Home networking, does Gigabit speed matter?

[ExtraSlow]

Helping a family member with thier home network, and they stumped me. I was suggesting a "fast ethernet" switch, and they wanted to know if it would be worth spending the little more on a gigabit switch.

My thinking is that home internet is around or lower than 100 mb/s for most people, you home networking components don't need to be any faster than that. But does your local network handle more traffic than your internet service?

[killramos]

If you use for wifi for anything other than just as an internet portal, I would go with gigabit.

Case in point, something as simple as time machine backups will saturate whatever you give it.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

If you're doing any kind of in-network transfers (backups, NAS, copy between machines), you will see a benefit to gigabit.

If you're running a shaw/telus 50 plan, and you have the normal modem(s), and want to wire in something like a playstation or xbox, you could feasibly get away with a fast ethernet switch. But with how cheap gigabit is, I don't know why you wouldn't get one.

[Mitsu3000gt]

You get speeds up to the weakest link - for most people that is their internet speed. Local data transfers though can get up there if everything in the chain can handle it. Gigabit is so cheap these days that there is pretty much no reason not to get it - Memory Express has 8 port gigabit switches for $25.

[ExtraSlow]

Halfway related, why is there such and insane jump in price for 16 port switches compared to 8? They are like 4x the price!

[rage2]

I didn't even know you can still buy 100mbit network gear.

[ExtraSlow]

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I didn't even know you can still buy 100mbit network gear.

Yep, and it's much cheaper.

[Xtrema]

If everything on the switch is accessing internet only. 100Mbps is fine.

But if everything on the switch is talking to each other, I would spend another $40 for gigabit.

[realazy]

With internet speeds above 100Mbps, why wouldn't you get gigabit?

Isn't everyone on here on telus fiber or shaw 300 or 600?

It's a one time $40 cost, I would just get the gigabit swtich.

[sabad66]

I would spend the extra money and futureproof. Sure 10/100 might be good enough for now, but in 5-10 years the world will be a different place especially with 5G coming up.

Switches are one of those things that don't break often so realistically it could still be in use 10 years down the line.

[Asian_defender]

It's not hard to saturate a FE link nowadays. You won't be able to shape on that switch either
Gig all the way

[ExtraSlow]

What's shape?

[Swank]

Traffic shaping allows you to prioritize certain kinds of traffic and/or throttle other kinds.

[ExtraSlow]

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Traffic shaping allows you to prioritize certain kinds of traffic and/or throttle other kinds.

I'd need a managed switch for that?

[firebane]

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I'd need a managed switch for that?

You never really told us what the end goal here is.

Like you say family member then go off looking at a 16 port switch.

Give us some insight into what your trying to do.

[ExtraSlow]

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You never really told us what the end goal here is.

Like you say family member then go off looking at a 16 port switch.

Give us some insight into what your trying to do.

You are right, I kind of went on a tangent there, and the 16-port switch conversation isn't really my original question. I think people convinced me that due to durability and future proofing, it's worthwhile getting a gigiabit switch even if current use doesn't warrant it. Case closed on that one, I now know what advice to give this family member.

The 8 vs 16 port switch conversation is more relevant for my own home, where I have an 8-port switch in my utility closet fully maxed out and I have a need for at least one more port, and possibly many more as my home is wired with cat5e to every room and they all terminate in that location.

I really don't see any need for traffic shaping or prioritization at either house.

[realazy]

if you don't care about looks or space, just get another 8 port or multiple 8 ports and run them in series. It works the same for the most part.

[ExtraSlow]

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if you don't care about looks or space, just get another 8 port or multiple 8 ports and run them in series. It works the same for the most part.

I was wondering about that. Any issue daisy-chaining multiple unmanaged switches? It's certainly cheaper.

[cyra1ax]

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I was wondering about that. Any issue daisy-chaining multiple unmanaged switches? It's certainly cheaper.

I’ve got two 5 port unmanaged switches behind my main 16 port unmanaged switch and haven’t seen any issues...

[firebane]

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I was wondering about that. Any issue daisy-chaining multiple unmanaged switches? It's certainly cheaper.

Nope none at all. Un-managed switch just basically sits there playing happily with the children in the sandbox.

Also.. just go with gigabit... everything you buy has gigabit and even network cables are cat5e for gigabit.