An important networking QUERY plz.

[new02user]

Hi everyone,

Firstly i would like to say my internet connection is running just perfect at the moment and alot of this is due to guys on this forum helping me out especially Saturday- so thanks for that.

Im in a bit of a dilemma about buying a network switch. Basically my situation is as follows.

My thomson o2 router is connected in my master socket and i have a 20m ethernet wire going from there upstairs to my room(where the pc, xbox and everything is). I understand that in order to connect all my devices such as my PC and xbox 360 etc from upstairs as wired i need an ethernet switch (as i dont want to run any more than the one 20m cable im running from downstairs at the moment.)

Now ive had a look at a few switches on the internet but i mostly want to get a wired connection to my xbox 360 so i can stream HD from my PC to the xbox 360 (they are both in the upstairs room). Therefore will it be enough for me(for HD streaming) to get a switch on the 10/100 mbps profile such as the netgear FS605 or should i be looking to get a 10/100/1000 mbps switch like the Netgear GS605 and what difference will this make?

Also what role does the Thomson 54mbps router and the ethernet ports on my PC and xbox 360 play in this do they support the 1 GB LAN transfer speeds offered by the high end switches? Thanks to anyone who helps.

By the way my PC is a Dell Dimension 4700 and i have an xbox 360. thanks again.[

[Saturday]

Your ethernet speed will be limited by the slowest spec component. Your router is only capable of 100Mbps (the 45Mbps refers to the theoretical wireless speed) and so probably is the NIC in your Dell - and the xbox too.

So, no point in getting a gigabit switch. In any case, a 100Mbps ethernet connection is more than fast enough to handle your internet connection and HD streaming.

[Tony1044]

From a gaming perspective you'll never go any faster than your router can connect online plus whatever latency there is on the web.

But...if you're intending to stream HD content then you need to be able to sustain quite a high rate of data between your XBox and PC.

A 100MBit router will give about 10MByte's. A Gbit router will be about 100MByte but again there are a number of factors that will slow this down in real terms.

As Saturday says, if the network card in the XBox/PC are only 100Mbit then there's no real advantage of buying a GBit router - but having said that, I'm not sure many pure routers (as in, no DSL modem included with them) these days are not GBit.

Might be a lot easier for you to look at a pair of Homeplug HD plugs - relatively cheap and they usually work quite well.

[Undecided adrian]

The Xbox only has a 10/100 network card in it so that is the limiting factor, no matter what else you do 100 meg/sec is the top speed you can get to the Xbox.

A 85 meg/sec pair of homeplugs will be your best bet as you will get more than enough to stream HD to the xbox.

[stu_uk]

home plugs are not a better replacemnt then an ethernet cable based on speed. They maybe easier to install but thats about it.

[new02user]

good point by stu uk. I've got ethernet set up so no need to spend £100 on homeplugs(i would need three 200mbps ones).

I've just done some file transfer over the network from my wired ethernet pc to a wired laptop and it was running about 12mbps so i transferred a 2.7 gb file in about three minutes.

Will this be enough for streaming HD 720p stuff? Also can someone plz reccommend me a good 10/100mbps ethernet switch? thanks.

[Saturday]

Originally Posted by new02user

I've just done some file transfer over the network from my wired ethernet pc to a wired laptop and it was running about 12mbps so i transferred a 2.7 gb file in about three minutes.

Will this be enough for streaming HD 720p stuff? Also can someone plz reccommend me a good 10/100mbps ethernet switch? thanks.

You're mixing up bits and bytes. As I said before, a 100Mbps ethernet connection (that's bits as in lower case b), will easily be enough for HD streaming. Depending on the encoding used, 720p HD needs about 15Mbps, 1080i maybe 30Mbps.

Frankly, a switch is a switch is a switch. Have a look on ebay or on a hardware shopping site such as dabs and you'll find plenty under £10. Check a couple of reviews to be safe, then buy whatever takes your fancy. When you get it, plug it in and it will work.

[Tony1044]

Originally Posted by stu_uk

home plugs are not a better replacemnt then an ethernet cable based on speed. They maybe easier to install but thats about it.

They're getting there now - I read a recent review of a pair of "HD" plugs and they were only about 15-20% below "normal" Gbit ethernet. But I will caveat that comment with the statement on the review that it was a new house with new (and presumably, noise-wise, quite clean) mains.

I use homeplugs for my server (in the garage) as there's just no way for me to get cables over there tidily and I get good enough speeds for what I need, but agree that it's nowhere near to wired ethernet.

But...for gaming, they've always been far better than wireless so as with most things computer-related, it's all about your best compromise

[new02user]

I've ordered the getnet GS115 ethernet switch from ginger6 website for under £8.

I've got everything wired up so theres no need for homeplugs for me now.