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bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
Well the speed of system should be able to handle it. But for example when you go to browse the drive it will be slow. But loading/transfering large files should not be too bad.

so you wouldn't say it's very usable to do itunes and aperture, for instance, with that method...
 

trainguy77

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2003
3,567
1
so you wouldn't say it's very usable to do itunes and aperture, for instance, with that method...

I don't know you would have to try it. I have never tried it what I have told you is all from experience. But in a networking environment all files are saved remotely without a problem and thats on a 100 base/t system.
 

Elijahg

macrumors 6502
May 23, 2005
269
174
Bath, UK
can anyone confirm this?
it actually amazes me that this may not be possible. you'd think with two connections bridged it would technically double your speed on the LAN. clearly the internet can only go as fast as the ISP, but for internal purposes, you;d think you could do this by now...

You can, it's called Port Trunking. It must be set up on the switch too though, and usually you will need a Level 2 Managed Switch (like a Netgear GSM7224). Some Smart Switches support it too though, I think.
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
right now i have a 10/100 router, and using cable internet... is it possible if i buy a gigabit switch and do this

[Cable Modem]
_____|
[10/100 Router] - - - wireless
_____|
[Gigabit Switch]
___|________|
[Comp1] [Comp2] ... etc

?

because last time i checked, i remember the switch can only share somethign.. aka all ports are equivalent, there's no "Internet" port and "LAN" ports differentiation.

edit: i guess i want to know how is that different from

[Cable Modem]
_____|
[10/100/1000 Router] - - - wireless
___|________|
[Comp1] [Comp2] ... etc

in terms of speed, and convenience...
 
Well, I think you can (but haven't tried it.. dunno if the switch your'e connected has to support this feature)

Goto System Prefs, and Network. Select under "Show" Network Port Configurations.
The click "new", and choose "Link Aggregate"
Maybe someone knows what this exactly does?

pics:

Yes, link aggregating is like combining the speeds of both ports and effectively doubling the speed. But you don't download directly any faster, only in parallel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Link_aggregation
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
It's possible, but your bottleneck is the cable line, by orders of magnitude.

oh, thats fine, i'm more interested increase the speed between computers...

but would the 2 setup be any different in terms of speed and oh i dont know, some features?

can i do port forward and stuff with the switch?
 

trainguy77

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2003
3,567
1
oh, thats fine, i'm more interested increase the speed between computers...

but would the 2 setup be any different in terms of speed and oh i dont know, some features?

can i do port forward and stuff with the switch?

They would act identical. You may even get a tiny bit faster speeds using the switch. But they would be really small. Sometimes cheaper routers slow things down a little. But yes they would act identical.
 

dkoralek

macrumors 6502
Sep 12, 2006
268
0
oh, thats fine, i'm more interested increase the speed between computers...

but would the 2 setup be any different in terms of speed and oh i dont know, some features?

can i do port forward and stuff with the switch?

Yeah, I guess that was my same question, i.e. if i could improve speed accessing my lan for file transfers, since obviously traffic outside the lan will be dictated by my isp.

cheers.
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
Only if the switch is also a router. Barebone switches don't care about routing in the sense you're talking about.

hmm... see, that's what i thought.. until i saw this diagram

enus_diagram_backdiagram_gs605.gif


thats a 5 port gigabit desktop switch, GS605 from netgear

http://www.netgear.com/Products/Switches/DesktopSwitches/GS605.aspx
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
... What's your point?

my point is... provided you saw the post i was quoting, in which the poster said it would only work if the switch is a router, can i get my desired effect... and i'm posting a picture of a switch that does not intuitively strike me as a router, however the diagram does show it can be connect to the router and still achieve my desired effect
 

longofest

Editor emeritus
Jul 10, 2003
2,931
1,715
Falls Church, VA
right now i have a 10/100 router, and using cable internet... is it possible if i buy a gigabit switch and do this

[Cable Modem]
_____|
[10/100 Router] - - - wireless
_____|
[Gigabit Switch]
___|________|
[Comp1] [Comp2] ... etc

?

because last time i checked, i remember the switch can only share somethign.. aka all ports are equivalent, there's no "Internet" port and "LAN" ports differentiation.

edit: i guess i want to know how is that different from

[Cable Modem]
_____|
[10/100/1000 Router] - - - wireless
___|________|
[Comp1] [Comp2] ... etc

in terms of speed, and convenience...

Both are acceptable I suppose. What kind of wireless are you going to be using. If you are using Pre-N stuff, then I'd go for the second option, since the 10/100 router will be a bottleneck. If its just 802.11g, then you shouldn't see any bottlenecks with the first one, and it is probably a lot less expensive.
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
Both are acceptable I suppose. What kind of wireless are you going to be using. If you are using Pre-N stuff, then I'd go for the second option, since the 10/100 router will be a bottleneck. If its just 802.11g, then you shouldn't see any bottlenecks with the first one, and it is probably a lot less expensive.

i'm not using any of the pre-N stuff... i'm using mostly wired connection, it's just maybe occasionally id bring my laptop around the house, and i certainly dont expect full speed...

but for the wired connections, the 2 are of the same speed?

