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    Switch or router?

    Discussion in 'Networking and Wireless' started by Peon, Jul 3, 2015.

  1. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    With my constant need for ever more wired Ethernet ports everywhere (this time for the living room), I'm finding myself considering whether to just get a simple switch or get a router to use as a switch + wifi AP. Just to be clear, this device will be plugged into an upstream router and hence will not actually be performing any routing functions itself.
     
    Peon, Jul 3, 2015
    #1
  2. Seanwhat

    Seanwhat Notebook Evangelist

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    Switch then. Pointless getting a router and just using it as a switch.
     
    Seanwhat, Jul 3, 2015
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  3. baii

    baii Sone

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    Do your devices really need to use Ethernet? A n600/n900 ain't that expensive compare to a plain 8 port switch.

    Sent from my 306SH
     
    baii, Jul 3, 2015
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  4. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    All of my living room devices have wi-fi, so they certainly don't need to use Ethernet. It just speeds things up, makes streaming video less choppy, etc. etc.
     
    Peon, Jul 3, 2015
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  5. baii

    baii Sone

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    Streaming over WiFi isn't that hard. Unless it is a huge room, or those device have some crappy 1 antenna setup.

    Sent from my 306SH
     
    baii, Jul 3, 2015
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  6. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    The problem with streaming via wifi right now is that the (current upstream) router is quite far away from my living room - the signal has to pass through 3 walls. As a result, typical wi-fi speeds are something like 4-10 Mbps, and every few minutes the connection goes down to 0 for a couple of seconds before picking up again.
     
    Peon, Jul 5, 2015
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  7. baii

    baii Sone

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    Then get a cheap router as a AP. Perfect.

    Sent from my 306SH
     
    baii, Jul 5, 2015
    #7