Will using a 10/100 router stunt gigabit switch speeds for an internal network?

I have a 10/100 Verizon router. 3 computers are connected to this via Ethernet. I'd like to put a gigabit switch between the computers and router to enable gigabit speeds on the intranet.

If the machines are still using the 10/100 router as a gateway will this stunt the intranet speed? Or will they actually communicate with each other at gigabit speeds?

Dane O'Connor

Posted 2009-11-25T00:49:08.737

Reputation: 1 118

Your speed limit is determined by the slowest part. For older PCs that can sometimes even be the CPU. – SDsolar – 2017-06-10T02:06:50.077

And for the record, I just ran across this posting 7 years and 6 months after it was first asked. – SDsolar – 2017-06-10T02:07:23.337

1Will using a 10/100 router stunt gigabit switch speeds for an internal network? Will inserting a 1" pipe between a couple of 2" pipes cause a bottleneck for the bigger pipes? Would shrinking a two-lane road to one lane then back out to two lanes affect the wider sections? Does a bear sleep in the woods? Is the sky blue? – Synetech – 2013-12-14T22:58:02.813

Answers

Yes, the router will only allow the machines connected to it to function at 100 Mbps. So, no, they will not be able to communicate at gigabit speeds when connected only to the router.

However, since you have a gigabit switch. Connect all the machines to the switch and then run the switch uplink to the router. The port used as the uplink will connect to the router at 100 Mbps, and the rest of the ports on the switch will function at 1000 Mbps. I have this exact setup. All the machines can then communicate at gigabit speeds on the switch and your 10/100 router can still be used for internet/wireless/etc.

Troggy

Posted 2009-11-25T00:49:08.737

Reputation: 10 191

2Short and sweet. nice. – DaveParillo – 2009-11-25T00:57:44.867

I must point out that there are several folks on here who have put gigabit switches in front of their 100 mbit router, and are seeing performance degradation. A simple reason for this is that the hosts connected to the switch are sending it data at line speeds the switch cannot offload to the router fast enough for buffers to not overrun, and drop frames.

Nevin Williams

Posted 2009-11-25T00:49:08.737

Reputation: 3 725