Home network help.

[KiKaZz74]

Here's what I've got.

Thanks a ton for that other site otherwise I would've been double the cost. As far as I can tell the switch is 10/100/1000 on all ports. Do u see anything I may be missing?

And here is the one I have. If nothing else I can sell it if it works on other networks and have Mediacom send us a different one.

[hifonix]

Parts list looks good.

Switch looks fine.

I know nothing about the Arris.

Is the Arris just for VoIP (telephones only) all the photos of it i can find show only one ethernet port for a incoming/outgoing connection.

[KiKaZz74]

It was supposed to be a 2 in one. But after calling and activating it I found they charge like $5 a month to activate the WiFi feature. So activated the old one

[hifonix]

Could pick up something like this and put your netgear downstairs.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320168

[KiKaZz74]

Seems cheap enough. I'll just have to figure out how to set it up.

Would u wire that in or stand alone?

[MrSkippyJ]

im not that up to date on networking, but why use a switch? I don't see the need for it.

[hifonix]

I would wire it KiKaZz74, but you could try it wireless and see how it works. Should it not perform well setup using wireless you could always run a cable out to it.

MrSkippyJ he needs a switch because he is going to have more than 4 devices hardwired.

[aculous]

So I didn't read really deep into this but from my experience hardwiring your network is always the best idea.

No matter what you do wireless won't be perfect unless you add a lot of equipment and money and thats a PITA.

So not sure if anyone mentioned but a router and a switch are pretty similar in what they do, a hub is not. A router and a hub would most likely be what you are looking for. Basically the router assigns IP addresses to your devices and hub acts only as a connection point, getting IP addresses from the router, whereas a switch can assign IP addresses as well. A hub or a switch will both work, I would just get a hub because its going to be cheaper and your router will be doing the heavy lifting anyway.

I would run all gigabit equipment, cat5e or 6 can support it, go with cat6 if you can. Also instead of doing big cable runs you can do powerline adapters which are super convenient and decently fast.

https://www.netgear.com/home/products/networking/powerline/

I use powerline adapters to get from one floor to another and run full gigabit from there.

On a side note, probably need to upgrade your router. I would go with one with full gigabit on it and probably a netgear prosafe or some type of commercial grade router if you can afford it. I got mine for literally the same price as the consumer model and has lasted for years as well as having some nice networking options. Also I could sell it on ebay if I want for half price 10 years later. Not to bad.

[Kade]

I'm late to the party!

I do cabling, networking, and IP-based surveillance for a living.

Do you have any other questions, KiKaZz74? I may could clear up some unanswered questions.

[MrSkippyJ]

this all seems ridiculously complicated for a home network. what is the issue with wireless?