Port Trunking - Blue Curve Modem to Switch?

[Bestv8er]

Hey All:

Bit of a random question... I have a D-Link managed switch (a DGS-100-24) that has a feature called Port Trunking. My understanding is that this is really a way to aggregate ports to move data "faster" between items.... the example they use is trunking 4 ports on each of 2 switches and moving data faster between those 2 switches.

I was thinking about trying to Trunk 2 ports on the switch and then run cabling from each port of the Blue Curve modem to those 2 ports on the switch.. but would that make any difference in overall throughput (keeping in mind I have the 300 Mbps service)? I don't really see any options on the Blue Curve modem to configure that though.....

Just something I thought might be fun to try but figured I would ask if anyone else has experience doing that and if it was worth it?

[mdk]

@Bestv8er -- my guess is that it will make no difference to you.

Shaw is giving a 300 Mbps "into" your BlueCurve, and each of the 2 LAN ports on the BlueCurve will feed your switch at 1000 Mbps, and your switch will feed your computer at 1000 Mbps.  So, no need to try "trunking".

Note that the newly-available XB7 cable-modem can receive at 1500 Mbps. If your switch has 1000 Mbps ports, then your "untrunked" switch will be the bottle-neck. Your switch's 1000 Mbps LAN ports will communicate to the network adapter inside your computer at 1000 Mbps.

I am assuming that you have just one computer that is actively using the switch. If you have the XB7, having two connections between the XB7 and your switch might deliver a total of 1500 Mbps to the switch, allowing two computers that are connected to the switch to simultaneously get 750 Mbps per computer -- without any "trunking" configuration.

[Bestv8er]

Thanks for the feedback. I have 2 computers, 3 media streamers, 2 wireless access points and 1 NAS connected through the switch (and about 25 odd devices connected wirelessly to those access points)... so not just one computer running through the switch. 🙂

I have read in some of the xfinity forums in the us that it seems that trucking may help each device get their max throughout if things are trunked but will have to read a little more to make sure I understand correctly. Realizing that my 300 mbps connection is the limiter... just really looking to optimize things.

[the_paladin]

I’m also running a 24 port switch with multiple users in my house and wish to have all four ports of the xb7 trunked to provide better bandwidth....is it possible?

[Bestv8er]

Doesn’t look like the xb6 (what I have) supports it when I review the xfinity forums. However it seems the xb7 might have one port that supports 2.5 gbps throughput so you may want to look into that.

[mdk]

@Bestv8er -- a 24-port switch in my house

Are any of those ports faster than 10/100/1000 speed? Probably not. That means that each computer connected to the switch is limited to 1000 Mbits/second.

Think of a "bar-bell" setup, with two switches: 

    [several computers] <---> (switch 1) <-- multiple connections --> (switch 2) <--> [several computers]

When you "trunk" between the 2 switches, multiple computers on the "left" (above) can simultaneously communicate with multiple computers on the "right" (above) at 1000 Mbps. But, if one of the switches is connected to your cable-modem, and your cable-modem is getting some speed from Shaw (300? 750? 1000?), then your switch cannot receive at a faster speed than what you are paying to Shaw to provide to the cable-modem, and "passing-through" to your switch.

About "speed" -- imagine trucks on a freeway in the middle of the night -- each truck is travelling at a speed of 100 Km/hour, as they would drive during the middle of the day, but there are large gaps between trucks. If all the trucks are delivering to the same warehouse, the fewer "trucks-per-hour" that arrive means that the receiver(s) at the warehouse are seeing much less weight/volume per hour as compared to the middle of the day. Just because you have a 1000 Mbps connection between the 2 switches does not mean that the segment is at its "capacity".

If one of the ports on the XB7 is "faster than 1000 Mbits/second", be sure to connect it to some device (computer? switch?) that has a "faster than 1000 Mbits/second" network adapter. Currently, such adapters seem to be relatively expensive ($200 ???), and switches with "faster than 1000 Mbits/second" network ports also are more expensive than "pure" 10/100/1000 switches.