Netgear FS518T FS518 Installation Guide - Page 13

Installation Guide for the Model FS518 Fast Ethernet Switch Model FS518 Switch Overview The NETGEAR Model FS518 Fast Ethernet Switch with Gigabit uplinks is an autosensing 10/ 100 Mbps switch with two Gigabit uplink interfaces. This high-performance switch is developed primarily to be used as a segment switch, even though it is priced as a desktop switch. All of the UTP ports on the Model FS518 switch can adapt automatically to the speed of the connected network or the PC, and the ports can operate at either 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps. In addition, each port can automatically negotiate with the connected device to operate in full-duplex mode. If the connected device is operating in half-duplex mode only or does not have the capability to participate in the negotiation process, the port will default to half-duplex mode. The Model FS518 switch can be used to partition a 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps network to enhance the capacity of the network to support advanced applications. In addition, the switch provides a link between traditional 10 Mbps networks and faster 100 Mbps networks. By installing a Model FS518 switch, a user can connect any 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps device to the switch without worrying about the running speed of the device. The Model FS518 switch provides a built-in upgrade path; you can remove a 10 Mbps connection and replace the connection with a 100 Mbps connection with little or no change to the rest of the network. The Model FS518 switch can be effectively used to join multiple 100 Mbps Fast Ethernet segments and to extend the reach of the network. Copper-based Fast Ethernet networks have a network diameter of up to 200 meters. The Model FS518 switch can be used to join these 200-meter segments to enable them to function as a single logical network. With one Model FS518 switch, the reach extends to 400 meters. The Gigabit Ethernet uplink ports on the Model FS518 switch can be used to connect to the network backbone and shared network resources such as servers at 1000 Mbps. The full-duplex 1000BASE-SX ports allow users to connect at high speed to a wiring closet or server located from 2 to 525 meters away. All 10/100 ports can autonegotiate the duplex mode with the connected device. If negotiation fails, the ports default to half-duplex mode. Gigabit fiber ports will advertise their full-duplex operation and negotiate flow control with the connected device. If negotiation fails, the ports will default to full-duplex mode and no flow control. Because the Model FS518 switch is an ISO media access control (MAC) layer device, the switch is network protocol independent and compatible with all popular networks such as the Internet or TCP/IP, NetWare, DECnet, Microsoft NETBEUI, and LANTASTIC. Introduction 1-3