Switches and Routers. Do they play nice together?

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 1:24 pm

I have been happily churning along with my SMC router that has 4 hardwired ports. However in the not to distant future, I will likely need 6. How do I accomplish this? Can I run three through a separate switch and then just connect the switch to the 4th port on the router? I have no interest in wireless connections as they have proven nothing but troublesome for me.

Am I way off base on how switches and routers work here?

Coskesh · Post by **Coskesh** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:00 pm

I have a 4 port NetGear switch plugged into one of the 4 ports in my Netgear router. Works fine. I actually have a Wireless DLINK router plugged into the Netgear router as well. They all play nicely.

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:25 pm

That's good to know. Thanks! Compusa has a 4 port swtich on sale for $10 this week. May just have to pick one up.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 2:43 pm

It depends whether either the route or the switch supports MDI/MDIX autonegotiation. Which these days is probable. If they don't you should use a crossover cable to connect them. It will be easy to tell. When you plug in the cable if you get a link light you are ok. Otherwaise find a crossover cable.

You should be able to find the cable at any Office Depot/Best Buy etc.

gorham09 · Post by **gorham09** » Mon Jan 31, 2005 3:46 pm

Actually, I had to make a crossover cable for something else, so I have one lying around. That's good information to know- especially if I have a problem- it could potentially save me hours of troubleshooting.