CM1150v- switch vs router connection question

[ddjohns1]

Hello,  I am getting ready to set up a CM1150v cable modem.  I have a Nighthawk R7000 wifi rounder and a my home is wired for ethernet with a netgear 16 port unmanaged switched.  My question is whether I have to connect the CM1150v modem directly to the R7000 wifi rounter, or if I can connect it to the switch and then have the switch connected to the wifi router.   Does it make a difference?    Thank you!

[antinode]

> [...] Does it make a difference? [...]

   Yes.  The modem Ethernet port 1 must be connected to the router
WAN/Internet port.  All the client devices must be connected to router
LAN ports, either directly or through a network switch.

[ddjohns1]

Thanks for the response.

I can make it work either way.   It takes a longer run of ethernet from the basement to the 2nd floor where the WiFi access point is located and back down to the switch in the cabinet in the basement, but it works.   I was also trying to figure out if the router can support the full bandwith coming in from teh modem (500Mbps - 1Gbps) bandwidth and allocate it efficiently to the wifi and ethernet connections off the router, but I think at the speeds we're talking about, it should matter much.  As our usages shifts towards more video streaming and less cable viewing, it may begin to matter...   

[antinode]

> I can make it work either way. [...]

   You may be able to make the cable runs work either way, but you won't
be able to make the system work if you connect multiple devices to the
modem (through the switch).

   Almost certainly, your ISP will provide you with one external/public
IP address.  If you have multiple client devices, then you need to
connect your NAT router to the modem so that the router gets that single
external/public IP address.  _Then_ you can connect multiple client
devices to the router LAN.

   If, instead, you connect multiple client devices to the modem, then
only one of them will acquire that one external/public IP address for
itself, leaving the other devices lost in (IP address) space.

> [...] As our usages shifts towards more video streaming and less cable
> viewing, it may begin to matter...

   Perhaps, but video streaming requires less bandwidth than many people
think.