Gigabit Ethernet Switch

stevebk

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Hi all.
I am looking at doing away with my WiFi set up and hard wiring it.
My sky router is in the hallway, and i am going to run 10 meter cable to my lounge, where I have my tv, sky box, 4k player.
I am only doing this because when watching BBC Iplayer 4k it is buffering, and sky downloading films is a pain.

I have been told I need a Gigabit Ethernet Switch, but what one ?
I don't want to spend much so any thoughts
 
I've one of these and it's been great:

As it's a switch there's no settings to have to play with, it's literally plug in and power up.

I also use BT Home Hubs as gigabit switches, after turning off the routing features. What's good about this is that you can also use it as a wifi point if you wanted. I do this in the house to extend the wifi, ones been running for about 6 months without it needing to be touched.
 
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Hi all.
I am looking at doing away with my WiFi set up and hard wiring it.
My sky router is in the hallway, and i am going to run 10 meter cable to my lounge, where I have my tv, sky box, 4k player.
I am only doing this because when watching BBC Iplayer 4k it is buffering, and sky downloading films is a pain.

I have been told I need a Gigabit Ethernet Switch, but what one ?
I don't want to spend much so any thoughts

I've been using a Trendnet 8-port powered gigabit switch, which is very similar to the Netgear one linked above. It's been in use for quite a few years now and was moved upstairs last year when we put together the new HTS based around the LG 65C8. The C8, UHD/BD player, receiver, and ATV4k are all hardwired. Even though it's limited to 100Mbps (none of my devices have gigabit ethernet ports), we have no issues streaming 4k HDR content.
 
I switched out two DLink 8-ports which were overheating, for the Netgear GS108 (similar to the GS308, but better built and comes with a lifetime warranty).

No problems whatsoever, and allow me to saturate the gigabit LAN, so no loss of speed.
 
I switched out two DLink 8-ports which were overheating, for the Netgear GS108 (similar to the GS308, but better built and comes with a lifetime warranty).

No problems whatsoever, and allow me to saturate the gigabit LAN, so no loss of speed.

I had Zyxel Branded Switches overheat the D link Switches I use as like the one in that link dont even get luke warm after months of being pushed hard.
 
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Thanks for the Info from you all, I'm very grateful

What cables would I use from the router to the switching box, and from the switch box to the equipment. Have you found any preferences?
Cat5e UTP, Cat 6 UTP, Cat5e FTP, Cat6 FTP, Cat6a Network Cable,

I noticed the above on:
 
Cat5e UTP.
Don't waste money on expensive cables.
Put in two runs if you can.
Be careful if you have to bend the cable, don't kink it.
 
Cat5e UTP.
Don't waste money on expensive cables.
Put in two runs if you can.
Be careful if you have to bend the cable, don't kink it.
Why two runs ?
 
If you're putting in one, might as well put in two just in case one goes wonky.

In the past I've had a cable, that had been laid for years, suddenly stop working. Never did get to the bottom of why.
 
If you're putting in one, might as well put in two just in case one goes wonky.

In the past I've had a cable, that had been laid for years, suddenly stop working. Never did get to the bottom of why.
Very good thinking thanks
 
I used solid core CAT-6 (non-CCA and not pre-terminated ethernet cable) and terminated with punch down keystone jacks. The extra cable is for insurance and/or in case you decide you need a second run because you can always terminate the extra cable with HDBT if you want to extend HDMI. Run in a conduit and as mentioned, be mindful of bend radius.
 
I would use a Netgear unmanaged 8-port Gigabit Ethernet switch. Easy to find on Amazon. For cables I would buy some well made, non-snagging Cat 6a cables. They’re a bit overkill, but they will be less likely to be affected by crosstalk. Again, Google is your friend for purchasing. 😊
 
All thanks for the help, products now ordered and should be all set up and running next week :thumbsup:
 
Check the reviews for any switch you buy. With some of the 8 or 10 port 1GB switches they can provide 1GB at one port but not at multiple ports concurrently and either slow the data stream or stop it altogether on the other ports.
 
Have you checked your Streaming devices on a wired connection to the Router to ensure you have the required speed arriving into the Router?

Joe
 
Have you checked your Streaming devices on a wired connection to the Router to ensure you have the required speed arriving into the Router?

Joe
Hi Joe
I spoke to the Sky Engineer about my speeds, they ran two tests and want to send an engineer. There are issues but I won't find out until the engineer visit Tuesday night.
 
Check the reviews for any switch you buy. With some of the 8 or 10 port 1GB switches they can provide 1GB at one port but not at multiple ports concurrently and either slow the data stream or stop it altogether on the other ports.

While checking is a good idea I don’t believe that any modem switches don’t support line speed switching for all ports. The 8 port GS308 has a switching speed of 16Gbps meaning all ports run in full duplex (both directions) at 1Gbps.

Most household devices will not get close to saturating a single port let alone a switch.

If you are noticing slow ports then you have got something wrong in your setup. If you accessing the Internet and noticing speeds then it may well be something else hogging your internet connection. This is not the switches fault though it is the router and not having QoS
 
Had the sky engineer visit today regarding my WiFi issues.

It was interesting to se how doing a speed test on the following devices gave different results when standing next to the router, an iPhone 11, iPad, Android tablet & Android phone
There were all very different in there results due to the age of the device. New Iphone 11 76mb, 1 year old iPad 56mb, 1 year old Android phone 56mb, 4 year old Android tablet 48mb.
Apparently newer tech has better antennas, hence the results above, but no WiFi stay's at a constant speed.

One of my main issues were that some of the home devices were picking up on the 5ghz band on the (wifi extender) and struggling, where they should have been on the 2.4ghz. I am now running everything only on 2.4ghz and it's so much smoother.

My Sky HD box is old but it did a fair job on downloading over WiFi but was advised to hard wire where I can, as WiFi is natually temperamental with so many devices in use, especially in my home.
I found it interesting to know that the new sky Q boxes have a fantastic internal antenna and I think he said they have built in WiFi extender built in. It is where devices will pick up the signal from the Q box if it's nearer than the main router.
I will give it a couple of days and see how things go, but so far so good.

I am definitely going to hard wire the device's I can.
 
I found it interesting to know that the new sky Q boxes have a fantastic internal antenna and I think he said they have built in WiFi extender built in. It is where devices will pick up the signal from the Q box if it's nearer than the main router.

Sky Q can form a mesh when you use Sky broadband and with other mini boxes.
 
Sky Q can form a mesh when you use Sky broadband and with other mini boxes.
Yes that's it, i just couldn't remember what he called it.
But he did ask why on earth I didn't have Sky Q, yet I have a beautiful Oled..
 
Yes that's it, i just couldn't remember what he called it.
But he did ask why on earth I didn't have Sky Q, yet I have a beautiful Oled..
My router is within a foot of the SkyQ box. I'm happy with my fibre speed but the Sky box can go back when the contract expires. Simply not worth it. Netflix is so much better on my TV's app.
 
I have just noticed that my Sky router only has two Ethernet port sockets, not enough.
Socket 1 = home WiFi heating control.
Socket 2 = hard wire for sons bedroom PS4

I now don't have a spare socket for the switch box i got for the lounge.
Should I get an extra Netgear switch box to add to the router, then run from this to the lounge ?
Or go for the sky router upgrade with 4 ports.
 

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