gigabit transfers and internet sharing..

[NickiSixx]

I currently have a wired network set up among a couple of PCs. I wanted to have 2 of them (at least) be able to transfer files from one another at gigabit speeds (they both have gigabit ethernet ports). But i checked all over for routers (wireless and wired) that have gigabit ports, but none of them do. I saw gigabit switches - but then ( i believe) they dont allow you to share an internet connection , correct? only routers do? In order to be able to go online and transfer files at gigabit speeds am i going to have to buy a separate ethernet card for internet sharing via my router and then use the gigabit port to connect to the gigabit switch? Or is there a simpler way? thanks!

[TierraDelFuego]

yes you will need a router to access the internet.

been thinking about this though, and it should work as follows, as it is a standard config for a LAN.

internet into router. switch coming off the router. both pc's connected into the switch. any internal traffic will connect via gigabit switch. any external traffic from either PC will go through the switch into the router and then out to the internet. all this meaning you only need one NIC in each PC.

[NickiSixx]

But, if the gigabit switch is going into the router that only has 10/100 switches.....arent the PCs still going to be transferring at 10/100 , instead of gigabit because the gigabit switch is still going into the 10/100 router.

[Elaine]

The router is for ingoing and outgoing traffic from the LAN. Since you'll be transfering files internally within the LAN, you won't be going through the router, only the switch.

[NickiSixx]

yes, but the gigabit switch will be going through the router's switch which operates at 10/100....so, wouldnt it be limited to 10/100 if the gigabit switch is connected to the router's 10/100 switch?

[TierraDelFuego]

no basically.

The setup is as follows

Router

Switch

PC PC

If the PC's are talking to each other, internally, then they only hit the switch and don't touch the router so it will be gigabit. If external then they go through the router. As I said earlier this is how corporate LANs are setup in essence and I can assure you that internal LAN traffic does not go through the router everytime.

The only time the traffic will hit the router is when internet traffic is requested and this only occurs because the PC's will be configured, either statically or by DHCP, with a default gateway, the same internal IP as your router. All other traffic will not go near your router.

oh i just keep editing this as I think of new ways to explain :)
thinking about internal traffic the whole point of TCP/IP is that it picks the quickest route. So if the PC's are connected to the switch when PC1 sends traffic to PC2 the switch will be the quickest route between the two.

finished now :)

[nimbles]

yeah thats exactly how i have it set up- minus the gigabit stuff.

two computers connected directly connected to the router then one cable from the router to a switch/hub upstairs which then splits the connection amongst the net connection to the 3 pc's and 1 xbox upstairs.

if the router is turned off i have no internet upstairs but all the machines downstream of the hub can interact with each other quite happily (just not with the computers downstairs)

usually there is an uplink (i think thats what its called) port which is marked slightly differently to the other ports (same RJ45 connection) which you would put the cable to the router into.

gigabit router :eek: didn't think you could even get 100Mb/s for home networks, (i'm on 1.5Mb/s witha 10/100 router so even that is overkill), why would you want a gigabit router at the moment?

[TierraDelFuego]

that's the whole point nimbles.

the gigabit issue plays no part of the external speed as it is obviously overkill.

your own router is 10/100 so it is 100mb/s for home networks. the issue is obviously where transfering huge files internally takes a while at even 100mb/s speeds. and if you have gigabit NIC's you may as well have gigabit internal connectivity really.

[NickiSixx]

oh ok. it makes sense now. Thanks A LOT! I really appreciate it

[zack371]

Your router is your default Gateway, so only traffic destined for outside your local subnet (LAN) ever hits the router. All other traffic goes out the switch and you will get the higher speeds. :)

[NickiSixx]

ok, one more question....

what about if i wanted to add a couple of other computers wirelessly. Assuming its all set up like you suggested, how do i add wireless connectivity as well?

(and do you know if i can add a Mac to my wireless network? - and what will i need for that - if anything special?)

[TierraDelFuego]

not sure but think MAC's running over OS8/9 and definitely OSX all run TCP/IP as standard, rather than MACTCP, so should connect up fine.

on the network this again depends on where you want to position the wireless AP but it does depend on the router and switch you get/have. some routers and switches only allow or understand another device such as a hub/switch/AP if it is connected to an uplink port, others however have auto-sensing. so, if your router only has one uplink port and is not auto sensing, the wireless device will have to connect to the switch. if the router has auto sensing, then connect the wired switch and the wireless device to the router.

hope that helps.

[NickiSixx]

would you by any chance know if the Linksys routers have auto-sensing?

*The BEFSR41 router? if not, then I guess I could get a linksys wireless router with autosensing

[Elaine]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean. The Linksys BEFSR41 is wired. Needless to say if you want to connect the computers wirelessly, you're going to need some wireless NICs for each computer, not to mention a wireless router. I'm sure that T will be about to guide you further. :)

[NickiSixx]

the BEFSR41 is the wired router i have. I wasnt sure which router (or both) he was telling me needed auto-sensing (the wired,wireless,or both)

[TierraDelFuego]

depends where you want things plugged in, as said above.....

it would be easier to have both the wireless router and wired switch connecting to the wired router but, the wired router will need to have autosensing uplink ports to be able to connect more than one hub/switch/router. check out the manual or website for more information, my last 2 days holiday now :)

the other thing to remember is DHCP . if you buy a wireless router this, and the wired router, will have dhcp turned on by default i imagine. so you would either need to turn off both and set manually assigned IP's for every PC or make sure the IP ranges that the DHCP's give out are different, as otherwise.....

you will get IP conflicts on your network stopping the network running properly.

[NickiSixx]

ok, so what if I just get a Linksys wireless router (with built in switch) (with autosensing)and a gigabit switch.... then can i just plug the gigabit switch into the router? And have the 2 main PCs transfer at gigabit speeds, and be able to go online. and have any other pcs connected to the wireless router and wirelessly

[TierraDelFuego]

yup

[NickiSixx]

great. thanks a lot for everyone's help

[NickiSixx]

one more thing - sorry....do i plug the gigabit switch into any port in the router or does it have to be a specific one (uplink, wan, etc)?

[TierraDelFuego]

uplink if it has one