Its annoying when you run out of Ethernet ports on your router.

To keep it simple, a switch is like a hub.

You connect your devices to it, and then connect the switch to your router.

Its as easy as that.

The price youll pay is likely dictated by how many ports your switch needs to have and their speed.

Similarly, a Fast Ethernet switch will likely cost less than a Gigabit Ethernet switch.

If youre already scratching your head, dont worry.

Lets go over what you oughta knowin no particular order.

Youll be fine with an eight-port switch, I wager, which probably meets most peoples needs and budgets.

So, if you go that option, youre not going to die.

If youre on a faster fiber web link, youd definitely notice a difference.

For example, you probably dont need a more expensive metal switch when a plastic one will do.

You probably dont need a rackmount switch unless youve built your own server.

And then theres this whole managed and unmanaged business.

You plug things in.

Theyre all then connected to one another.

You put the switch somewhere and forget about it forever.

It requires no updates and no input from you to do its simple little job.

A managed switch is a little different.

(That, or be a pretty big networking enthusiast to begin with.)

For example, consider the QoS features found on the Nighthawk S8000.

Therefore, if the worst bottleneck is your Internet connection outside of your equipment QoS will not help it.

Bandwidth and traffic goingfromyour LAN to the Internet is usually less than amount comingtoyour LAN.

QoS on routers, therefore, is most useful for traffic when outgoing from your LAN.

For incoming traffic, any useful QoS has probably already been applied by your ISP.

Adding a QoS switch to work with your existing QoS router will not improve your Internet performance.

Streaming a 4K movie on Netflix from my TV, also connected to a wireless access point.

Playing World of Warcraft on my desktop PC (wired connection to the switch).

When I pulled upWorld of Warcraftand checked my latency (via the ?

icon in the games lower-right corner), it was incredibly low.

And, yet again, when I ran around inWorld of Warcraft, no change in latency.

The game was completely playable without any lag or other issues.

Of course, they could probably just do that using the house server/router setup, too.

(Nobody tell them that.)

(Port trunking?Pffft.)