I'm re-wiring my communication hub where I have all my home network, cable and phone lines dropped into the house. It's been a mess for years and I have finally got the motivation to do something about it.
Regarding the home network, I have 14 cat 5 hard wired lan locations. They all route to the patch block. I then use patch cords from the block to the router or switch. My router is a Linksys E3000. I also have a Cisco 8 port switch. The switch uses one of the E3000's ports, so I have a total of 11 ports. Not enough. I don't want to move cables around anymore, and believe it or not, I'm always doing just that. I figured I'd swap out the 8 port switch with a 16 port switch, or add a second switch. Would it be preferable to add a second switch or replace the 8 port with a 16 port? If I add a second switch, does it plug into the first switch or the router? I'm just looking for some basic does / dont's before I go shopping. It's a rarity to find what I actually want, so I need to be flexible and make whatever is available at the local Radio Shack work.
