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If i have one router connected to two switches separately (as shown in diagram), will a device on switch 1 be able to communicate with a device on switch 2.

Network Diagram

I would just like to make sure before i buy the switches.(any recommendations?) Thanks

Esa Jokinen
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Stanley Shearman
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2 Answers2

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This depends entirely on your router's configuration. As your diagram has devices connected directly to the router anyway and you haven't mentioned having any VLANs, I assume the ports on router are just a switch. i.e. the devices will be able to communicate with each other directly on the same subnet.

Even if your router is doing more advanced things on its own ports, it should still be possible to configure it to route traffic from one subnet to another. That's what routers are supposed to do, anyway. So either way, you can just buy your switches.

Please notice that some router integrated switches on customer-grade routers are only capable for 100M links. In such case better topology would be having the gigabit switches directly connected to each other.

Esa Jokinen
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  • It is only a standard Netgear router that has had nothing changed apart from its SSID and password. and the second router will be set up to boost the Wifi and nothing else. Thanks. Also what does a VLAN do? – Stanley Shearman Sep 03 '17 at 17:40
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With consumer-grade routers, the "LAN" ports are usually switched (with one port of the switch internally connecting to the actual router). If they are, you'll be able to communicate across switch1, switch2 and router just like that.

To test, just connect a laptop to one of the router ports. If it's able to communicate with the others a switch will be fine as well. However, you should check whether your DHCP scope can accommodate the additional clients you're going to hook up.

Zac67
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