Although we have lots of data sockets around the building, some of them just don't seem to be functioning. As a result, my old boss hooked three* 4/5-port switches together, piggybacking on to each other and one is then connected to a working data output. It looks a mess and I now need an extra socket. Rather than creating more hassle, I plan to just buy a 16-port gigabit switch and connect it up.

Recommendations?

I've been looking at Netgear stuff for around £50-100 depending on exact model. The only useful feature I need is the ability to prioritise the networked printer above everything else.

* I see three switches. There may be more!

EDIT: I'm thinking of this one: clicky or this one: clicky.

I don't think you'll get much in the way of "prioritising" from an unmanaged switch.

Their "smart switches" have basic management and QoS

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Netgear-GS716T- ... 0036YF93K/ (16 port £129)
http://www.ebuyer.com/83106-netgear-pro ... 26t-100eus (24 port £103)

Any good? I have the latter one in a data centre where it's been running for a couple of years with no issues; never been reset.

Did wonder about managed switches.

Stupid question but is it okay to plug a zillion things into the switch, then connect it to the main switch that runs everything else?

I think I need to assess whether I need 16 or 24 ports (cost isn't too much of an issue as both in the right price band). The boss had some wifi routers and repeaters set up too.

It depends on the main switch and how it is configured, but in general yes it's OK and pretty common practice. Certainly far better than a daisy-chain of cheap switches!

If the main switch is very cheap then it may not cope well with lots of different MAC addresses communicating on a single port, and it will keep broadcasting to every port when it starts to forget. That slows things down quite a bit.

If the main switch is managed, then it might be configured in a way that will prevent it working. That's not the case though, from what you've said already.

The main switch is provided by the primary care trust. The data points are part of the building and we rent it. No idea if the main switch is managed though I have specs for some are they may well be in the Understanding Networks thread I created.

I've just bought a netgear 8 port gigabit unmanaged switch for 40 quid that claims to be okay for 4000 mac addresses, so I wouldn't have thought that would be a problem. Don't forget your printer is most likely only 100meg anyway.

The network I'm leaving is a 24 port unmanaged gigabit switch with a fibre link to another 24 bit gigabit unmanaged switch upstairs and with 20 odd users pushing graphics files around there was never anything even approaching any issues with network speed, so for a surgery I can't imagine you'd need anything more than that.

The printer might be only 100-meg but it's the most used printer in the practice. We're a dispensing practice so when I prescribe something for a patient, it goes to the dispensing computer downstairs. The patient collects it but at the same time, a prescription is printed. At the busiest time, something like nine or ten computers could be trying to print to it near-simultaneously.

I really wouldn't worry about it - 100Mb/s is fast enough to fill up most print buffers in less time than it takes you to blink.

Thusly, the main slow-down you're likely to see is if, when you all beast the printer at the same time, the print buffer fills up and the PC spoolers have to wait in a queue.

I would also get somebody to test the cabling.

We had all sorts of problems at work, we had a mix of 1000, 100 and 10 mbps switches around the building and there were horrendous delays.

I managed to get 3K set aside and that bought us 4 managed 24 port Pro Curve GB switches. Ripping out the 10mbps switches and minimizing the use of 100mbps switches (conference room) sorted out most of the rest, but there were still occasional hiccups. Running a wiring test showed 3 ports in the building which were substandard. Unpatching them and rerouting over nearby ports solved all other problems.

I think the data ports are part of the building and hence in the rent. No idea on how we stand with respect to repairing/replacing the data ports, let alone how to test them. The switches are provided by the PCT:

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=16070#p245570

There are only 3 data ports in an area where we need something in the region of 12. My boss did it all with stuff he could buy from pcworld and hence had a load of 4/5-port gigabit switches.

Okies I need some more advice please.

Looking at this one clicky which JWW009 pointed out. It states it has 2 gigabit ports. Could I connect it to two wall data ports or would that just blow the whole thing up?

Spanning Tree would disable one of the connections, but it would provide redundancy. If one link failed, the other would take over.

To bond two channels to double the bandwidth, routers at both ends need to be configured for LACP or some kind of Port Aggregation or Multi-Link Trunking. Both routers need to support the same protocol. It's not something I'm familiar with, but I'm pretty sure the Netgear doesn't support it. You'd have to check the main one to see what it supports.

As per people's previous posts, do they really need that much bandwidth? I suspect your servers are more of a bottle-neck, and any decent switch will be better than a daisy-chain of cheap ones.

I have to look at getting another couple of Gigabit HP Procurve switches and link them up with 10gbps SFB modules over fibre, from one end of the building to the other... The redundant servers are finally getting redundant server rooms. 8)

Okay so the GS716T arrived yesterday. I'm planning to install it next week when the practice is shut in the afternoon for some admin reason.

I have three computers (with three label printers, and three barcode readers, none of which are directly networked but might be so via WinXP), and a laser printer. I need to have a look and see what else is connected.

Is it just a case of plugging in the switch to the wall data socket and plugging everything else into the switch?

I plan to run the Netgear software, set it up (I think the switch needs its own IP address) and have already had a read of the online manuals. I can see the connected hardware can (or perhaps needs) to be configured through the software and happy to do this.

Anything else? This is my first ever switch.

You can just plug & play.

Give it an IP if you like but you don't need to if you don't want to.