Hypothetical Question on Routers and Switches

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  1. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
       #1

    Hypothetical Question on Routers and Switches


    Let's say I have a Wi-Fi router that has five Ethernet ports: one for the internet connection and the other four for connecting the computer and peripherals, such as printers, etc. If I were to run out of ports, could I use an Ethernet switch to connect the additional peripherals to and connect the switch to one of the router Ethernet ports? Would all the peripherals connected to the switch be able to run simultaneously?
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  2. Posts : 4,161
    Windows 7 Pro-x64
       #2

    Absolutely! I have that exact configuration now.

    I haven't updated this drawing yet but it's pretty much the same except I removed the AZIO and moved the ASUS to its place. I have one router and one switch.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Hypothetical Question on Routers and Switches-network-config.png  
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  3. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    carwiz said:
    Absolutely! I have that exact configuration now.

    I haven't updated this drawing yet but it's pretty much the same except I removed the AZIO and moved the ASUS to its place. I have one router and one switch.
    Thank you! I'll mark this solved unless someone chimes in with something different.
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  4. Posts : 4,161
    Windows 7 Pro-x64
       #4

    I setup one Guest account on the router so it allows a hot-spot for smart phones, laptops and notepads. All three of these can run simultaneously also. If at all possible, I would run printers off USB ports. Printers connected via Ethernet generate a lot of unnecessary comm traffic on the LAN. They're constantly being polled even when doing nothing. The printer in the lower right of the diagram is shared (broken line).
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  5. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #5

    carwiz said:
    I setup one Guest account on the router so it allows a hot-spot for smart phones, laptops and notepads. All three of these can run simultaneously also. If at all possible, I would run printers off USB ports. Printers connected via Ethernet generate a lot of unnecessary comm traffic on the LAN. They're constantly being polled even when doing nothing. The printer in the lower right of the diagram is shared (broken line).
    Ok, that's good to know.
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  6. Posts : 1,519
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, Mac OS X 10.10, Linux Mint 17, Windows 10 Pro TP
       #6

    I have a Router with the Modem connected to the Uplink port and an 8-port Switch using one of the other 4 ports. Both are Gigabit [10/100/1000] and the Router has Wireless. I have 2 HP printers connected by Ethernet and any computer whether Wired or Wireless that I install the printers on can use them. Right now I have WinVista, Win7, Win8.1, Win10TB, Macbook OS X and Linux Mint on my network. I have a mix of 802.11g and 802.11n Wi-Fi connections. The advantage of the Network for printers versus a direct connection is that no particular computer has to be on so as to use the printers.
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  7. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Thanks, Berton! Have you noticed any problems with the increased LAN traffic carwiz mentioned from the printers?

    I removed the solved mark, even though my initial question was answered, to encourage more participation in this thread. I'm learning a lot here.
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  8. Posts : 1,519
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, Mac OS X 10.10, Linux Mint 17, Windows 10 Pro TP
       #8

    No, I haven't. But sometimes my wife sees it as the printer is dealing with the job when printing recipes from the Internet that have some graphics in them.
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  9. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Berton said:
    No, I haven't. But sometimes my wife sees it as the printer is dealing with the job when printing recipes from the Internet that have some graphics in them.
    Forgive my ignorance but how does she see it?
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  10. Posts : 1,519
    Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, Mac OS X 10.10, Linux Mint 17, Windows 10 Pro TP
       #10

    Mostly the wait time before printing starts. She uses a Wi-Fi connection to the Router. She thinks things should work faster, just gets impatient, probably remembers when we had dial-up with Win98SE and ICS for our 2 computers.
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