Posted on 10/16/2025 12:27:02 PM PDT by Paul R.
Dumb Question: If I place a 100/1000 Mbps Ethernet Switch between my wireless router and my desktop computer, which connects via Cat6 cable to said router, will I get the 100/1000 Mbps speed between my desktop machine (whose LAN card is capable of 100/1000 Mbps) and other 100/1000Mbps equipment / computers connected to that switch, EXCEPT for the router?
Note that the router's wired Ethernet "downstream" ports are limited to 10/100 Ethernet speed. That's not really a problem, insofar as my web browsing is concerned, as my ISP comes in at 70-80 Mbps at best / "on a good day", at my desktop machine, per Speedtest.net. (That is fast enough for what I do on the web.) However, faster transfers over part of my wired network would be nice.
I "could" buy a faster wireless router, but, switches are much cheaper, and, I have plenty of cables.
The switch is plug and play, as most are. :-)
Interestingly, the Wi-Fi part of the network is actually faster than the Ethernet performance, rated at up to 750 Mbps, operating dual band, with 300 Mbps on the 2.4 GHz band and 433 Mbps on the 5 GHz band, IF the wirelessly connected gear is getting a strong / clean signal.
Hopefully I am asking this question correctly!
Thanks in advance!
Yes, devices connected to the 1000 mbps switch will communicate with each other at the 1000 mbps speed. However, their link to the router (and presumably the wifi, if the router is handling that as well) will be limited to 100 mbps.
AFAIK, transfer speed is limited only by the slowest device in the string.............
Yes, you will get 100/1000 Mbps speed between devices on the switch, but speeds to the router will be limited by the router’s port. The switch itself doesn’t limit the speed between the desktop and other local devices on the switch, as long as all connected devices and the cable are capable. However, the total bandwidth between the switch and the router is now a potential bottleneck if multiple devices are all using a lot of internet bandwidth simultaneously.
(That was easy, just ask AI. LOL)
That’s what I’m hoping, but, I have a contradiction posted too, just above this post.
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/4346770/posts?page=4#4
Whose AI did you ask? Brave Browser farted out on me (see above)>
The answer is yes, gig devices connected to a gig switch will operate at gig speeds....if they themselves have the throughput power to go that fast.
And the router is limited to it’s 100mbs port.
In any event, that makes sense, and, as I explained, the router speed is not an issue, really, as long as I have this little “leg” of the network operating quicker. I need to expand the network slightly anyway, so, I figured why not go this direction & just add a quick switch. They are cheap!
THAT’s interesting - Brave is sort of based on Chromium, but is apparently using a different AI...
Anyway, thanks!
You need to think of this in terms of the individual links.
Of course, the collective bandwidth of all machines on the switch over the link back to the router must be less than 100 mbps. You need to traverse this link to access the Internet or anything on the wifi network. However, the machines on the 1000 mbps switch can easily communicate with each other without traversing that link (the router doesn't have to be involved).
It looks like you are in the majority. ;-)
Thanks!
(Finally I asked a resolvable question!!!)
Thanks!
I’ll be ordering the switch shortly. ;-)
(It gets me over $35 total, on Amazon.)
Good advice here.
One thing: Don’t neglect your interconnect cabling and patch cables.
Well, I was trying to query whether or not I’d (hopefully!) end up with a “leg” of the network operating at the 100/1000 Mbps; the rest would be limited by the router. Maybe that poster misunderstood, or I asked the question poorly.
In any event, the answer is yes and the switch is ordered. :-)
Thanks!
Right. I still have most of a good size box full of new CAT6 cables from when Parts Express was blowing them out. :-)
I’ve actually had more trouble with a couple ports getting mechanically degraded (and therefore electrically intermittent) on one old switch. (I’d bought it used, from a friend.) I retired it a little while back..
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“AFAIK, transfer speed is limited only by the slowest device in the string.............”
that is only if you have a hub instead of a switch.
the modem will connect to the switch at 1000mbs and the switch will connect to the computer at 1000mbs also.
so if you had 2 computers hooked into the switch you would get dhcp for each from the modem/router and the 2 computers could talk to each other at 1000mbs
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