(wait, are you saying Pre-N is faster than 100Mb/s?)
 

mufflon

macrumors 6502
Sep 15, 2006
264
2
TCP overhead may limit you from hitting 1000 Mbps for long stretches of time, but it will be vastly faster than 10/100 ethernet and should be able to keep up with the drive.

There's also the fact that FW800 doesn't sustain 800 Mbps in most cases, due to system overhead.

Either way, I suspect that the FW800 link will still be the bottleneck, but I'd have to do some testing to verify that.

that might have been the case if we work with a non-bottleneck router (it will need caching one way or the other), furthermore the information sent through TCP/IP will have more overhead (destination + more), which the FW driwe won't have to cope with, signal distortion will also take much more affect over larger area (such as a network) - so I would guess that the overall speed through TCP/IP will have a natural botteneck even during ideal conditions - itself.
 

trainguy77

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2003
3,567
1
Well the 1000 base/t is very fast for example when I copy files between our Xeon servers which both have 10k drives it hits a max of 25% network usage but most of the time closer to %10-%15 So 1000 base/t is plenty fast its just the latency that will cause problems.
 

longofest

Editor emeritus
Jul 10, 2003
2,931
1,715
Falls Church, VA
(wait, are you saying Pre-N is faster than 100Mb/s?)

Pre-N can peak at 300 Mb/s, so a 100Mb/s wired connection wouldn't be doing it justice. However, as with any wireless product, going away from the base station even by a matter of feet can start reducing your speeds dramatically. Don't expect to get 300 Mb/s more than a couple of feet away from the base station, but you could probably still get over 100 Mb/s at a decent distance.
 

ChrisBrightwell

macrumors 68020
Apr 5, 2004
2,294
0
Huntsville, AL
my point is... provided you saw the post i was quoting, in which the poster said it would only work if the switch is a router, can i get my desired effect... and i'm posting a picture of a switch that does not intuitively strike me as a router, however the diagram does show it can be connect to the router and still achieve my desired effect
I guess I'm misreading the image, then.

The image shows a PC connected to a switch, which is in turn connected to a router, which is the connected to a broadband modem.

It shows nothing of a "dual link" betweent he PCs and the switch.
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
I guess I'm misreading the image, then.

The image shows a PC connected to a switch, which is in turn connected to a router, which is the connected to a broadband modem.

It shows nothing of a "dual link" betweent he PCs and the switch.
it does not have anything to do with dual link (i guess i successfully hijacked another thread)

i just wanted to make sure switch connected to a router does the same thing as a router by itself would do
 

jeremy.king

macrumors 603
Jul 23, 2002
5,479
1
Holly Springs, NC
it does not have anything to do with dual link (i guess i successfully hijacked another thread)

i just wanted to make sure switch connected to a router does the same thing as a router by itself would do

either of your earlier diagrams will work for you...that is, depending on the switched hub you buy.

I have experienced in the past that some hubs will only operate as fast as the fastest device connected, including the uplink. Since your current router only support 100baseT, its possible the new gigabit hub may throttle down. Just make sure whatever hub you are looking at doesn't do this, and you should be fine.

If it were me, I would just get a gigabit router and be done with it. I like simplicity.
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
either of your earlier diagrams will work for you...that is, depending on the switched hub you buy.

I have experienced in the past that some hubs will only operate as fast as the fastest device connected, including the uplink. Since your current router only support 100baseT, its possible the new gigabit hub may throttle down. Just make sure whatever hub you are looking at doesn't do this, and you should be fine.
i only care about the transfer rate between computers... as long as that's not limited by the router (which it shouldn't) i'm fine

If it were me, I would just get a gigabit router and be done with it. I like simplicity.
i was thinking i'll get one with N once it's certified and all that, plus it's really expensive now
 

trainguy77

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2003
3,567
1
either of your earlier diagrams will work for you...that is, depending on the switched hub you buy.
First off just to keep it clear. A switch and a hub are very different. They may seem to do the same thing, but the way they work is very different. The switch is the better of the two.
I have experienced in the past that some hubs will only operate as fast as the fastest device connected, including the uplink. Since your current router only support 100baseT, its possible the new gigabit hub may throttle down. Just make sure whatever hub you are looking at doesn't do this, and you should be fine.
I have never heard of a switch or a hub throttling down for the slowest device it will just run that port at the slower speed. It must have been either a really old hub or switch....or really cheap.
 

jeremy.king

macrumors 603
Jul 23, 2002
5,479
1
Holly Springs, NC
First off just to keep it clear. A switch and a hub are very different. They may seem to do the same thing, but the way they work is very different. The switch is the better of the two.

I have never heard of a switch or a hub throttling down for the slowest device it will just run that port at the slower speed. It must have been either a really old hub or switch....or really cheap.

I know the difference, I don't need a networking lesson...Switch is just a short name for Switched (or Switching) hub...

Throttling is more of an issue with when using a hub, its not that uncommon that a hub based network will only be as fast as the slowest client since hubs don't track individual ports (like say a switch). Try it for yourself.
 

trainguy77

macrumors 68040
Nov 13, 2003
3,567
1
I know the difference, I don't need a networking lesson...Switch is just a short name for Switched (or Switching) hub...
Sorry about that. Its just may people think a switch is the same as a hub so they go for the cheaper and they buy the hub.
 
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