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Christopher HandFlag for United States of America

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Unmanaged Switches for Optimized Network Speeds

Hello - I am planning on revamping my network. Users are complaining that the internet is slow (webpages loading slower than usual, waiting long after clicking links). I have 4 unmanaged switches, 3 of which are daisy chained together. 1 of those switches is connected directory to our IPS/Firewall. The other switch is for our phone system which connects to another port on the Firewall. I have attached a PDF to show how I have this setup. Can I create another setup without having to use switches that are daisy chained together. I assume that's what's killing the network speeds and such.

Any advice is appreciated!! Thanks.
Ports.pdf
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gheist
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Unlikely problem is your switches.
Can you check with netalyzr if problem is not at your provider or router?
I would suggest minimally manageable switches so you can monitor with SNMP 'it is slow' part, and at least configure dual links between them (STP,port chanel etc)
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If these are the correct model of switches, then definitely replace switches A, B, and C with gigabit switches. However, beyond that, what is the size of your network? It would possibly be worth the investment in managed or web smart switches as your replacements. Additionally, as gheist has mentioned, you should use some sort of software to collect data. PRTG is another product you can use (30 day trial allows for unlimited sensors).

Also, you may want to look at something like either STP or trying to connect the switches directly to the firewall. What model is that anyway? As for having the units connecting directly to your firewall instead of daisy chaining, that answer depends on where the switches are located and the cabling. Also depends on how many ports your firewall has.
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These are Cisco gigabit switches. What is the difference between STP and regular CAT5e or CAT6 cabling? The firewall is a Dell SonicWall TZ300. I have 4 ports so I can plug a switch directly into the firewall if need be.
When you say CAT5, I'm going to assume you meant CAT5e. CAT5e and CAT6 will both support gigabit ethernet. CAT6 can acutally support 10 Gbps for a distance as well.

I'd try plugging in each of your switches directly to the firewall rather than daisy chain.

Another question would be do you have any other switches or routers floating anywhere in the office? You also will want to look into the monitoring solutions anyway, just to help with seeing what the cause is. Would it be possible that you're having a device that's transmitting abnormally high amounts of traffic? Does the slowness have any patterns, like a time of day?
Yes CAT5e. Can I purchase CAT6 cabling and connect them to a Gigabit Switch and push out speeds up to 10Gbps?

I have desktop switches as well. 5-7 users are connected to a desktop switch (6 or 7 of them in the office) and then the desktop switch goes to a wall jack which runs to the patch panel and eventually to the Gigabit Switch.

I will have to look into PRTG to analyze my network.
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masnrock
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Thank you! I just installed it and I will poke around in a few.