Can I plug a normal router into a big switch with five ports so that one of them becomes a super-fast internet line?
Can I plug a normal router into a big switch with five ports so that one of them becomes a super-fast internet line?
Hey, I know networking is hard for me! Could you help me figure out if I can use a 5-port switch to split my internet signal from my Motorola cable modem so it goes half way to the PC and the other half to the router's WAN port? My old Verizon router isn't super fast but works fine enough for now, so I don't need a new one. The only "network" stuff I have is an old FIOS Actiontec MI424WR Rev. Gigabit Wireless N Router and a Motorola modem. Ookla tested the modem's ethernet at 450 mbps, which is what comes out of it. I get about 450 mbps from the modem, but the 4 wired ports plus wifi on my router only give me like 15 to 25 mbps each. I have 4 wired ports and about 28 devices, mostly Alexa's and smart lights that talk to Alexa. Can I "split" those 450 mbps with a switch by sending one port of the new switch to the Verizon router's WAN port and another to a wire going upstairs? Does a 5-port unmanaged switch split the mbps equally into 4 ways, like 110 mbps per port? Or how does that actually work?
A switch simply connects all your devices together so that each device has access to the full internet speed. Since your connections aren't faster than the gigabit speed on the switch, it depends mostly on your "modem." When you are busy with lots of traffic, it's hard to say which app gets the most data because some apps use more bandwidth than others. The switch isn't really causing this problem; usually, it's just that the internet has too much congestion and there isn't a simple fix for that. For your specific case, most of your devices probably aren't using very much traffic. Just remember if you download a big file with your PC, it might slow down other things on your network. You can set limits in the software to use less speed or just ignore it since downloading usually takes only a few minutes anyway on a fast connection. The main question is what do you mean when people say "modem"? Many people think of that box as hanging from the cable coming from their internet provider, but sometimes the modem and router are actually just one single box. In any case, your connection needs to follow this path: ISP --> Modem --> Router --> Switch --> Devices/Wi-Fi. If you connect a switch directly to the modem instead of after the router, that setup won't work correctly. The real job of a router in your home is to take the one internet address from the provider and share it with all your devices inside. If you tried to plug a switch straight into the modem, only one device would get an IP address and the rest would not work at all. Technically, the ISP might give you many addresses, but they are limited in number so these are very expensive. It feels strange that your Verizon router isn't working better than it should because it is supposed to be a gigabit internet gateway. Even a cheap $20 router can do this if you just have old enough Wi-Fi. Maybe you should try turning the router back to factory settings to make sure nothing weird was set up there. Some things like parental controls or QoS settings (quality of service) are known to cause extra problems on the router's computer because they use a lot of power. Check the lights on your router to see if the ports running at gigabit speed, especially the one between the modem and the router.
Thanks for your response bill, I will read it more carefully tonight. Night shift! It seems strange to me too how slow the wired ports are. I almost replaced my Verizon router in 2021 with a Motorola MG7540 16x4 Cable Modem Plus AC1600 Router. But it seemed easier to use a Motorola MB7420 16x4 686mbps DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem w Power Adapter instead, and keep the Verizon router in case I wanted to switch back to Verizon later. I already hard reset the Verizon router and set it up again. Was wondering if there's a speed setting somewhere in the Verizon GUI for the 4 wired ports. Weird. I may try a Motorola MG7540 16x4 Cable Modem Plus AC1600 Router. They're cheap enough now...