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Question

VLan over multiple switches

by Nov 7, 2018 3:18PM PST

My new house was just completed. For some reason I do not understand, the Cat 5e and coax for the downstairs AV (8Cat 5e and 4 coax) was all terminated in a downstairs closet. The upstairs AV and the rest of the house's Cat5e (3 coax and 17 Cat5e -- I have every room wired with at least 2 in addition to the pair for each AV setup) is all terminated in an upstairs closet. There are 2 cables running between the two closets. I am trying to decide what switches to buy for the two closets.

My current equipment consists of a new Motorola MB8600 DOCSIS 3.1 modem and an older Linksys WRT1900AC router (4 ports). I will be adding distributed video with JustAddPower. Because of the goofy wiring, I will necessarily have to place at least 2 of the JustAddPower receivers on the upstairs switch while 4 receivers and 2 transmitters will go on the downstairs switch. My understanding, which may be wrong, is that the control software for the JustAddPower distributed video expects all of the transmitters and receivers to be on the same network. This leads to my questions:

1) Assuming that I want most of the ports for uses other than distributed video (cameras, computers, access points, etc.) can I create a VLAN with some ports from both switches?

2) Is there an advantage to using stackable switches in this situation? Do both switches have to be stackable to enjoy that advantage?

3) Does it do me any good to have a switch with a 10GB uplink if the patch cable between closets is Cat5e?

4) If I have a non-stackable switch in each closet, do I just connect each of them to the router directly or do I connect downstairs switch to upstairs switch to router?

5) It seems to me that it would have been simpler to have terminated all of the cable in one location and used a single 48 port switch. Am I correct or is the additional complexity of an extra switch not that big of a deal?

6) Assuming I want managed switches at L2/L3 lite with PoE on at least half the ports, any recommendations?

Discussion is locked

6 Posts
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Clarification Request
What router has this VLAN capability?
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Nov 7, 2018 4:06PM PST
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May need a new router, as well
by Da_Craw Nov 8, 2018 3:06AM PST

While that wasn't what I asked, I don't believe my router will create the VLANs that I need. That is one of the things I need to know. Will the managed switches be able to handle that if they are level 3? So, given that the maximum speed of the router's switches is 1gbs, does that mean the 10gbs uplink on many available switches is pointless for that reason also?

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Further info
by Da_Craw Nov 8, 2018 3:16AM PST

Most of the high bandwidth traffic on my home network is going to originate internally with the JustAddPower transmitters connected to the cable boxes and a Blu-ray player. If I daisy chain the switches, don't I avoid the need to go through the router at all for those ports? The VLANs that I want to create do not need to cross a WAN.

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In the usual setups.
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Nov 8, 2018 10:18AM PST

We don't bother setting up VLANs in homes. Just the usual Internet to router to switches covers 99.99% of the installs today. Those that want VLANs go ahead and do that but when the person that did this moves, 100% of the time it goes back to the usual home setup.

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Thanks
by Da_Craw Nov 9, 2018 5:39AM PST

That is some high quality info. I'll be sure to inform the control software that most homes don't have VLANs. How exactly did that answer a single question that I asked? Fortunately, I consulted somebody who actually has a clue and got answers to my questions. For anyone who actually wants to know, here they are:

1) Yes, VLans can be created over multiple switches, even across WANs.
2) Stackable switches are treated as a single switch once configured. This makes management simpler, but it is not necessary.
3) No. The cable is as much a bottleneck as the uplink port itself.
4) In my case, either works since I have a 1gb constraint on the router and on the cabling. I will just daisy chain the switches and avoid the router altogether for local traffic.
5) Having everything in one location would have been simpler and less expensive. Two closets does add flexibility and spares my fat self from going upstairs as often, but if I had educated myself about this stuff before hand, I would have asked him to put in a fiber link between the closets.
6) spoiled for choice

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Yes folk can implement VLANs
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Nov 9, 2018 8:22AM PST

But for run of the mill homes if you took 100 homes, you might run into 1 or no VLANs. It's not something you see often and when you do, you have someone that is a network engineer or IT staffer.

ITEM 4 is EXACTLY what I found to work best. The SWITCH in routers is often subpar compared to other switches. And that tweak is usually more than enough for good performance.

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