Netgear GS108Tv2 switches overkill?

[roldogg]

I bought two of these switches a while back so I could hard wire into my network multiple devices in 2 different locations. Ever since I bought them and installed them, I seem to always have problems with them mostly because they have so many settings that I am unfamiliar with. Was purchasing these switches overkill for what I want, which is to be able to hard wire multiple devices into my network from 2 different locations? I don't necessarily need to setup VLANS to separate my devices from each other. Actually, I would rather for all of them to be able to see one another and share/stream files and media.

I think these switches have much more functionality than I need, but I decided to buy switches because some of the devices that are hooked up to the switch might need more bandwidth to stream media or something while other devices hooked up, like one of my printers, don't need that much bandwidth so I'd like to be able to control the bandwidth going to each port of the switch instead of all the bandwidth going to each port, like a hub.

So, should I downgrade what I currently have or would these switches be beneficial if I sat down and read through all 300 pages of the manual to learn how to use them correctly? I'm just trying to find out if it'll be worth my while to learn how to use these switches to their full potential or even if I do, will I benefit from the functionality or are they just overkill for what I'm trying to accomplish?

 

[HardCat]

I bought two of these switches a while back so I could hard wire into my network multiple devices in 2 different locations. Ever since I bought them and installed them, I seem to always have problems with them mostly because they have so many settings that I am unfamiliar with. Was purchasing these switches overkill for what I want, which is to be able to hard wire multiple devices into my network from 2 different locations? I don't necessarily need to setup VLANS to separate my devices from each other. Actually, I would rather for all of them to be able to see one another and share/stream files and media.

I think these switches have much more functionality than I need, but I decided to buy switches because some of the devices that are hooked up to the switch might need more bandwidth to stream media or something while other devices hooked up, like one of my printers, don't need that much bandwidth so I'd like to be able to control the bandwidth going to each port of the switch instead of all the bandwidth going to each port, like a hub.

So, should I downgrade what I currently have or would these switches be beneficial if I sat down and read through all 300 pages of the manual to learn how to use them correctly? I'm just trying to find out if it'll be worth my while to learn how to use these switches to their full potential or even if I do, will I benefit from the functionality or are they just overkill for what I'm trying to accomplish?

I also have 2 of these switches. Paid about $69 Cdn each for mine. Set them up over a year ago with Vlans, Trunking, multiple devices connected to each, etc. never looked back, working flawlessly. I think they are great for a managed switch at that price.

Take the time to read the manual, I think they will do what you need and more!

Cheers...

 

[thiggins]

You don't need to worry about slow devices like a printer taking bandwidth away from faster devices. Switches establish a direct data path between devices.

If you want to reduce bandwidth for faster devices, then you could use the port rate control feature.

 

[System Error Message]

You don't need to worry about slow devices like a printer taking bandwidth away from faster devices. Switches establish a direct data path between devices.

If you want to reduce bandwidth for faster devices, then you could use the port rate control feature.

i have the GS724tV2 and it can perform port based QoS which is what your switch should be able to do.

 

[roldogg]

Ok, thanks a lot for the info. I guess I'll take the time to read up on these switches. I got aggravated with them earlier because now, the devices I have plugged into them has Internet access, but for some reason, I can't access them with the IP I assigned them. I even disconnected them from my router, ran the Smart Control software, before and after resetting them, and the software doesn't even recognize them. I changed the subnet on my PC to match the default settings of the switch, still nothing. After plugging them back into my router and changing my IP address back to having one assigned from the router, my internet is still working. Even if I log into my Asus router and view a list of clients, the switches don't appear. It's like they're ghost switches.

 

[coxhaus]

To make things simple I would assign an IP address to the switch in the same range as your router network. Also make sure your PC is in the same range. If you can't access the switch you probably need to do a factory reset.

I simple rule to get you working with switches and VLANs is to use an access port for PCs and such and to use a trunk port to connect the switches together.

 

[roldogg]

You don't need to worry about slow devices like a printer taking bandwidth away from faster devices. Switches establish a direct data path between devices.

If you want to reduce bandwidth for faster devices, then you could use the port rate control feature.

I wasn't so much worried about the printer stealing bandwidth from other devices, I just wanted to be able to use a switch where, like you mentioned, I could use port rate control vs a device like an 8 port hub (if those are even still made anymore) where data flowing into the hub is sent to all ports instead of a specific port.

