Maximum PC

I have built a new rig that has Gb networking. The other devices that have Gb networking are my DNS-323 NAS box, my DirecTV DVR, and my son's X-box 360. All other computers and my printer are wireless or 10/100. I have a Linksys WRT54GL wireless router, cable modem, and 10/100 switch and a new D-Link Gb switch. I have the cable modem downlinked to the wireless router and the switches connected to the ports on the router. All Gb capable devices are connected to the Gb switch and all 10/100 devices are connected to the 10/100 switch.

My question is, are the Gb capable devices talking to each other at Gb speeds or is the router, at 10/100, going to be the bottle neck? I understand each device is getting the ip address assigned from the DHCP in the router. When the new computer is downloading a file from the NAS box is the traffic flowing through the router or strictly the Gb switch? Do I need a Gb capable router to get Gb network speeds?

The transmission is limited to the speed of the slowest link in the chain. If there is a non-Gb link in the chain, two Gb devices on the ends of the chain will not be able to communicate at full speed.

So long as the Gb devices are talking to each other across the Gb switch, they'll function at full speed. Only if another device is required will they slow down.

Hope that answers your question.

It does, but poses another question. Why the speeds are so low. As stated I have the new PC that is Gb capable on the same Gb switch as my NAS box. By your explanation they should talk to each other at Gb speeds. I tested by downloading a movie file (1+ Gb size) from the NAS to the PC and it transfered at around 17.6 M/s. Seems slow to me for a Gb LAN. Or could I be running up against the hard drive read speed in the NAS box? When I first connected everything I had the cable modem connected to the Gb switch --> wiFi router --> 10/100 switch. The PC and NAS connected directly to the Gb switch. when I fired it up the PC could not hit the network. I found the ip address of the PC to be 169.xxx.xxx.xxx so that told me the DHCP in the router could not upstream and assign to the PC. So i reconnected the cable modem --> wiFi router --> Gb switch & 10/100 switch. Now the PC hits the network but it appears everthing is still running at 100 m/s speeds.

Are you sure that the NAS has a Gb NIC in it?
One reason that I ask: you said that your 360 has a Gb NIC in it. Last I checked, even the newest ones have but a Fast Ethernet (10/100) chip.

The transfer rate that you posted (17.6 M/s) is missing a character - was that 17.6Mb(its)/s, or 17.6MB(ytes)/s?
If it was MB/s... 17.6*8 (converting Bytes to bits) = 140Mb/s. Faster than a 100Mb/s connection can do.
Losses would be (mainly) due to overhead at one end (or both ends) of the connection (most likely, it's your NAS being the bottleneck); possibly also affected by poor cabling, poor cable termination(s), or interference (e.g. routing cables alongside AC power lines, or next to flourescent lights.)


It's not your network topology - that's done right (your old layout, however, was very much 'not right.')
As Jip said, so long as the entire A-B chain (say, PC>switch>PC) is all Gb, you'll get Gb speeds - the traffic won't touch the router.
But, your transfer rate is still going to be highly dependent on the capabilities of the hardware on both ends. If the NAS can't process data all too quickly (and/or its HDD(s) don't have the best performance), transfer rates will suffer.

Morning,
I am sure the NAS box (a DNS-323) has a Gb NIC. It's not the 360 with Gb it's my DVR (24-100). I will double check on the transfer speeds and look for the character you reference. I may also try some of the LAN speed testers I have seen on the net.

Thanks