Router bottlenecking?

[killoverme]

I am wonder waht is a good cheap gigabit hub/router (5 or 8 port i dunno, i dont need wireless capabilities though, but can be a plus, but needs to be cheap below 50 for sure and 30 is good)

(Not sure which should i get, hub or router)

I'm basically using it to connect 4 PCs and a laptop [2 and laptop are 100Mb =/ but the 2 main computers are gigabits =)] together to file share and then connect the router/hub to the internet.
I have a Linksys WRT54-GL that connects to the DSL modem and controls the wireless

Which is a better route, i'm thinking that route 1 wont have an internet bottleneck for the main PCs or it doesnt matter?
Gigabit PCs: MainPC1, MainPC2 (both will have 2 ethernet ports)
Non-gigabit PCs: LAP1, PC1, PC2

Route 1:
Gigabit Router/Hub
[ MainPC1 ] [ MainPC2 ] [LAP1 if needed] [PC2] [ WRT54GL]

WRT54GL
[ MainPC1 ] [ MainPC2 ] [PC1] [Gigabit Router]
------------------------------------------------
Route 2:
Gigabit Router/Hub
[ MainPC1 ] [ MainPC2 ] [PC1] [PC2] [ WRT54GL]

WRT54GL
[ Gigabit router ] [Lap1 if needed] [ ] [ ]
-----------------------------------------------
Route 3:
Gigabit Router/Hub
[ MainPC1 ] [ MainPC2 ] [] [] [ WRT54GL]

WRT54GL
[ Gigabit router ] [Lap1 if needed] [PC1] [PC2]

[Riffer]

You might consider just adding a gigabit switch for the gigabyte computers and leaving the rest of the network as is.

[pitz]

Ethernet speeds and latencies are extraordinarily small. You won't gain any speed whatsoever by connecting your PC's to your networking gear with multiple Ethernet interfaces.

If you want to put all the PC's on a gigabit ethernet switch -- that's okay -- file sharing might be faster, especially for copying large files between machines.

[killoverme]

You might consider just adding a gigabit switch for the gigabyte computers and leaving the rest of the network as is.

Yeah I was thinking about that but forgot about it, I'll add it as route 3.

But will it bottleneck the internet for the 2 gigabit PCs though?

[pitz]

Yeah I was thinking about that but forgot about it, I'll add it as route 3.

But will it bottleneck the internet for the 2 gigabit PCs though?

No. Once you tie the wrt54gl and the gigE switch together, you can plug into any of the ethernet ports (except the WAN port on the wrt54gl) and access the internet at full speeds.

Obviously you'd want your Gig-E capable gear on the Gig-E switch, so that file sharing between Gig-E capable computers is faster. But otherwise, you can plug everything else in anywhere you want.

edit: performance between #2 and #3 will be *identical* and not measurable.

[killoverme]

Ethernet speeds and latencies are extraordinarily small. You won't gain any speed whatsoever by connecting your PC's to your networking gear with multiple Ethernet interfaces.

If you want to put all the PC's on a gigabit ethernet switch -- that's okay -- file sharing might be faster, especially for copying large files between machines.

So 8 port and all of them with the gigabit router/hub.

And barely any speed difference with the internet?

Sounds good, any other opinions or agreements? also hub or router... or switch? and which one is good for a cheap price

[pitz]

So 8 port and all of them with the gigabit router/hub.

If you want.

And barely any speed difference with the internet?

*No* difference in speed.

Sounds good, any other opinions or agreements? also hub or router... or switch? and which one is good for a cheap price

Gazillions of models on the market.. If all you're worried about is Internet speed, you could even probably find a 100mbit Ethernet switch for $10 or even out of a dumpster. That gear is a dime a dozen.

[killoverme]

If you want.

*No* difference in speed.

Gazillions of models on the market.. If all you're worried about is Internet speed, you could even probably find a 100mbit Ethernet switch for $10 or even out of a dumpster. That gear is a dime a dozen.

no i need a gigabit!

So pick up any cheap one on boxing day/cyber monday?

[killoverme]

hmm i just thought of another idea.

The two gigabit computers will be pretty close to eachother and both will have 2 ethernet ports so i can connect them together essentailly

do i need a crossover cable or just normal ethernet cables if i wanted to do that?

[pitz]

The two gigabit computers will be pretty close to eachother and both will have 2 ethernet ports so i can connect them together essentailly

Yeah, but then you need to do a bunch of configuration in the software (don't know if you're running Windows or some form of Unix) to turn one of the Gig-E-capable machines into a router.

That's a lot of hassle. Don't see the point of doing that, when you can just get yourself another switch, and use the DHCP built into the wrt54gl to set everything up.

do i need a crossover cable or just normal ethernet cables if i wanted to do that?

With Gig-E, either a normal, or crossover cable will work. The electronics in Gig-E automatically detects a crossover situation, and will adjust accordingly if you use a standard cable.

no i need a gigabit!

So pick up any cheap one on boxing day/cyber monday?

Basically.