adding 1G ethernet to a 100M network

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 11:52:29AM -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
> My home ethernet is all 100M.
> 
> I'm accumulating a few devices with 1G interfaces.
> 
> I assume that I can add a 1G switch, connect it to one of my 100M 
> switches, and connect the nearby 1G interfaces to the new switch.
> 
> Does this cause any problems?  Are there better ways to do this?

Works great.  Can't do it any better.

> Are Jumbo Frames something I should consider?  I assume that means telling 
> the various nodes that Jumbo Frames are OK.  My 1G switch says that it 
> handles Jumbo Frames.

Probably not.

> All switches are unmanaged.
> 
> Is there a good/easy/cheap way to test if a cable is working well for 1G 
> traffic?  Some of my home-made cables might not be great.

For short cables it generally isn't a problem.

> I have used Cat5e cable for years.  Is Cat6 better for this purpose?

Both are fine.

> I don't actually have much traffic that would go at 1G end-to-end even if 
> I put all my nearby 1G devices on one 1G switch.

Still nice to have.  I did it at home.  Actually with my current router,
it does gigabit as well, so everything now has gigabit (assuming the
machine does gigabit that is).

-- 
Len Sorensen
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