You only need an unmanaged switch for your purposes. A managed switch has a web interface that allows various settings to be changed if needed such as QoS, VLans to control the network traffic etc compared to an unmanaged switch which is a dumb switch but does everything you need by just routing traffic wherever it wants to go.

Price seems reasonable but all silicon based hardware has jumped in price lately as stocks are low.  You can get the same one for £49 on Amazon.

Yes they need power so a wall socket needed, they usually just have a small power adapter type plug.

No loss in quality / performance using a 16 way switch for home use but there are other "topologies" that can be more convenient as you suggest such as a 4 way switch then routing to different rooms and providing a few more 4 or 5 way switches locally instead - will help reduce the number of long wires running to the main switch. Both should perform equally well for domestic use.

I prefer the multiple 4 way switch method, it is tidier and gives easier scope for expansion when needed - bear in mind 1 port is always used for the uplink so if you need 4 devices connecting you need a 5-port switch.

I have a few of these 5 ports switch for £12 around the house to distribute my ethernet. My router has 8 ports so plenty at source then feeds into these:
https://www.tp-link.com/uk/business-networking/unmanaged-switch/tl-sg105s/

Neil_Jones

Managed switches you find them more in business environments, they're designed such as to prioritise certain traffic or route it in specific ways/directions or whatever.  No need for that in home, as it will almost certainly only need to go to your router.

You can daisy chain switches if you need to, you can just connect a 5 port to another five port for example and it'll work.

happyhero

Been looking at switches and just realised something else, I'm planning to contact Openreach and see about getting fibre to my house via the telegraph pole opposite me. Spoke briefly to Openreach guy other day parked near my house and he said yes I can get it and it should give me speeds of about 140mbs so if that's the case should I be buying a gigabit switch 10/100/1000 if I understand correctly? 

[Deleted User]

happyhero said:

Been looking at switches and just realised something else, I'm planning to contact Openreach and see about getting fibre to my house via the telegraph pole opposite me. Spoke briefly to Openreach guy other day parked near my house and he said yes I can get it and it should give me speeds of about 140mbs so if that's the case should I be buying a gigabit switch 10/100/1000 if I understand correctly? 

Yes, but I think all switches I've seen for sale are now gigabit standard anyway.

vacheron

Yes, you would need a gigabit switch if you don't want your broadband speed to be limited to 100mbps. 
Another option other than buying a 4 port switch (this is MSE after all)  is to use any old ISP routers you have lying about. Many households have at least one or two if they switch suppliers regularly.

I use an old Virgin Superhub 2AC  in the loft and an old BT Smart Hub downstairs which are both effectively 4 port gigabit switches (the just have other stuff built in which you just don't use any more) you can even use their built in Wi-Fi to extend the range to distant parts of the house if you so desire! 

ReecesWaffle

Every considered a mesh network?

Rodders53

ReecesWaffle said:

Every considered a mesh network?

OP has loads of ethernet cabling installed so a wifi mesh would be a downgrade in performance and reliability cf cabling devices.

I'd recommend they also avoid using old routers as switches:  party for MSE energy-saving reasons (they'll use more energy than a basic switch), but also a lot will only be 100Mbit/s ports (judging by the ones I have in the 'to go to weee recycling bin' box).

J_B

happyhero said:

......, I'm planning to contact Openreach and see about getting fibre to my house via the telegraph pole opposite me. 

Good luck - O/R are, sadly, uncontactable 

happyhero said:

 Spoke briefly to Openreach guy other day parked near my house and he said yes I can get it and it should give me speeds of about 140mbs ..........

I was told the same by an O/R guy here. He was wrong!

CoastingHatbox

OP, My recommendation would be for 1x 16 port Gigabit Ethernet switch, rather than daisy chaining multiple 4 port switches.

Right now I've got 5 port switches in three different locations to distribute my network.

Occasionally one of the 5 port switches will stop passing packets until it is switched off and on again. I'm in the throes of installing 'structured networking' so there are Ethernet ports in most rooms and patch panels + switch in one central location.

I will be using a second PoE (Power over Ethernet) switch, plugged into the first switch, for CCTV cameras and wireless access points so the electricity to run them is supplied over the network cable. In a simple network, I think additional switches are better avoided if possible.

There are some cheaper ones on eBay.