Preserving bandwidth on network

[AndyM]

I'm not sure if I will ask this in the right terminology but my question is: Will devices lose bandwidth available to them if one or more switches are placed between them and output from the router? I'm trying to add devices, but need to preserve the bandwidth for streaming purposes.
Thanks,
AndyM

[Force Flow]

The simple answer: no.

The complicated answer: as long as the switches are the same speed, there will be no difference in throughput (although if you are going end point to end point, you will see a maximum speed of the slowest link).

Basically, "think it like plumbing. If you turn one tap on, the water gushes out. If you turn more taps on at the same time in the house, the waterflow slows down in each of the taps. A tap opened just slightly will still deliver a trickle, but two taps fully open will deliver only half of what their maximum capacity. "(Source)

So, if there are multiple computers fighting for bandwidth along the chain of switches, the speed will be shared equally. For example, if you have 5 computers running on a 100MB switch, each port will have a 100MB speed limit. If that 100MB switch is connected to another 100MB switch through a 100MB link, the maximum speed between the two switches would be 100MB. If all 5 computers are trying to send traffic at the same time, they might each only get 20MB since they are all trying to use the same 100MB link.

Also, the more equipment you add between the computer and your exit point, the more latency there will be. Each "hop" to a separate piece of equipment adds a small amount of latency (in milliseconds).

[AndyM]

Can I also ask it this way: Will a device hooked directly to one of the router ports have more access to throughput than a device that is 2 switches down the line from the router, or will it only have a lower latency because there are fewer hops?

[glc]

If you are that concerned, get a router and switches with Gigabit ports, CAT 6 cables, and put Gigabit adapters in all the computers that didn't come with one.

[AndyM]

No, I'm really just trying to detemine if I'm better off splitting one cat 5 into 4 devices via a switch or run extra cat 5 to avoid the extra switch.

[glc]

You will never notice the difference as long as you use a decent quality switch.