How to Choose a Switch for Home Network

Choosing a suitable switch for home use has become increasingly important given the growing demands of today's networks. With the rising video resolutions, increasing demands for low latency, and the widespread adoption of smartphones and VR and AR devices, home network bandwidth has become an indispensable part of daily life. Over the past few years, home network bandwidth has increased from 50Mbps to 1000Mbps and continues to rise. With the expansion of bandwidth, more and more people are considering deploying switches at home to meet their network needs. This article will introduce the basic concepts of switches and guide you in choosing a switch that fits your home network requirements.

What is Switch?

A switch is a type of network device primarily used for data transmission within a local area network (LAN). It connects multiple network devices within the LAN, such as computers, servers, access points (APs), access controllers (ACs), etc., and forwards data packets between them. As a crucial component in many types of networks, switches can receive and process data more efficiently, thereby forwarding data to the target devices, resulting in improved efficiency and performance. Additionally, switches are divided into managed and unmanaged types. Unmanaged switches require no configuration and are plug-and-play, making them commonly used in home networks. On the other hand, managed switches require some level of expertise for configuration and are typically used in enterprise network environments.

General functions and features of switches

Switches typically come with a range of features and functionalities aimed at enhancing network efficiency and security. These include QoS, VLANs, ACLs, CLI, and WEB interfaces. QoS, short for Quality of Service, serves the purpose of prioritizing network traffic to guarantee that critical applications receive ample bandwidth, ensuring uninterrupted data transmission. VLANs, or Virtual Local Area Networks, allow for the division of a network into multiple logical networks, enhancing both performance and security. VLAN segmentation creates independent broadcast domains, mitigating broadcast storms and conflicts. ACLs, or Access Control Lists, allow for the control of specific data flows, permitting or denying access to enhance network security. CLI and WEB interfaces serve as management interfaces for switches, facilitating device configuration and administration. CLI provides a command-line interface, while WEB offers a graphical user interface accessible via a web browser.

Why Do We Need A Switch?

With the continuous advancement of technology, the volume of data is increasing day by day. Ten years ago, a home network bandwidth of 50Mbps was considered sufficient, but nowadays, with the prevalence of gigabit networks, more and more households are using gigabit networks to meet the growing bandwidth demands. Although gigabit networks have become mainstream, the simultaneous use of multiple devices in a household may lead to traffic congestion, thereby affecting network speed and the normal operation of applications, such as causing network latency or slow video loading issues.

In such cases, deploying a switch in the home becomes a wise choice. Switches have network management capabilities and, by configuring VLANs (Virtual Local Area Networks) and utilizing routing rules, can effectively manage and optimize network traffic to meet the diverse port business requirements. By deploying switches at home, it is possible to effectively increase network bandwidth, connect more network devices, establish monitoring systems, and achieve seamless network integration, thereby enhancing network operational efficiency.

Higher Network Bandwidth

Each port of a Gigabit network switch can provide a transmission speed of 1000Mbps. When you connect multiple network devices, each device can enjoy a bandwidth of 1000Mbps without being limited by simultaneous usage. Because each port of the switch operates independently, it can individually receive and process data, and then package and send the data to the target device for exchange. This effectively enhances the network bandwidth.

Meet the Needs of Large-area Real Estate

Deploying switches in large properties allows for connecting more network devices. With the advancement of technology, surveillance systems are increasingly being utilized by more people, and deploying such systems typically requires multiple network interfaces and power sources. By deploying PoE switches, surveillance needs for both data transmission and power supply can be simultaneously met. PoE switches can transmit both data and power to surveillance devices through a single Ethernet cable, allowing for flexible deployment of surveillance equipment wherever needed. Additionally, conventional switches typically come equipped with multiple ports to accommodate wired devices such as network televisions, WiFi routers, smart home appliances, PCs, and more within households.

Protect Your Network Security

Switches typically come equipped with a range of security features to provide protection and ensure network security. For example, Access Control Lists (ACLs) can control the ingress and egress of data packets based on predefined rules, restricting access for specific devices or users and preventing unauthorized access, thereby enhancing network security.

DHCP Snooping is another critical security feature of switches, capable of detecting and preventing malicious DHCP servers, thus preventing unauthorized DHCP servers from assigning IP addresses and effectively safeguarding the network against DHCP-related attacks.

Additionally, VLAN technology allows the network to be divided into multiple logical areas, restricting communication between different areas to prevent broadcast storms and conflicts, thereby enhancing network security.

How to Choose A Suitable Switch for Home Network?

When selecting a switch suitable for home networking, several factors need to be considered. After all, the choice of network switch directly impacts the efficiency, performance, and security of the network. Therefore, before selecting a switch, you need to consider the following aspects:

Port Number

When selecting a switch, the primary consideration is the number of ports available. Generally, switches are available with 8, 16, 24, or 48 ports. The number of ports on a switch determines the number of devices you can connect. When selecting a switch, you must calculate the number of devices you intend to connect. In general, it's advisable to choose a switch with more ports than your current requirement to accommodate future expansion needs. It's important to note that each device requires its dedicated port.

Data Rate

The speed of the switch is also something you need to consider. In general, most people opt for gigabit switches, which are sufficient for regular usage without any specific requirements. However, if you plan to set up WiFi 6, it's advisable to choose a 2.5G switch. This ensures that WiFi 6 devices can fully utilize their performance without being limited by bandwidth constraints.

Managed or Unmanaged

When choosing a switch, you also need to consider whether to purchase a managed switch or an unmanaged switch. Unmanaged switches are suitable for everyone because they do not require any specialized knowledge, they are plug-and-play and require no additional configuration. Managed switches, on the other hand, require some understanding of switches and can be configured by the user. Managed switches also offer more features, allowing you to manage, configure, and monitor network settings.

Application

You also need to choose the appropriate switch based on your actual application. For example, if you need to deploy a surveillance system, choosing a switch that supports PoE functionality can facilitate the deployment of surveillance devices without the need to install them near power sources. Additionally, PoE switches can provide power and data transmission for devices such as IP phones, WiFi access points, and more. If considering using PoE switches, you need to calculate the power budget of the switch and whether it can meet the power requirements of the devices. If you want more control and flexibility over your network, then you need to choose a managed switch. You can optimize the performance and traffic prioritization of the network, and it also offers more management functions.

Conclusion

Choosing the right switch for home network is not a simple task. You need to consider not only the switch's ports, speed, features, and other parameters but also your usage requirements. If you can't configure the switch yourself, you can directly choose an unmanaged switch. If you want to deploy a managed switch but are unsure how to configure it, you can contact QSFPTEK's CCIE/HCIE engineers at support@qsfptek.com. Our engineers will provide you with comprehensive support.