networking @sh.itjust.works moody @lemmings.world 10mo ago

Is there a reason to use a dedicated switch with a home router?

My work gave me a L2 switch because they were going to toss it out. Is there any reason for me to use that over the built-in switch from my ISP's router/modem?

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More ports? Faster ports?

More total throughput between pairs of ports that want to talk to each other at the same time maybe?
- Also while unlikely, if it's PoE you can power stuff with it
  
  It is PoE but I don't have any PoE-powered devices.
The two main benefits I see are:

A dedicated L2 switch is probably going to be faster when transferring between two connected clients

You could set up VLANs, if you have a desire to. Not sure if your wifi router has that option.
- And the most obvious one: you can connect more devices! The reason why I have one tbh.
- probably going to be faster when transferring between two connected clients
  
  Pretty much all switches are wire-speed these days, even the cheap ones.
  
  By "wire-speed" do you mean they're just as fast as if you didn't have a switch in between?
Just gonna play devil’s advocate here.

If it is not a fanless switch, it is going to make a hell lot of noise.

Also consider your electricity bill. You will probably be better off buying a small Netgear from Amazon for 30 bucks than having an old Cisco 2960S running 24/7.

So, what switch is it exactly?
- It's a D-link DGS-1210-28P. in terms of power, without PoE it's a max of 30W, according to their website.
  
  You're right that it is pretty noisy. If I decide to use it, I'll probably swap out the fans for something quieter.
- I agree. Unless there’s a definite need, the most tangible difference may be in the electric bill.
Having more than 4 computers wired directly because the ISP provided one only has 4 ports? That's all I got.

16 comments