Connected dumb switch to powerline adaptor

quad_red

Hi folks,

Our Vodafone fibre modem/router is in a really awkward place.

Can I do the following - buy this

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-PA411KIT-AV500-Powerline-Adapter/dp/B0084Y9N3O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1386062962&sr=8-2&keywords=power+network

Connect one unit beside the router and the other beside the tv. And then have the other unit cabled to this dumb switch:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-TL-SG1005D-Gigabit-Unmanaged-Desktop/dp/B000N99BBC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1386063169&sr=8-1&keywords=tp+link+switch

And then have various devices connected to this switch.

1) Will this work?

2) Will the vodafone router/modem have to be put into bridge mode for this to work?

Thanks v much,
Quad

ED E

Yep that'd work perfectly. And no need to bridge, bridging would take you completely offline.

quad_red

Thanks Ed E.

Can I ask another dumb question.

If a switch like this is all that's required, why do so many people want to put their telco supplied modem/routers into bridge mode?

vibe666

yep, will work perfectly, i've done it several times myself.

the joy of a dumb switch is that there really is no configuration required at all other than connecting the power supply and some network cables.

as long as one of the cables connected to the switch goes back to your router (any one of them, really doesn't matter), all the network traffic will go where it's supposed to.

the only thing i would say is to think about how many devices you are plugging in and if it would be worth paying a couple of quid extra for the 8 port switch to give yourself a bit of future proofing.

if you think forward to having a smart tv, ps3 (or ps4), xbox, wii, htpc etc. you might find that somewhere down the line the extra ports could come in handy at some stage for a couple of quid more invested now.

ED E

quad_red wrote: »

If a switch like this is all that's required, why do so many people want to put their telco supplied modem/routers into bridge mode?

Thats to use their own router behind it. It hands the control of the network to the other device. The reason to do it is ISPs tend to ship junk to customers so if you need decent performance or advanced features you can give the real work to your own equipment.

kaizersoze

quad_red wrote: »

Thanks Ed E.

Can I ask another dumb question.

If a switch like this is all that's required, why do so many people want to put their telco supplied modem/routers into bridge mode?

Some people & businesses have specific network requirements and use their own routers because of the ISP modems limitations. They may need to manage their own proprietary ip addresses and sub-nets. It's mostly a business thing but more and more home networks are going that way as well.

quad_red

vibe666 wrote: »

the only thing i would say is to think about how many devices you are plugging in and if it would be worth paying a couple of quid extra for the 8 port switch to give yourself a bit of future proofing.

if you think forward to having a smart tv, ps3 (or ps4), xbox, wii, htpc etc. you might find that somewhere down the line the extra ports could come in handy at some stage for a couple of quid more invested now.

Yeah, good point.