4 to 8 Port Expansion -- Advice Requested

[reader]

The advice to buy twice what you THINK you need is still ringing in my ears. I have outgrown my Linksys DSL Router/4 port switch and need more ports.

I know you're supposed to branch out but at this point it's a little impractical. Can I just uplink to an 8-port switch and run the connections to network computers from that?

Should the HP printserver (500X 3-printer ports) remain on the main DSL router/switch?

Any impact on internet sharing going through the additional switch?

Thanks

[cyberskye]

I know you're supposed to branch out but at this point it's a little impractical. Can I just uplink to an 8-port switch and run the connections to network computers from that?

You can uplink a switch to the router. Depending on your LAN traffic patterns this may actually be optimal even if you don't need the extra ports. The two machines I have that pass the most data the most often are isolated on a switch that uplinks to my nexland. Machines that need net access only go directly into the router. Fewer hops the better for your busiest segments.

Should the HP printserver (500X 3-printer ports) remain on the main DSL router/switch?

I would hang it off the uplinked switch rather than the router for the reasons above. The Linky doesn't have much of a backplane - it's switch (on the router) is a very cheap one. The less traffic the better the performance - you may not notice a difference, though, depends on your usage.

Any impact on internet sharing going through the additional switch?

If you are adding more boxes that will be accessing the net at the same time then you will notice a speed hit. It is a home router, though most of us here have professional-class connections...I believe the Linky can handle 4 Mbs - I am jealous if your connection is faster than that:p

These are just my opinions - your mileage may vary.

Skye

[reader]

Skye,

Thanks for the good advice! No need to fret over the connection speeds here...somewhere around 145kb/s for the DSL. Network is fast enough I don't even test it.

Again...Thank You!