REALLY basic question about SG200-50P

[afreemanmd]

My question is:  Does it matter which switch port I connect my router port to, or are all 50 ports on the switch identical?

Some background:    I have a SG200-50P switch in my home.  I have been struggling to discover the cause of slow internet page loading which occur despite consistent low ping times and fast speed tests. The page loading speed is variable, making it more difficult for me to sort out, but is always sluggish to some degree. However, when I bypass the Cisco switch and plug a computer directly into my router ( a uVerse gateway), the speeds seem to be reliably great. Then, when I move the  ethernet cable (from the gateway) to a different Cisco switch port (one of the expansion ports) and then reconnected the computer to the switch, speeds are now equivalent, directly from the router and through the switch. 

Are my findings just coincidental?

Many thanks for any insight.

[mdobiac]

Hello afreemanmd,

I am sorry you are experiencing this issue.  To answer your question

Does it matter which switch port I connect my router port to, or are all 50 ports on the switch identical?  I really does not (unless you are using the combo ports) matter which port you connect to for your uplink to the Router.

As for your issue, to kind of see a live idea if there is any latency on the network please try the following:

ping ip of the switch -t -l 1500

ping ip of the router -t -l 1500

ping ip of the modem -t -l 1500

ping 8.8.8.8 -t -l 1500

ping yahoo.com -t -l 1500

Also check to see if you are on the latest firmware and boot code for the SG500-50P.

Current is firmware 1.4.1.3 and bootcode version 1.3.5.06

available here:  https://software.cisco.com/download/release.html?mdfid=283771838&softwareid=282463182&release=1.4.1.03&relind=AVAILABLE&rellifecycle=&reltype=latest

Hope this helps,

Michael D.

If this post is helpful please rate or mark as correct.

[afreemanmd]

Hi Michael D.

First, I must say that I am very impressed with the responsiveness of this support forum.

I have done pings as you suggested, although I do not understand the terminology that you used:  (t-l 1500).  25 pings to each address returned the following (average)

switch 1.106 ms

router (modem) .777 ms

Open DNS 6.153 ms

Yahoo 72.721 ms

8.8.8.8   6.177 ms

I am running firmware 1.4.1.3 and boot code 1.3.5.06 (many thanks to the infinite patience of mdobiac on this site)

Currently my page loading experience is very good, after, as I said, connecting the modem/router to port number 49 on the switch. That apparently was not related, considering your response.  I will continue to explore as I see any further performance issues. Since my post, I have considered that the two Apple Airport Expresses that I had connected for Airplay music may have interfered with page loading. I have reconnected one of them without degradation of my page loading. 

I assume that since my page loading is acceptable, that the speeds for the IP addresses you suggested I ping are nominal. Is that correct?

[mdobiac]

Hello afreemanmd,

Thank you for the follow up.  With the pings things are looking good, though the test for the DNS to yahoo.com seems to be taking a little longer than I would like, though it could be a distance thing.  You could test to see if you manually change your primary DNS server on your PC to 8.8.8.8 and then try a ping to yahoo.com to see if it resolves faster.

To information you of the commands the -t is to make it a continuous ping and the -l 1500 is to send a 1500 byte packet (max size) to replicate typical or max packet size being sent across the network.

Regards,

Michael D.

If this post is helpful please rate or mark as correct.

[Aref Alsouqi · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Please try to hardcode the speed and duplex on the switch port connected to the router, the latency would be due to collisions on that link.

Regards | Aref.

[afreemanmd]

Thanks Aref,

I think that I know what you suggest. I have uploaded a screenshot to show you. I disabled auto Negotiation and selected 1000M for Administrative port speed. The duplex is grayed out.

Is this what you suggested?

Also,

In researching I came across a Cisco web page that said some switches should use crossover cables rather than straight cables.  In past consumer routers, this was auto-detected.  I am using straight Cat6 cabling for all connections. Should I be?

Sorry to be do ignorant, and thanks again.

Andrew

[Aref Alsouqi]

Hi Andrew,

Those configurations on the screenshot are fine, duplex settings are automatically assumed when the speed is 1Gbps, for that reason is greyed out. You can also disable the SNMP traps on that interface if you are not using them.

I think the straight cable would be ok, since the switch should sense the MDIX settings.

Let me know please if that helps to fix the issue.

Regards | Aref.

[afreemanmd]

Thank you again Aref, I have now marked this as solved. I changed the settings as you suggested.  Almost at the same time I discovered that my computer's hard drive had been recalled.  Technician said that it could have caused the slowness, although I don't know.

Whether the hard coding, the replacement of the hard drive, or both are responsible, things are looking good with page loading latency now.

Andrew