Andy - a15cro Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 I have been running a small unmanaged network at home just for 2 pc’s and a network extender, but Sky Q doesn’t play nice all the time on WiFi so I decided to create a bigger network. I’ve started to assemble it today but discovered I’ve bought a managed switch not unmanaged! I’ve never had anything to do with this, any pointers to get me started, and what’s the benefit of managed? The switch is a NETGEAR 16-Port smart managed plus GS116E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhett Turner - Black Country AO Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 I'm no network expert but had a quick look and it does say the switch is plug and play so I susepect you can use it out of the box like an unmanged switch. Without looking the documentaiton I suspect what you can do via the managment sotfware is set up Vlans, port prioritization, quality of service etc. The sort off stuff you may do in a corporate network when you want different devices on different virtual networks. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 They will work fine in their default settings so don't worry. As Rhett says a managed switch is one where you can add virtual networks (VLAN's) and other services or features. But for a home network these can be completely ignored. I am an network engineer by trade. My home network looks like this... well it did. This was a few years ago. I've added some more to it since then, mostly telephones and a couple of different firewalls that I'm working on... Yes, I live alone 😄 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy - a15cro Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 Thanks for the reply’s, I’ve been having a read up and it appears that it is indeed plug and play. I was going to go with a small cabinet but I’m impatient so mounted on a back board, just need to start adding my Cat6 cables now. I may have to try and learn a bit of the managed side via YouTube just to add another string to my bow! Prioritise out two gaming pc’s over the wife’s Netflix 🤫 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 Nice work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR.C Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 if your running 1080p its a lot of data. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy - a15cro Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 1 hour ago, MR.C said: if your running 1080p its a lot of data. We were fortunate that Virgin put a brand new network in a year and a half ago, I’ve been on it for a year now. Epic speeds 200+ and that’s not even the most expensive option, we’ve just come off out discounted deal so it may be time to try and negotiate a faster option. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 2 hours ago, MR.C said: if your running 1080p its a lot of data. If it's source direct to screen then yes. The minute 1080P or 4K hits an ethernet interface or it's an interwebs stream, it's compressed by one of the devices in the traffic path so that it fits. Most AV devices that I am familiar with have 100Mb interfaces, and that includes the latest 4K Gen 4 Apple TV's. So if a 4K movie is streamed from any network source, like a MAC mini or a Plex server or whatever it may be, via the Apple TV, it's being compressed. And remember lots of times at least one device in the chain will be wireless... not all the time but often enough. And I've lost count of the times I have solved VOD issues by ditching wireless devices and adding some wires, even using homeplugs on a few occasions. I try to avoid wireless for VOD systems at all costs... I've done LOADS of smart-home installs for high end clients and on superyachts and believe me that up until very recently I could move all the video around on 10/100 switches without so much as a blink. What changed recently was Crestron coming out with NVX. A complete b****rd of an invention that soaks up bandwidth like I do custard creams. And for the avoidance of doubt, NVX works very well indeed, but it add significant extra cost to the network equipment as well as placement of devices. The minute you have to distribute more than four (two Tx, two Rx) NVX across a link between two switches you either need a pair of links in an etherchannel bundle, or 10Gig ports. My biggest NVX deployment so far has something like 46 NVX devices spread across 3 comms rooms... but I digress... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pistonbroke Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Does anyone here speak English ? About the only part of the above that I understand is the Logic of the 2 ON/OFF switches on Blatters wall 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen_I Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 1 hour ago, pistonbroke said: Does anyone here speak English ? Dont worry, you're not the only one who lost the plot with that lot😄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Sorry... "smart-home" stuff and video over IP has been my bread and butter for about a decade now... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 2 hours ago, pistonbroke said: About the only part of the above that I understand is the Logic of the 2 ON/OFF switches on Blatters wall They're fast, efficient and easy to understand. The energy saving light-bulbs not so much... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 Ah, NVX, my favourite, though also done a little with Wyrestorm's 4K video over IP. NVX is capable of really hammering the surrounding architecture though! So cool though, using the DM NVX decoders to send CEC commands to a display, with only a single HDMI link between the two. (I've beed around long enough to have used Crestron PViDs to send three channels of component video, one channel spdif digital, and yet another cable for RS232 comms! used to be a hell of a lot of cables to dress on the TV mounting brackets! At least as far as NVX goes, more than happy to leave the hardware the other side of the RJ45 plugs to network specialists! I refuse to touch stacked switches!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glen_I Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 And there is me getting all excited after I got a TP Link mesh system to work throughout the house including down the garden and in the garage.....🤣 Give me nuts and bolts.... Whilst I am stuck behind a PC, I can normally muddle through issues but it's more luck than judgement at times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted February 15, 2021 Share Posted February 15, 2021 5 hours ago, Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Secretary said: At least as far as NVX goes, more than happy to leave the hardware the other side of the RJ45 plugs to network specialists! I refuse to touch stacked switches!! I think that was part of Crestrons plan... put the initial blame for "Crestron isn't working" on to the desk of the network engineer... Thankfully for me, two things happened. First time I had an NVX chat with a "Crestron technician" he said "I can see spanning-tree BPDU's so you must have a loop". The next sound he heard was me laughing maniacally followed by me slammig the phone down... Then I sent evidence to prove the network was up to snuff. Problem was the the NVX director. Back to back, the NVX's worked fine. Through the director they were as tempramental as hell... 5 hours ago, Glen_I said: And there is me getting all excited after I got a TP Link mesh system to work throughout the house including down the garden and in the garage..... Gadgetman and me have similar working lives... 😄 Wired "mesh" or wireless "mesh"? I put mesh in quotes because it is often mis-used when describing wireless networks that use multiple wireless access points. Having wireless in lots of rooms using an access point within the room where wireless is required is not really a mesh network. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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