Member Avatar for Fungus1487

Hi Guys/Gals,

Setting up my home network (I am not a networking guru) and wanted your expert opinion on the best configuration for my hardware.

I have the following generalized pieces of gear...

  1. Gigabit Switch#1
  2. Gigabit Switch#2
  3. Wireless N Router Supporting Gigabit
  4. PC#1
  5. PC#2
  6. XBOX
  7. AV Receiver
  8. HTPC (Media Centre Running XBMC)
  9. NAS Drive (Main)
  10. NAS Drive (Backup)

They are physically separated as follows...

  • Room #1
    • Wireless N Router Supporting Gigabit
    • PC#1
    • PC#2
    • NAS Drive (Main)
    • NAS Drive (Backup)
  • Room #2
    • XBOX
    • AV Receiver
    • HTPC (Media Centre Running XBMC)

I logically have them seperated as follows...

  • Wireless N Router Supporting Gigabit
    • Gigabit Switch#1
      • PC#1
      • PC#2
      • NAS Drive (Main)
      • NAS Drive (Backup)
      • Gigabit Switch#2
        • XBOX
        • AV Receiver
        • HTPC (Media Centre Running XBMC)

Due to me stacking two switches am I limiting bandwidth from my HTPC directly to the router by having it pass through a second switch? My understanding on this is that when PC#1 and PC#2 are at full load on the network (e.g. reading from the NAS) and my HTPC accesses the internet it will only be allocated a 1/3 of the total gigabit allowed by the switch #1. Would a better option be to connect both switches directly to the router?

  • Wireless N Router Supporting Gigabit
    • Gigabit Switch#1
      • PC#1
      • PC#2
      • NAS Drive (Main)
      • NAS Drive (Backup)
    • Gigabit Switch#2
      • XBOX
      • AV Receiver
      • HTPC (Media Centre Running XBMC)

I understand the gains on this are minimal if any, this is not directly related to the internet connection but is just used as an example. I would like to know the recommended approach for the sake of it, thanks.

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  • 8 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by rubberman
Member Avatar for rubberman

I think your second approach is better, but you might want to change what is connected to each switch more from the fault tolerance perspective than performance. IE, move one of the PC's and NAS drives to switch #2 and the XBOX to switch #1. From the raw performance perspective, your proposed setup should work well for you. In any case, neither configuration will affect your internet speed much, if at all.

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