I have approx 42 devices on my network, some which are used more frequently than others, so I'd like to be able to control the flow rate of multiple devices. I do have one more question I'm sure someone can answer for me, on my router I set my DHCP pool to start at .16 and I assign anything that needs a static IP below .16, but with the case of a switch, or even an AP attached to a switch, where I assign a static IP to the device and disable DHCP, does the static IP of the switch, or AP, have to fall within the DHCP pool of the router so the router can assign IP addresses to each device that connects via the switch or AP or does it even matter?

 

[roldogg]

To make things simple I would assign an IP address to the switch in the same range as your router network. Also make sure your PC is in the same range. If you can't access the switch you probably need to do a factory reset.

I simple rule to get you working with switches and VLANs is to use an access port for PCs and such and to use a trunk port to connect the switches together.

See, that's another thing. From what I have read up about regarding the functionality of the switches is being able to assign VLANs to different switches to control who can see who on the network, but I want every device to be able to see each other. I setup a Guest Network WiFi signal for other people to access, and I've set it up so they can't see anyone else on my network. That's about as complex as it gets. I initially bought this switch because it supported LAG, but I'm currently working on a new build, been working on it since Sept, but the new MB, an Asus Rampage V Extreme, doesn't have 2 network ports to team like my old MB did. I just want to be able to hard wire most of my clients to the network, especially my work computer (I work from home) because I got rid of my server, that used to host all of our software and data and my employees from across the country could login via RDP to work, but now I pay someone to host everything for us so I would rather be hard wired into my network when accessing multiple Citrix connections.

 

[coxhaus]

If you want clients to access each other do not bother with a VLAN. If you want a guess network setup 2 VLANs. One for your LAN and one for the guess network. Assign 2 different IP network addresses. They will be divided.

 

[roldogg]

Thanks for all the info. I guess everyone has answered my question regarding the switches, now I just need to take some time to learn all the functionality of them. I'd rather not go through and ask what every feature is for, which would be a complete waste of space. I'll keep the switches, learn more about how I can set them up and the features that might be useful, and at that point, if I have any specific questions regarding the setup, I'll post back to this forum. Glad this forum is here. I didn't really want to get rid of these, lose my money, and then buy something more simplistic, but at the same time, I didn't want to devote a lot of time learning something that I would never be able to utilize.

Thanks for the input, now it's time to start looking over their 300 page manual.

 

[roldogg]

One more thing, I just found a deal on a cheapo NAS, which I've been putting off forever, on Woot!, and the NAS supports LAG. Both of these switches I have support LAG, so I was wondering if I should buy a "main" switch, which also supports LAG, connect my NAS to it connect the 2 switches I currently have to it, and of course the router.

My router supports LAG (well that's what it says on the back by the ports) so I'm wondering if an ideal setup would be to incorporate a "main" switch after the router which then branches to the 2 switches I already have. Currently, all 4 LAN ports on the router are taken.

 

[roldogg]

Ok, I tried what you guys mentioned by reseting the switches and starting from scratch since I couldn't see them in the Netgear utility or anywhere else. I found one, and changed the IP settings go a static IP in my network, but I can't find the second one. I've reset it multiple times, changed my PCs IP to match the default IP, but no matter what I do, my PC won't recognize it. The only thing hooked up is my PC to the switch with a CAT6 patch cable.

Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

 

[Cloud200]

You don't set the IP the same as the default. You set it in the same range. For example if the default is 192.168.10.200 set your pc to 192.168.10.201

 

[roldogg]

Yes, that's what I did, but I disconnected each from the router handing out DHCP addresses and then changed the local IP on my laptop to be in the same subnet. After I setup one of the switches, I hooked everything back up to it and then took my laptop into the other took where the 2nd switch is so I could set that one up also. But, for some reason, I can't see the switch no matter what I do. I'm using a different laptop and a different cable to connect to the 2nd switch, so I might try doing the same with the same laptop and cable that worked on the first one. I need to gradually start ruling things out, and by using the same laptop and cable as the 1st one, at least I could rule that out.

Sent from my SM-P900 using Tapatalk

 

[Cloud200]

In that case call up netgear for an RMA

 

[coxhaus]

Maybe you need to factory reset the switch you are having trouble with and not plug it into the network. Just plug in your work station. The switch may have gotten a DHCP IP address.

Cisco has a tool I run called findit V1 for their small business devices. It finds all their devices and gives you their IP addresses. The one I have running tracks the IP addresses for all my Cisco routers, switches and wireless devices.

 

[roldogg]

I fixed it. One of the switches is shoved behind my TV, and I didn't realized it has a reset button on each side of the ports on the front. I guess one just reboots it and the other does a factory reset. After pressing the other reset button, I was able to access it again. Thanks again for everyone's help!