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Currently we have a D-Link DI-524, which is a wireless router with 4 wired Ethernet ports, and an uplink port. The uplink port is plugged into the cable modem, and 2 of the 4 Ethernet ports have our desktops plugged into them. Sometimes we plug in our laptops, too, for better bandwidth, or other computers for various purposes.
We're renovating our house and putting Ethernet ports in each room. They're all running to a 12-port patch panel in the office, but clearly we're going to need a different router/switch in order to plug them all in.
So the question is this: What should we get? We want to keep the wireless capability, but I'm having trouble finding any 8-port wired switches that also have wireless (and that fit into a home budget). I imagine it should be possible to plug an 8-port switch into 6 of the patch panel ports, use 1 of the remaining switch ports to connect to the cable modem, and the last port to connect the old wireless router in some capacity... and then we can plug the 4 ports on the wireless switch into 4 of the panel ports (leaving 2 panel ports unused, but that's fine for now). I thought I had a grasp on the difference between a switch and a router, but everyone seems to play fast and loose with the terms, so two different people saying "switch" might mean two radically different things.
Anyway, unless someone knows of an affordable 12-wired-port-plus-wireless switch/router, anyone got any advice?
I agree with the diagram above. I would keep the wired and wireless separate because when 802.11n goes the way of 802.11b, you don't want to depend on finding an 8/16 port wireless router. Also, this way the wireless router can be placed farther from the patch panel only using two cables. Lastly, if Gb switches go the way of 10B2 you can get the new 10Gb switch without needing to find the wireless part. If you need better wireless coverage, you can always add access points or use some powerline adapters with WiFi ends to get range from the router. – Scott McClenning – 2010-01-12T06:43:33.953
+1 A separate switch is definitely the answer, and I would recommend the Netgear as well. – ridogi – 2010-01-12T07:14:26.263
This is more or less what I had in mind; the only question at this point is whether the wireless router we have now (DI-524) can deal with having numerous machines off a single port. I read through the entire manual and didn't see any limitation on how many IPs it's willing to send through that port, but I can't think of any reason why it would particularly care. My wife admin'd a small business network and they had a problem where you couldn't request more than 4 IPs through a single port on a router or it would blow up, but that was ten years ago. – dirtside – 2010-01-12T19:44:56.533
I don't think you will have that problem. You should be just fine. If you are genuinely concerned about it, you could upgrade to a router running DD-WRT (a custom Linux firmware).
I use these Buffalo routers extensively. They've been rock solid for me. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833162134&cm_re=buffalo_router-_-33-162-134-_-Product