network switch or router
#1
hey guys i am thinking of connecting my two htpcs to my home media server to stream shows and movies

each htpc is in different room than server i currently have a 10 metre cat6 cable from my server to my wireless gigabit router and then from the router i have two 20 metre cat6 cables one running to the main tv in the lounge room and the other to my bedroom which luckily is on the opposite side of the home office where the server is located so i can simplly run a cable along the bottom of the wall and around into my room

i was thinking of upgrading to either new router or a network switch to stream to both htpc at the same time

i also want to be able to connect my main pc in the office to this network too so i can access my files on all 3 of the computers (including server and htpc's i have 4 total)

with a switch can i share an internet connection by simply plugging in my adsl2+ modem into one of the ethernet ports or do i have to use a router if i want to share both internet and files


also what is best between the two as i would like to share internet connection as well as stream 1080p blu rays between them and the server obviously i would want gigabit for this would prefer not to use a wifi router as personally not a fan of wifi in general so looking for a wired only router or switch
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#2
It sounds like you need some basic understanding of what a switch is and what a router is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_switch

The entire reason you need a router in your home is so that your home network, with many devices, each with their own IP address, can connect to the Internet, which is an entirely different network. Routers also have security features (firewalls/NAT, etc) which make it more difficult for someone on the Internet side, from accessing your equipment directly.

So, unless your internet service provider gives you multiple routable internet addresses, and you are prepared to run your own firewall on all of your devices (or buy a firewall appliance) you MUST have a router in your home network if you have more than one computer.

The "router" you already have probably has an ethernet switch built into it. If it has multiple "network ports" (RJ45 connections) than it has either a hub or switch built in, and if it was made in the last 5-7 years it's almost definitely a switch.

The switch part though might only be a 100MB switch, and you would get better performance for multiple clients from a 1000MB (also known as gigabit) switch.

So, what you should do is this;

1. Buy cheap/decent gigabit switch with enough ports to handle all of your devices (plus any future expansion).

2. Simply connect all the devices to this switch.

3. Connect this switch to your router via one of the router ethernet ports.

Done.
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#3
voip-ninja laid it out very well. The only change that i would recommend is to NOT use a cheap switch. a switch is the central point of all of your data on your network and i always feel skimping here is just not really a good move. I would recommend a nice unit like this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6833122111) its the one im using (i paid 100 bucks for it) and its worth it.

It actually a manged switch so you can login to it to make more advanced changes like enabling jumbo frame support and even setting up LAGG between other switches if need be. While these things may not benefit you know the switch in general is a great one and will give you really nice throughput over all.
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#4
I just got this one....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6833127324
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#5
If protocol77 needs instruction on setting up a home network, I hardly think a managed switch is suitable. (This isn't a dig at you, protocol77, just making a point. Everyone's a beginner at some stage!)

You can pick up a cheap gigabit switch that you can just plug in and use with no fuss. I have used this one for a couple of years with no problems. I suggest you use this as stage one of voip-ninja's advice.
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