Network switch question

di11on

Hi folks,

I have just finished converting an outbuilding to an office. I have a 40m run of shielded cat6 cable running between the house and the office. My ISP's DSL modem/router is in the house. In the office I have an 8 port gigabit switch to which is connected the 40m cable to the router in the house, my PC and a NAS device.

My question is this - when I transfer files between my NAS and my PC in the office - are the comms going back to the router in the house or do the communications happen via the switch. Another way of putting this question is: will the single cat6 link to the house limit the speed of connections between devices in my office connected via the switch?

If the answer is yes, what do I need to do to make sure devices in the office can communicate between themselves locally? Use a router? If I need to use a router in the office - can it be set up so that it is on the same network as devices in the house?

Thanks in advance

ED E

The devices are part of the same network (192.168.1.1,192.168.1.2..) so they can communicate without routing(which is done where networks meet). As such all you're doing is switching. PC A talking to PC B in the Office goes in and out of the same switch, the router doesnt need to know.

If the 40M run was replaced with a wireless one you might be concerned with broadcast domains where messages sent to everyone would be travelling down that link and cause problems but with a 1Gb Full Duplex link its nothing to worry about (0.01% load).

You're all fine. The only thing you might want to add is a wireless access point in the office if not already present.

di11on

Thanks ED for your very clear and helpful reply.

Yeah - gonna add a wireless point eventually.

Cheers