"Slower" devices like an Xbox 360 do not slow down Gigabit networks, do they?

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pdawg17

Limp Gawd
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May 5, 2007
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Do ALL gigabit routers/switches these days maintain gigabit speeds for devices that can do it or do "slower" devices bring the entire network down to its speed? Does it depend on the router/switch?
 
Mixed speed devices are fine, they shouldn't effect performance.
 
I sure hope this isn't the case cause w/o my 360 in the loop i'm getting 30k mbps, I'd hate for the 360 to effect that.
 
Switches will automatically "switch" to 100mbps or even 10mbps mode if they detect non gigabit devices attached to it, and that port will become that speed. All the rest will remain the same, you just simply won't get gigabit speeds on that particular device, nothing more.
 
The ports auto negotiate and determine the max speed they can obtain for each link independently.

In other words, each device is independent and will not slow down the whole network.

I run lots of 10/100 devices mixed in with my gig devices on my 10/100/1000 Switches and still get gig speeds between gig devices.
 
Freezebyte said:
Switches will automatically "switch" to 100mbps or even 10mbps mode if they detect non gigabit devices attached to it, and that port will become that speed. All the rest will remain the same, you just simply won't get gigabit speeds on that particular device, nothing more.
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This.

Only the port with the 360 on it should come down to 100mbps.

If you're not getting Gig speeds, my question is are you sure your switch is Gig?
Many home-level routers (if that's your switch) aren't Gig.
And I'd also hope you aren't trying to test it downloading something over the internet. Without shelling out some huge money I don't know of anyone that would have 1000mbps download speeds at their house ;)

Also keep in mind there *are* overheads. IIRC it's something like 40%... So you'll never see a file transfer that's running at 1000mbps/sec.

Also it may be the NIC configuration in your computers that are affecting it.
 
TechieSooner said:
This.

Only the port with the 360 on it should come down to 100mbps.

If you're not getting Gig speeds, my question is are you sure your switch is Gig?
Many home-level routers (if that's your switch) aren't Gig.
And I'd also hope you aren't trying to test it downloading something over the internet. Without shelling out some huge money I don't know of anyone that would have 1000mbps download speeds at their house ;)

Also keep in mind there *are* overheads. IIRC it's something like 40%... So you'll never see a file transfer that's running at 1000mbps/sec.

Also it may be the NIC configuration in your computers that are affecting it.
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Actually I'm asking because we will be finishing our house remodel soon (with cat6) and will need to buy a new router and a ~12-port switch and wanted to make sure there isn't anything I need to look out for...

Is the DIR-655 still a good choice or is there something newer at that price point that is better? And how about ~12-port switches?
 
pdawg17 said:
Is the DIR-655 still a good choice or is there something newer at that price point that is better? And how about ~12-port switches?
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The DIR-655 is still a great choice - just make sure to buy it locally so, if you have any problems with it, you can return it for another.

As for the switch, +1 to Netgear metal-box switches, such as the GS108 or GS116.

What's your budget? If money isn't as important as performance and reliability, I'd look at some of the HP ProCurve 24-port switches, such as the 1800-24G but those run around $380. The Netgear GS724T isn't bad either for around $250.
 
I cant recall what switch I was reading about, but it was a gigabit that if a 10/100 device was plugged in, it would slow down all the ports to the slowest speed. Just like with your Xbox 100mb would make the switch step down to 100mb.
 
The Spyder said:
I cant recall what switch I was reading about, but it was a gigabit that if a 10/100 device was plugged in, it would slow down all the ports to the slowest speed. Just like with your Xbox 100mb would make the switch step down to 100mb.
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If that really exists, then its a worthless POS.
 
The Spyder said:
I cant recall what switch I was reading about, but it was a gigabit that if a 10/100 device was plugged in, it would slow down all the ports to the slowest speed. Just like with your Xbox 100mb would make the switch step down to 100mb.
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I read something like this too which is why I presented the question in the first place...can't remember where I read it though...
 
Freezebyte said:
If that really exists, then its a worthless POS.
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iirc it was the first revision of the d-link 5 port gigabit switch. I thought it was the netgear I have (white and clear plastic, not the metal box), but i have 2 100mbps devices on it and i get gigabit speeds on the gigabit devives.
 
No as long as the switch is 10/100/1000 you should look into enabling QoS (Quality of Service) to prioritize your local traffic so that your xbox has priority.
 
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