Need Advice - Another Router or Switch

[Ataylor22]

Hello,
I am in the process of moving some of my work computers to another building, and I am in need of some networking advice (all wired btw, not wireless).

I included a picture in a attachment as I may not be able to paint a clear picture of what I need.

Here is my setup so far and what I have to work with:
In the main house I have the cable modem and a single router (standard 4 port Linksys). From the house to the shop I have a single 150ft Cat6 cable (straight, not crossover). As this cable has already been run I need to be able to make it work from it. I need to hook up 4 computers in the shop, and I'm not quite sure the way to go here.

From what I've read I think I can use a router or a switch in the shop (if switch it will need an uplink port because of the cable not being crossover). I'm wondering which is the best way to go for performance, as each of the four computers will be moving a lot of data (within the network, and also on the internet). Also at times we will be gaming there, so the computers all have to be able to connect to the same server.

Any help is much appreciated. Thank You.

 

[LNCPapa]

Your best bet is probably an auto-sensing auto-MDI/MDI-X >4 port gigabit switch with jumbo frame support. This should be very easy to get a hold of and relatively cheap. Personally I'd get at least an 8 port just for the sake of future expansion. You'll lose one port on the switch connecting it to the 150' run but all you have to do is make sure your router has DHCP enabled so I can hand out IP addresses to your machines. You can get a decent 8-port with everything I mentioned for around $60-100.

 

[DelJo63]

remember "the chain is only as strong as the weakest link".

Network thruput translates that into
"the best bandwidth on the lan is the slowest network device"

Eg: the upstream modem and router will limit the gigabit switch UNLESS both
of them are also gigabit.

A simple 8-port 10/100 switch will do nicely and save some money

 

[LNCPapa]

Communication of devices all connected to the Gb switch would talk at Gb speeds - the only time they'd slow down is if they had to go out to the router.

 

[DelJo63]

that is correct