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I need more ports than my router has
I have a NETGEAR Smart WiFi Router with Dual Band Gigabit for Amazon Echo/Alexa - AC1750 (R6400-100NAS). I am building a new home and I would like to add more ports for future use. Which switch...
Thats correct.
Like my original post said I run out of ethernet ports on my router. I've decided easiest and best way is just to add a switch the one I've chose is the
NETGEAR 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Unmanaged Switch (GS308) - Desktop, Sturdy Metal Fanless Housing
My original thought would be that I could run an ethernet cable from my router to the switch then I would have the remaining ports on my router plus all the extra ports on the switch to plug all my wired ethernet cables into for whatever devices I need them for. But when I look at the picture of this Switch I only see eight ports on the front There are no inputs so I'm confused as where I would run the ethernet cable from my router into the switch so that it would power the rest of the ports on the switch?
One of the 8 ports is used for the input.
So just to be clear because I'm not familiar with how a switch actually works as of yet. I would run an ethernet cable from my router to most likely port number one of the switch and then that would give me seven other Ports to use on the switch with the remaining ports on my router as well. Is that correct?
Thats correct.
> [...] when I look at the picture of this Switch I only see eight ports
> on the front There are no inputs [...]And, on your router, there are no outputs.
Ethernet ports are bidirectional, so none is (only) an input or an
output. Thinking about inputs and outputs in this context is an error,
and will likely lead to confusion.
> One of the 8 ports is used for the input.Not really. Any of the ports on a network switch can be connected to
any LAN port on a router. (Multiple LAN ports on a router are
effectively part of a network switch which is hidden inside the router.)An Ethernet switch can pass messages from any of its ports to any
other of its ports. (And in both directions.)
There's nothing special about a router LAN port in this sense. If
you have any two devices (other than a router LAN port) connected to two
ports on a network switch, then those devices can communicate with each
other (in both directions) directly, without involving the router.
> Is that correct?Yes. And you don't need to think about "inputs" or "outputs" to
understand it.