How do I turn a spare router into a dumb switch

I agree with nospam. I currently have 3 Netgear GS208 switches scattered around the house where I need extra gigabit ports and they've been working fine for the past 3 years or so. The main difference between the GS208 and the GS308 (linked above) seems to be that the 308 has a metal case, which is nice, while my 208's are plastic. If I was buying today, the Netgear GS308 would be on my short list.

what enhanced software?

it's an unmanaged switch. there isn't anything software can do.

i've never seen a plastic netgear switch. all of the ones i have are metal, going back to 100b-t days.

for an unmanaged gigabit switch, there's no real difference between brands and probably have the same chipset inside.

Basically, you don't. You will get more complicated answers. But they will vary from "not worth it" to "you can't."

In the sense that if you re-configure your network address space on the primary, then you would need to likewise "align" your secondary for compatibility. Yes, most people "get it to work" then leave well enough alone, but it's possible. Whereas with a smart switch there is nothing at all to do.

I went through a "cleanup cycle" a couple years ago. Sad to see all that good wiring go to the eco centre.

A few weeks ago I attended a ham radio "flea market". There were tons of Ethernet, USB, RS-232 (9 and 15 pin) cables, mice, wired keyboards, old displays, endlessly.

Face it: most of it is now e-trash.

I keep enough that I can "re build" something if needed, but I've gotten rid of tons of stuff.

If I'm missing a cable, I'd go to the eco centre. They don't care if you browse and pilfer.

I still connect my work laptop to Ethernet directly even though WiFi is more than adequate.

Well - even if you have to drill "back in" - (But not very sure on the "outdoor" rating of most CAT-5/6.

I have other options like via the attic that I could use, or (if I let it run on the ceiling gyprock in the basement in a nook nobody would notice), into a crawlspace and up into the main floor LR near the sound system for that room.

I often peek to see what is using the router. Probably a dozen times per year. Keep the creds in a password manager.

I see that some switches are called "managed switches." What's the difference? What's the advantage of being managed?

it's not at all complicated, and if someone has an old router that otherwise isn't being used, there's little reason not to repurpose it.

turn off dhcp and use only the lan ports. done.

I wouldn't, since I have no need for it.

One more is a tiny amount more. Yes, I know that many would say, multiply that by a lot of people, and it become significant. Maybe so, but that doesn't affect my deciding to throw something away if I have no use for it and can't find someone who does.

Yes, that's the "everyone" point of view I mentioned above. But as I said, it doesn't affect my decisions.

"Most"? Certainly some, but I doubt very much that it's anywhere near most.

As I said, my router has four ethernet ports:

My computer My wife's computer They are side by side on adjacent desks in the same room. My Obi device for VoIP One unused port

My printer, my scanner, and my wife's printer are all connected directly to our computers via USB.

I live in a four-bedroom house. My router's WI-FI works fine everywhere in my house.

Don't want to or are unable to. I used to do that years ago, but now that I'm 85, my DIY abilities are greatly lessened.

Or my choice: giving it to a friend who needs one or throwing it away.

Mine is ethernet and wireless. I essentially use its wireless just for my smart phone, and that's only occasional.

You can disable unused ports to stop anyone simply plugging in and using them without you knowing about it.

You can split your LAN into multiple virtual LANs (VLANs) e.g. to keep work computers separated from play computers/IoT devices etc

You can combine multiple ports to get faster than 1Gb (without going to

You can monitor how much traffic each port uses

Etc ...

Not an issue for me. Nobody could plug into a port here without my knowing it.

I have no work computers and no play computers, just a single LAN.

Faster Internet access? What I have is usually fast enough, but that might sometimes be of value.

I don't care.

OK thanks. I don't think that's for me.

an unmanaged switch simply connects devices. it's 'dumb'. it's sufficient for small networks, such as home users.

a managed switch provides for a *lot* of additional functionality that's needed for larger networks, including monitoring traffic, guaranteeing bandwidth or limiting it per device or per port, creating virtual subnets to segregate devices, linking multiple ports together for higher bandwidth, redundancy and a *lot* more. usually there is a web ui to configure it, while some have dedicated software. there might also be a serial port for command line access.

wifi routers are sort of in the middle. they're not truly a managed switch but do offer some of its features, such as a separate guest wifi network that can only access the internet while blocking the rest of the lan, quality of service for voip phones or gaming, limiting access to certain sites or times (often called parental control or intrusion protection).

No, usually faster connection a server (or at home, a NAS) so that multiple PCs can get gigabit speeds at the same time).

I tend to agree ...

I just peeked at the new router that I had installed yesterday and just reading the log brings up a whole bunch of new questions I don't know the answers to.

Like should I worry about the time zone or this highlighted line in this screen shot?

And a little bit of housekeeping in the log file. [Time synchronized with NTP server] Friday, Mar 03,2023 22:35:58 [Internet connected] IP address: XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX, Friday, Mar 03,2023 22:35:57 [Initialized, firmware version: V1.0.11.136] Friday, Mar 03,2023 22:35:35 [Admin login] from source 192.168.1.32, Saturday, Mar 04,2023 20:31:21

But what was a bit disconcerting was this logged event. [DoS attack: FIN Scan] (1) attack packets in last 20 sec from ip [18.154.206.7], Saturday, Mar 04,2023 00:33:13

Some routers over-log too much chaff.

Don't need to configure time much unless you've set time of day filtering of some kind or other - or if logging events with accurate times is important to you.

Most routers support NTP - so find a server "near" you. (Within 3000 km is fine enough for this purpose). You should even be able to set the DST rules per your locale.

DoS attack: Don't worry about it. If the attack were working, you'd know. Do a speed test to see if you're getting the nominal BW from your ISP.

You made me get up and look, but my GS208 switches definitely have white plastic cases. I prefer metal cases, so I'm not sure how I ended up with three of these. They work fine, though.

Sounds likely.

You may not have read the thread or you'd see that it's beyond simple.

Disable DHCP, configure a static LAN IP, and don't use the WAN port. Now you have an unmanaged switch, and you can do it with virtually every SOHO router, with or without WiFi. No extra software required, you can do those simple tasks right from the router's GUI.

Well, not a set of switches, but just one switch (per router). Also, I wouldn't call this kind of switch powerful. Oh, just a reminder to check the speed of those switch ports. If it's an older router, they could be limited to 100 meg. These days, gigabit is probably expected.

If you use it as a client, then you're using one of the radios, leaving the other radio available. I may not be fully up to speed, but I don't remember being able to use one radio in client mode and the other radio in AP mode. If you decide to go that route, check into that.

Not a con because where you initially had one Ethernet port, now you have three.

yep, it looks like the gs108 and 308 are metal and the 208 is plastic.

the old fs108 (100bt) is metal and their higher end stuff is metal.

The more I look into what to do with this spare router the greater my appreciation for how powerfully versatile these little things really are.

This morning I flashed it with DD-WRT so now it's even more versatile.

I'm going to set it up in one of two configurations, depending on where I decide to put it (and if I can get the setup to work how I think it will).

The two weakest locations current in the house are the kitchen & a bedroom where the kitchen could use stronger signal & the bedroom has a desktop PC.

I don't see any disadvantages no matter how I set it up because I gain three ports (you can even gain four ports with dd-wrt settings) and I gain two access points (but I see above you say maybe I only gain one AP).

My two choices I'm focusing on learning how to set up are these two.

Either way, it's more useful than a dumb switch would be so I'm glad people were able to help guide me to put the spare router to a better purpose.