The specs show it as only a Fast Ethernet Switch, which means 100Mbps. A gigabit switch like I linked prior is 1000Mbps. What that equates to is about 9MB/s transfer rates peak on the slower switch and up to almost 100MB/s on the gigabit switch. Massively noticeable for file transfers between devices and also helpful when there's a lot of devices, streaming and different traffic.
I wouldn't pay money for that switch TBH, but I get 100 meg switches all the time since we get them donated from sites that no longer use them...we usually recycle them because nobody wants the slow technology any longer.
Well all options I've suggested and others have suggested should provide that. Kinda depends on what you want to spend and what you want to learn to work with at this point.
To have a strong network, you need strong hardware and software, and understanding how to use them and properly deploy them. Hopefully we can guide you in the right direction and I feel we have thus far.
Is a so-so device now a days, was maaaaybe decent 9 years ago. Might make a decent wireless-N AP. I wouldn't rely on it as a router.
Meh... possibly another wireless-N AP. I wouldn't rely on this as a router either.
I used to own one like this, I used it as a lab router/travel router for a short time. Overall I gave it away as it was junk with more than a few devices connected and choked at even 30Mbps WAN speeds. Was fine for very basic use with 3-5 devices at most. Once I started adding my server lab, kid PC's, smartphones and tablets, TV's, Roku's, this thing was constantly locking up.
Again, might be useful as a wireless-N AP.
Good to know, but I'm more concerned with how your network works internally at this point. Having a good router will make the best use of your WAN connection whether its 5Mbps or 1000Mbps. That's what something like an ERX, ERL, higher-end Asus routers even can provide. Though the Asus will struggle before the Edgerouters do, whether or not you notice that depends on how you use your bandwidth and how you use your devices.
A router is your gateway to the Internet, it must manage all inbound and outbound traffic, must scan packets and confirm accepted or dropped sessions, might process QoS for bandwidth management for whatever protocols are being used, all while you're busy using your stuff not worrying about what its doing. I wouldn't skimp here and I wouldn't use something cheap and old either, you'll regret it.
Sure you could use one of those D-Links or the Belkin as a router and the other 2 as AP's, it might do the trick for you...but it will eventually cause slowness.
Going with those $60 Asus routers, those are Wireless AC routers, used as AP's would have good range and AC bandwidth and better N bandwidth. The UniFi AP's near that price point are only N, but they are purpose-built, simple to config, and easier to mount/hide and have better range. It really depends on where you want to go with this. I suggest you research what has been suggested thus far to familiarize with what we've recommended and understand better why we're recommending them, and also to see if they will work for your needs.
There's so many different ways this could go, from cheap to expensive, from incapable to overkill, from simple to complex. I'm curious to see what you end up with and look forward to helping you!
). But if that same Asus is responsible for routing, firewall, QoS, wireless, DHCP, DNS, then it'll suffer with that many connected devices. Offloading some of the tasks to separate hardware helps in a few ways.
