Yes, you can link several inputs to a single switch.
Yes, you can link several inputs to a single switch.
You recently acquired a 24-port switch and are still learning about networking. After linking your switch to the router and your PC to it, you noticed a significant drop in internet speed—around 70%. You're curious whether using multiple input cables from the router will improve performance.
The concept you're referring to is 'Link Aggregation'—it mainly applies to managed switches and offers some performance boosts. Even with a budget model, having a gigabit switch can maintain most of the speed. If only your router and PC are connected, you'll likely see near-full capacity. What other devices are linked? What bandwidth availability do you have?
I've connected my PC and laptop. The laptop is just running it without any output. I opened the user manual on my laptop, but the router shows speeds of 70 Mbps through the switch at 50 Mbps. The switch has 24 ports, all gigabit capable plus four SFP/SFP+ ports (Zyxel GS1910-24). Yes, I have a very fast internet connection.
We didn’t use a speedtest.net check for these numbers. Those checks can vary depending on the server you connect to. Testing your own network can be tricky, so you might want to run a few tests one after another and compare the results from the switch to your PC. Remember, it’s hard to get an exact match.
It appears the device functions as a simple forwarding unit since it's an unmanaged switch. If you own a managed switch, you might need to configure it properly.
Sure, I’ll handle the Link Aggregation tomorrow. It shouldn’t be too complicated—just a few short cables to cut and I’ll run a more precise test. The slowdown could have been caused by someone using the internet (like Netflix or YouTube) at that time. Any other suggestions?
You can run a few speed tests using various sites such as fast.com and even Netflix servers.