I really need some pro advice as I'm fairly new to the tech world and just getting in to the whole networking scene.
So, to begin, in my day job I work as an administrator for an insurance firm and they are closing down our office and I have acquired a 48 port switch and a Cisco router (pic below). I'll probably end up getting more items from my office as it slowly winds down between now and April but for the time being these are the items I have.
So I understand their basic functionality but I'm not sure if having these setup at home would be overkill? Again I get what they are used for but being a complete newbie to this area I wouldn't know where to begin in terms of setting these up so is there any wisdom you awesome lot could bestow up on me?
well if it's free, it's free. the switch would be great and shouldn't impact your existing network at home. now for the router, i don't think that has wifi capability so if you want to use it, you may have to use your current router in bridge mode and disable dhcp (assuming your current router has wifi and you want to continue to use it). if you have different ip schema, static ip, mac address filtering, etc on your current router, you'll probably have to apply those to the cisco router. might even be a bigger challenge if your current setup is modem/router. not really sure what you have at the moment.
in short, i'm not an expert with networking but you'll more than likely have to take your custom/current configurations from your old router to this. hopefully others who are more familiar can give more info.
is it worth your time and effort to swap routers? are the features of this cisco worth having over what you currently have?
Hi W1n78, thanks for the reply. I currently have the default Virgin Media router/modem/wap so just the standard one from my isp. It does the job and I'm happy with it but now that I have the cisco router and this 48 port switch I want to have a crack at setting them up.
There is probably little point as I have two PC's in the house so i know a 48 port switch is not needed and is generally aimed at small businesses but it still want to mess around and get some tips from people on this forum.
You mentioned running my current router in bridge mode, what is that exactly?
i'm horrible with explaining things so maybe this link will help explain bridge mode http://store.apple.com/us/question/answers/readonly/what-is-the-difference-between-bridge-mode-and-not-bridgemode/Q24KPTTA7PHXAT22P.
if possible, you can disable the router part of the modem and not worry about it. switches are not limited to computers, any network-enabled devices can be plugged in. so even if you only have 2 PC on the network, a 48 port switch will allow you to connect more devices like network printers, VOIP devices, cameras, etc.
Cheers dude, the link cleared up the bridge mode for me. Still very new to all this network jargon so slowly getting getting there lol.
Yea maybe in time I'd have other devices to connect up to the switch but for now two PC's is all we have with a 3rd incoming around March ... in any case they will all currently connect straight to the router/modem/switch supplied by my isp as it has at least 4 ports on it but in time, as the internet of things takes over, I think having this 48 port switch may come in real handy :)
That said any one have any advice on wiring a home with ethernet ports? The house I live in doesn't have any as standard (as Im sure most don't unless it's a new build) so where would I start in even considering a project like that? :S
If you want to learn about networking that Foundry is a fair way to start learning. I believe it is a L3 smart switch. That means you can assign multiple L3 (ip) networks in the switch for some good old fashion routing within your 4 walls. Foundries are very similar to Cisco switches with some minor config differences. So is that switch overkill? Yes. Would it be helpful for someone to have something like that to play with and learn? Yes.
