On 22 Jul 00, at 12:40, Chan Fan Chong wrote:

> Hello lists,
>
> I need advice on my client existing LAN setup.
>
>                                     Dlink Internet Server
>                                              |
>                                              |
>                                              |
> Main PC  --------------------------   10/100 Switch
>                                          |       |
>                                          |       |
>                                          |       |
>                                       HUB A     HUB B
>                                          |       |
>                                       8 PCs      7 PCs
>
> Hardware spec : Dlink Internet Server , Dlink 10/100 5 ports switch,
>                 Dlink 10Mbps hubs
>                 All PCs equiped with Allied Telesyn 10 Mbps Nic with IP
>                    Address assigned.
>                 All PCs are INTEL celerons 400, 64 MB Ram
>
> Recently, a friend told me to replace all the 10 Mbps Nic with 100 Mpbs
> Nic WITHOUT replace the HUBs WILL increase the bandwidth of the network.
> Is it true ?

  No.

  If I were building this network from scratch today, I would use
10/100 Mbps NICs, because the price difference from plain 10 Mbps is
not much, and it would let me later speed things up by replacing the
*hubs* without having to also replace all the NICs.

> How I am going to increse the bandwidth of the network ?
> (1) replace HUBs with a switch(100Base) ?
> (2) replace 10base NIC with 100base NIC WITHOUT replace HUBs ?
> (3) replace 10base NIC with 100base NIC and replace HUBs with SWITCH ?
>
> All PCs mainly use for networkable game such as HALF-LIFE,
> COUNTER-STRIKE, STARCRAFT, DIABLO II, AGE OF EMPIRE II, QUAKE III and
> into the internet.
>
> I hope you all is able to give me some advice or tips. All advice and
> tips is fully appreciated.

  I would say that your simplest option here is to replace the hubs
with switches.  If you make them 10/100 switches (rather than just
10), then you can further speed up specific stations by upgrading to
a 10/100 NIC.  But going from hubs to switches should eliminate
collisions, offering better network performance even to stations that
stay on 10 Mbps NICs.  They'll see even more improvement if they can
be set for half duplex....

  Bottom line, though, is that while those hubs are there, they'll
continue to be the limiting factor and faster NICs won't really help.

David G

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