looking for new switches and router

[arobbert]

I'm wondering if upgrading my Router and switches will improve my network performance and mabye DR.

All my computers are hardwired gigabit with jumbo frames disabled. In the office (location A) I have 6 workstations, a router/gateway with wireless and an 8 port unmanaged gigabit switch with automatic MIDI/MIDI-X crossover detection. I have a CAT 6 cable going to another room where the farm and NAS file sever are located (location B). There is a 16 port unmanaged gigabit switch with automatic MIDI/MIDI-X crossover detection in this location. Both switches are the same grade, vintage and manufacture (Linksys). The router is a home grade Belkin.

I get 215 Mbps in the office and 88 Mbps at the farm. I'm not sure why it's so much less at the farm.

Does anyone thin that I would get faster connections if I upgrade? If so do you have any recommendations? What kind of features do I look for?

[stevesideas]

Not meaning to hijack but I'd also be interested as to what people recommend as a good (FAST) switch. I currently have a cheapo netgear 8 port hub from PCworld. It seems pretty slow.

[arobbert]

My trouble turned out to be a bad switch. It was several years old but to my surprise had a lifetime warranty. Cisco replaced it for free. Their service is great with excellent tech support. I would recommend Cisco. If you don't have a large farm a small home office, unmanaged switch should be fine and you can go up to 24 ports if needed.

If you are using a hub you will get much better performance from a switch. I suggest getting a 1000 Mbps unit. You should also make sure all your cables are CAT5E or CAT6 to take advantage of the 1000 Mbps. Routers are not usually 1000Mbps so if you are using one as a switch you should ad a 1000Mbps switch and connect that to your router, then connect the computers to the switch.

[stevesideas]

Sorry, when I said hub I meant switch...I thought they were the same thing. I have a 10/100/1000 unit but I wasnt sure if even though it said 1000 if there would be some difference between a cheap unit and a more expensive one. I have read about 1000 full duplex so 1000mb each way. Is that a different switch again ?

I have my router downstairs and the switch is connected to that via a long cable. I may get some new cables. I guess trying to transfer 19gb for a current scene may take some time.

[arobbert]

I think most modern routers support full duplex. You definitely want CAT5e or CAT6 cables. You can also make sure all your Ethernet cards are setup for 1000. The speed of the file server and hard rives can affect speed as well.