this post was submitted on 18 Apr 2024
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it depends what you need it. If you want a "stupid" tube station for local traffic, then you want unmanaged. It needs less power. If you instead want to have multiple VLANs, which are separate virtual networks inside your network, you need managed. Then from the GUI you say "port 8-12 are for VLAN 5 which is 10.0.0.1/8 and does not have internet access, rest is normal LAN". If then the switch has lots of fast ports, then it needs lots of power to manage the communication, more power means more hot, and more fans.
So can't a router do the VLAN stuff?
A router usually can do all that but it also does a whole lot more, like NAT, DHCP, etc. Sometimes you need a just a switch that understands VLANs and link aggregation
A router is often just a switch with extra steps.
Yeah the line can get pretty ambiguous. In general I try to use the device with the least complexity that still gets the job done
So a router simply connects the WAN with the LAN. But doesn't the modem do that?
No, a modem modulates and demodulates a signal. Basically, they're a converter. For example, to send your Ethernet traffic over coax. They don't often understand or care about what's in an Ethernet frame.
Thank you