shared ethernet port for Internet browsing

[J]

we have 20 new PCs being setup in a conference room. We have only 5
jacks in the room wired to our ethernet switch in the wiring closet.
The powers that be want to just buy a 24 port switch, plug the new
PCs
into the switch and use 1 port on the switch connected to 1 of the
existing jack that goes back to the switch in the wiring closet. The
switch in the wiring closet is connected to a router to the internet
and internet browsing is going to be a big use here. My concern is
that performance will suffer due to all 20 PCs going through 1 port.
Shouldn't we at least buy five 4 port switchs and make use of all 5
jacks in the conference room.

Or, connect a wireless router to 1 of the jacks and put wireless NICs
in the PCs (Vista Home Basic o/s). Does that buy us anything?
Thanks for any advice and please let me know if the scenario needs
clarification.
TIA

 

[Jack \(MVP-Networking\).]

Hi
It does not matter if every thing goes from the 24 ports to the closet
through one port/cable, network is designed to work this way.
Switching to Wireless is Not a simple affair of just buying a Wireless
Router, there is a lot of security issues involved Wireless in professional
environment, and it might be risky if it Not planned carefully ahead. In
addition Wireless bandwidth is much more restrictive for multiple users than
cable.
Jack (MS, MVP-Networking)

 

[Anando]

Hello J,

Can you not have more jacks connected directly to the switch in the closet?
The more number of devices you bring into play (switch, hub, router etc
etc), your network performance degrades even more. The aim should always be
to minimize the number of switching devices in your network.

Anando