Click to See Complete Forum and Search --> : 10Mbit or 100Mbit LAN? (switch)
egh01
10-12-2002, 08:16 AM
I have a question about LAN's that doesn't really concern Linux. I found a second hand switch with 16 x 10Mbit and 2 x 100Mbit ports. From the beggining I was only looking for a switch that had all ports 100Mbit compatible, but I've started to wonder if I'll ever use speeds over 10Mbit. In what situations will I actually "need" speeds over 10Mbits? How much does games require? And because it's a switch and not a hub, all ports won't be sharing those 10Mbit but all ports can use 10Mbit (allmost) at the same time, right?
if you do a lot of file transfers over your network you may want 100. but for dsl/cable modem, maybe a home email server, etc, not necessary. dsl/cable cant even hit 10Mbits. personally im at 726kbits, i think.
cowanrl
10-12-2002, 09:08 AM
If you have a dedicated server on your network, be sure to put it on one of the 100meg ports. If you have a workstation that you use most of the time, put it on the other 100meg port. As Duh indicated, no need to put the connection to your cable modem or router on a 100 meg port.
You'll never notice the difference when surfing the web between a 10 or 100meg port. However, if you copied a RH8 .iso file from a server to a workstation, you'd see a big difference between 10 and 100meg.
egh01
10-12-2002, 09:55 AM
How about gameplay over the LAN?
cowanrl
10-12-2002, 10:15 AM
I don't play games much so I'm not sure how much bandwidth they would use.
If you currently play the same games over the Internet via your cable connection and they work OK, they'll do fine with a 10 meg connection on your LAN.
Was the second hand switch free or dirt cheap( < $20). If it's free, check it out and see how it works for you. If you have to spend $50 or more for the second hand switch don't bother. You can buy a 10/100 switch for that price depending on how many ports you need. I've picked up 5 port 10/100 switches for $40.