Can a Router perform better then a dedicated switch ?

[the_chang]

Am in the process of hard wiring my home pc, ps3, laptop. Also will be using wireless for ipad, smart phone.


Was just thinking of getting a gbit switch as my cable modem only supports 10/100.

I dont think my isp modem is the best performing modem out there so was thinking of getting a asus rt n66u which has 4 gbit ports and wireless.

Just wondered if having a dedicated switch is a better option or will the gbits on the asus be just as good ??

 

[thiggins]

Switches are switches. There is no performance benefit to a standalone vs. integrated gigabit switch.

 

[the_chang]

Am in right in thinking that most isp supplied modem/routers are poor quality and thats why people buy a separate router ?

 

[CaptainSTX]

ISP hardware isn't poor quality,particularly since the ISP needs to support it, but it is probably fair to say that most ISPs don't provide top of the line equipment.

Cost is the driving factor particularly since most people don't need top of the line hardware. And what is top of the line today is outdated in six months so that even if your ISP provided the latest and greatest today some people would be complaining in six months that they needed something better.

 

[stevech]

Am in right in thinking that most isp supplied modem/routers are poor quality and thats why people buy a separate router ?

For some reason, the WiFi is poor in most ISP provided routers.. like the infamous 2-Wire used widely by AT&T. They went for the cheapest, and the antennas inside are probably the culprit.

Another issue is some ISPs won't give the admin password and you are stuck with, e.g., the gawd-awful WiFi password they assigned. But more serious is the low performance WiFi so often found.

 

[Nerre]

I think this is yet a topic for my nice pic I have made

What most people today call a "wireless router" generally includes a router, a switch and and access point.

When people say that "the ISP supplied router is no good" they generally refer to the router part features and possibly the access point performance. But the switch part usually works as intended.

 

[azazel1024]

Yup, other than reliability or the switch fabric not capable of handling full traffic, I haven't seen a switch slow down a connection before.

I've tried a LOT of switches, either stand alone or integrated in routers and I've seen exactly the same bandwidth performance with all of them between the same two machines.

Now, I HAVE seen switches that for some reason the MAC address tables caused screwy problems once you'd connected several devices to them and you have to power cycle them (I think I've only seen this on one 5 port gigabit switch). I have also seen switches die.