Rack mounted switch advice?

[wowzer]

Does anyone use something like this in their home?

http://dealmac.com/Netgear-24-Port-Rackm...68036.html


I ask because I've recently rewired by house and noted that my central ethernet room now has over 12 feeds of CAT6 wire, in addition, I have several apps running (myQ wireless, 2 wireless networks, security cameras). Should I get a rack mounted switch that will allow me to plug everything into 1 device, or should I simply re-task my 8 port switch, 5 port switch, and my verizon actiontec as the wired connections? Will I lose speed/increase latency as a result of using multiple switches? Or do I gain nothing from buying a rack mount for this purpose?

Tx

[clay]

On the scale that you're dealing with, having a few different switches isn't going to hurt your network performance in any meaningful way. So, I'd say the value of a rackmount switch is simplicity and being able to eliminate a couple of power adapters (so maybe some minor power savings?). And unless you have mounted your existing devices to a fixed surface, having a rack mounted switch will be a little more permanent/stable, which may appeal to you as well.

[mattkime]

do you think you'll be pushing the full bandwidth of gigabit ethernet between two pairs of machines across two different routers?

i'd probably go with two smaller (and cheap!) switches. put all your high bandwidth devices on one and all the ordinary devices on another. high bandwidth meaning that it can saturate the ethernet...which is probably only your macs.

[kj4btkljv]

I've got one of those at home, and use half the ports already. We stream/share lots of videos around the house, and have a media drive in the basement holding all the videos.

Are you going to rack this switch? If so, some racks stand out from the wall about 20". I'm sure there are less deep racks. Anyway, what I did with mine was I rotated the rack ears 90 degrees and mounted the switch flat to a sheet of plywood on the wall. There's a little bit of breathing room on the bottom of the switch, but it at least doesn't stand out 9 plus inches from the wall.

I've got the model without a fan, so it's nice and quiet. I mounted it sideways, so any heat can escape through the top side.

Jeff

[wowzer]

I have my 'command' room with all of my media wires going into this same space.


I have 4 kids, plus the wife. All of whom stream videos all the time. The kids use a combination of youtube, gaming, netflix, and sometimes all of the above simultaneously. Sometimes each of them simultaneously use all of the above. I also use some bandwidth for netflix with the wife. We have about 6 computers, 6 ipod/iphone, 1 ipad, and a bunch of other stuff. We also have 2 separate wifi running so that streamed music to our airplay speakers is uninterrupted.

I would like all of them to plug into the switch, and have the switch make a connection to the verizon actiontec.


PS How can I tell if the Actiontec up to the task of all this routing?

[C(-)ris]

I did a rackmount switch with patch panel when I wired up my brothers house. Found a 24 port unmanaged gigabit switch for around $100 to go in the rack.

[kj4btkljv]

wowzer wrote:
PS How can I tell if the Actiontec is up to the task of all this routing?

It most likely will be just fine. Routers and switches these days, even those from a residential ISP, should be able to handle at least 100 clients before showing any signs of fatigue (slow downs, crashes, etc.). Routing is pretty simple, unless you're throwing complicated firewall stuff at it - VPN, QOS instructions, intrusion detection or prevention, etc.

If you're still concerned, you can google the model number of the Actiontec and see what other users are reporting. I would check on home networking and network hardware sites, specifically.

Jeff

[kj4btkljv]

PS - The Netgear you linked to in your first post looks like the same one I've got, and I love it. Bright status lights that I can see at a glance, silent because it's fanless, and plenty of expansion left.

I would totally do it, if like you say, all your wiring is running into a central location.

Jeff

[jdc]

I would assume that you would by pass the verizon for anything but serving the net connection and use the gigabit routers for everything else.

that rack mount switch isnt all that big, it might not be much larger than the 2 current routers you if placed side by side.