Switch Recommendation Needed

[Nabisco_DING]

Hi all!
I am building a small network in my home (cat5e has recently been fished through my walls) and I am having trouble looking for a switch. I am hoping you guys might be able to help?

I know that I will need a 24port gigabit switch and I wouldn't mind spending $1000 but nothing more than that (if there is a much cheaper alternative then I'd rather go for that and save money)

What I mainly want to use this switch for is to monitor traffic on all ports and have the ability to block or limit bandwidth on certain ports.

I am pretty sure that unmanaged switches wont provide what I need but I am not sure about dlinks smart switches (DGS-1224TP for example).

I am also interested in HP's line of smart switches like the Procurve 1810G-24. It says it's managed but I just want to make sure it would be able to do what I need.

I really don't need a complicated switch as I can do just fine with an unmanaged switch but I wouldn't mind paying a premium to monitor and block/limit ports.

Thanks in advanced for your time!

 

[thiggins]

You need a "smart" or managed switch to monitor, block or control bandwidth on ports. Pretty much all of this class of switch will do what you want.

The ProCurves are well-regarded. I believe NETGEAR ProSafe and D-Link switches now have lifetime warranties.

 

[Nabisco_DING]

woohoo!
thanks for confirming that!
I will prolly go with the dlink dgs-1224tp since it has PoE on all ports at an affordable price

thanks man!!!
i now know what to buy

 

[Nabisco_DING]

actually, I have another question

Will the smart switches from dlink be able to manage bandwidth for users who are downloading via bittorrent, p2p, etc?

That is my main concern. I think i read somewhere in the forums where someone said that this cannot so I am now still on the fence (nooooo)

If this is the case, I read an article on SNB about pfsense and how effective it is for limiting bandwidth for users downloading via bittorrent and stuff. If the smart switches cannot control bandwidth for bittorrent and p2p, do you think it'd be better to buy an unmanaged switch and then use an old laptop with pfsense to control bandwidth on my network?

Also, would there be any software (that can manage bandwidth on the network assuming the server it is running on will act as a dhcp and dns server) that I can download or purchase to install on a Windows Server 2008 machine to do the same as pfsense? I know I will be installing a webserver sometime later so I am thinking that I can just use 1 server instead of having 2 computers running separate roles.

 

[thiggins]

BitTorrent is normally very difficult to control because most solutions depend on knowing the logical port that is being used. Since BitTorrent can be set to operate on almost any port, it can be like playing cat and mouse.

Smart switches have the ability to limit bandwidth on each physical switch port for all traffic, regardless of logical port or protocol used. So as long as your bandwidth hog doesn't have the ability to access the switch and physically move his / her cable, you can control both uplink and downlink bandwidth.

This series will walk you through typical features of smart switches and what they can do for you:
Smart Switch How To - Part 1: What A Managed Switch Can Do For You
Smart Switch How to - Part 2: Security
Smart Switch How to - Part 3: Bandwidth Control

 

[Nabisco_DING]

wooooow your so fast! thanks!
I actually read those but I wasn't sure if the dlink smart switches would have some of those functions. But I guess I probably missed it so I'll be busy reading again.

thanks alot again for your time, and sorry for asking these simple and dumb questions!!

I reaaaally appreciate it!!

 

[thiggins]

You should download and review the user manual for any product that you're seriously considering buying.

 

[teknojnky]

I think your looking in the wrong direction.

If your primarily wanting to block/limit torrents/downloads/etc, you should look at router/firewalls with flexible QOS settings.

If you limit the port speeds on the switch, you will most likely limit local traffic as well, so any local file shares will also be speed limited.

With a router/firewall you can block the traffic as it comes in/goes out to your internet without affecting your local lan traffic.

 

[tipstir]

I've posted this info before but you can look at it here
http://tipstir.the-talk.net/wireless-gear-f3/emulator-for-tl-wr1043n-t70.htm

This is for the emulator on TP-LINK for some strange reason their top-tier wireless 300n gig router can control torrents under Bandwidth Control. I don't have this unit and getting anything from TP-LINK is a horror.

To me it's better to block it from the router side. Switch also if you can do it. But there are web filter hardware like BlueCoat that can block them before the switch.

 

[thiggins]

I think your looking in the wrong direction.

If your primarily wanting to block/limit torrents/downloads/etc, you should look at router/firewalls with flexible QOS settings.

If you limit the port speeds on the switch, you will most likely limit local traffic as well, so any local file shares will also be speed limited.

With a router/firewall you can block the traffic as it comes in/goes out to your internet without affecting your local lan traffic.

Good point. But it is difficult to block BT traffic. So cranking down port speed is brute force, but effective.

 

[teknojnky]

Good point. But it is difficult to block BT traffic. So cranking down port speed is brute force, but effective.

right, but a router with good QOS can do the same at the mac or ip level.

Like say, MAC abcdef gets a max of 30% in/out going bandwidth.

Or you can deprioritize bandwidth use without slowing it down by classifying that mac (or computer ip) as 'bulk', and classify high priority MAC/ip's as multimedia/realtime/voip etc.

You can not easily do that at the switch level and keep it only affecting internet traffic (not local traffic), at least that I am aware of.

I know DD-WRT has some QOS facilities such as these, but I've not tested in actual use.

 

[thiggins]

right, but a router with good QOS can do the same at the mac or ip level.

Yep. The trick is finding "good" QoS.

Most often, consumer routers' QoS affects upstream traffic only.

 

[Markwirez]

Throttling Bittorrent

One of the "easiest" ways to throttle Bit torrent Traffic is to use an actual Bit Torrent Application that supports Bandwidth Control internally Like VUZE and TELL it how much bandwidth to use.
http://www.vuze.com/

 

[teknojnky]

using BT apps internal rate limiters is entirely different from lowering the bandwidth priority of BT vs other packets.


I can set my bt client to use 80% down/60% up of my bandwidth, but if I or someone else on the network starts to stream or download or whatever, both are treated equaly.

What most people want when they talk about BT limiting, is lower the priority so that the streaming/download takes priority over the BT which gets 'idle' or low priority bandwidth.

 

[Markwirez]

using BT apps internal rate limiters is entirely different from lowering the bandwidth priority of BT vs other packets.


I can set my bt client to use 80% down/60% up of my bandwidth, but if I or someone else on the network starts to stream or download or whatever, both are treated equaly.

What most people want when they talk about BT limiting, is lower the priority so that the streaming/download takes priority over the BT which gets 'idle' or low priority bandwidth.

I have found that the latest Netgear Firewall's (FVX538/336G/SRX5308) Security Rules when combined with QOS tagging/Bandwidth Profiles/and Security Groups works pretty well when use the Default group. Take a bit of management but users automatically get assigned to group1 (guests) when they pop on my network.

I always manage my Internet Traffic on my Firewall directly.

 

[tchr]

I also think that manage users/bandwith/limitations is more convenient on a special device, like firewall, UTM or server with software like Kerio Control.

Good switch like Netgear GS724TP cost about 680 USD, adn good firewall like FVS318G about 130 USD. In total it will be less than 1000 USD.

Profit!