32 replies to this topic

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

Yes, thanks everyone.

[pcdoc]

Good post and responses everyone. I think I learned a lot. Based on this discussion, I believe my switch (link below) is a good switch?


NETGEAR JGS516 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Rackmount Switch 16 x RJ45 8,000 MAC Address Table 2MB Buffer Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833122057&Tpk=JGS516

This seems to be a good switch, however it has a fan which can make a bit noisy for home environments depending on your setup. The dlink greens are fan-less and absolutely quiet.

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

This seems to be a good switch, however it has a fan which can make a bit noisy for home environments depending on your setup. The dlink greens are fan-less and absolutely quiet.

It is in my wife's closet so no noice concerns. My server is also in there and she loves that it keeps the closet warm.

[Dude]

Best practice would be to have a wall-plate with as many jacks as are needed (plus some spares). What actually happens would probably involve a local switch.

Cable is cheap and you can get up to 6 jacks on a single wallplate, so I'd try and go that route if I were you, using the patch panel that you have. (Remember though that to get cat6 speeds/reliability, everything has to support cat6, from the cable to patch panel to the connectors/terminations.)

Interesting thread this, I am in the process of planning how I am going to stream HD video from my WHS to my home theatre which is on another floor. I have been using wireless for SD but it just can't stream HD, as it just keeps bufferring. I've ran a Cat6 cable across the floor and it streams fine. So I am working out how I can run the Cat6 up the walls across the roof and down to my home theatre. I have 4 devices there that all want to connect so I was thinking of connecting all the devices to a 1 gig switch and then connect teh swith to a single wall socket with the Cat 6 back to another switch in my home office which will connect to the router. based on your post are you suggesting I shoud run 4 or more Cat6 cables to a wall plate and terminate them at the switch in my home office? Seems like a lot of wiring?

Am I interpreting it correctly.

[cskenney]

That is ideal, but it may not be practical.

[usacomp2k3]

That is ideal, but it may not be practical.

Agreed. If you have the time and money you could run 4 runs (at least you only have to do 1 pull and then pull all 4 together (if you are using conduit)), but not always practical. Just remember that all 4 devices will be limited by the interconnect, which in your case probably won't be a problem.

[edamiga1]

You might consider getting more ports, so as they die and they will, you do not have to get an entirely new switch. I have a 24port and use about 16 of them. It also leaves room for expansion and the additional cost is minimal.

[Citezein]

I have the 16 port D-Link green switch and it's been fantastic so far and absolutely quiet.

[dvn]

You might consider getting more ports, so as they die and they will, you do not have to get an entirely new switch. I have a 24port and use about 16 of them. It also leaves room for expansion and the additional cost is minimal.

So what's up with ports dying? Why is that? Low quality hardware?

[pcdoc]

Expansion room is good, but dying????? If I loose a port (which has not yet happend) I will want to replace the whole unit. He does make a good point on expansion though.

[kermi]

Expansion room is good, but dying????? If I loose a port (which has not yet happend) I will want to replace the whole unit. He does make a good point on expansion though.

Ports dying sounds a bit odd to me too.. Concidering what i just read from the specsheet of a d-link 16-port gbit router.. If it dies according to MTBF figure, you plug it in today and it dies in july 2105. Which makes me wonder how in the heck have they come to that figure anyway..

[cskenney]

Ports dying sounds a bit odd to me too.. Concidering what i just read from the specsheet of a d-link 16-port gbit router.. If it dies according to MTBF figure, you plug it in today and it dies in july 2105. Which makes me wonder how in the heck have they come to that figure anyway..

I have never had a port die on my home network. We have had bad ports at work but this is usually due to a lightning strike or surge and the switch acted like the fuse.

MTBF value is usually based upon a model and predicted failure. The models take into account the specifications for temperature, voltages, how close devices are to their max operating voltages and temperatures, reliability of each components used, etc. They will roll all this information together into a prediction model to come up with the MTBF. Remember though, this is MEAN time before failure so there we will be some devices that are expected to last less time as well as some longer.

[ikon]

Ports dying sounds a bit odd to me too.. Concidering what i just read from the specsheet of a d-link 16-port gbit router.. If it dies according to MTBF figure, you plug it in today and it dies in july 2105. Which makes me wonder how in the heck have they come to that figure anyway..

I can confirm that ports do sometimes die; not often, but it does happen, even on expensive hardware. From what I've heard from the manufacturers it's mostly the driver circuit for the chip, but I'm no EE so I can't say definitely. We've had it happen to a few ports at work - we usually replace the switch cause it's too much of a hassle to keep track of the dead ones, and also cause it doesn't happen often so it doesn't cost too much.

Also, I'm writing this post on a PC that has an Asus mobo with 2 ether ports. 1 of them died about a year ago. Before it died it started getting flaky. I would reboot the computer and the BIOS would come up saying the LAN port couldn't be found, or something like that. I would reboot again and most often it would be OK - sometimes I would have to boot more than once. Eventually, it stopped working at all. I had to move to the other ether port, which is the one I'm using now. Now it's starting to act flaky, the same as the first one. So far though, it's still working (obviously ).

Why not install an add-in NIC? For the obvious reason; no slots left.

I tried new PSUs - no difference (good ones; a Corsair & an Antec)

I plan to set up a new Sandybridge system this spring, so I'm not too worried about the ether ports. I'll turn this mobo into a WHS v2 but, since it won't need all the add-in cards I have now, I'll have room for an add-in NIC (other than the ether ports this mobo is rock solid; runs for months at a time without reboot or issues).