URC Tech Support likes to call it a "Pre-Managed Switch." This is a really nice way of saying its a managed switch that you have no ability access or control. Also, if you fing scan your network, you will find that this guy does pull a dhcp address. This, of course, will reek havoc with your network every 3rd download or so to the DMS-1200.

You'll know this happened because Accelerator will tell you the device took the download, the DMS lights will show was normal, and the UI will tell you the zone is receiving commands, but you have no sound. Fun stuff.

(At this point, I expect someone to chime in and tell me I am wrong. However, as this happens on EVERY TC job I have with a DMS, I assume it's a non-critical bug URC hasn't sniffed out, or I have 3 defective laptops).

However, this is easily fixed by pulling power and ethernet from the DMS, waiting ten seconds, plugging it back in. The DMS will make you go cross-eyed and believe in ghosts. Unplug the power cable and the lights on the ethernet jack still light up like its POE or something. Spooky. Pull both if you ever need a power cycle.

I like to set a static reservation in my router for the MFS and set static addresses for the rest of the devices in accelerator. Never put anything downstream from the MFS unless you HAVE TO. (eg: single cat5 line to a room, and you have multiple devices that need network).

If you put an AP downstream from the MFS you will have a service call, guaranteed. My first TC was figuring that out.

There are also a ton of issues with IGMP, but that depends on your router and which remotes you are using. In the FiOS homes in my market, we have to make additional changes in the router to give solid connectivity to the 1280 remotes and the DMS because of something to do with how URC is sending those packets. (That's the easy way to describe it without jumping in deep). You might not have any problems.

The MRX-10 is technically 10/100. (And truth be told, unless you have blazingly fast broadband, you probably are getting less than 100 Mbps bandwidth).

However, I used gigabit switches exclusively. (Assuming your devices aren't all together) From a theory standpoint, though, the MRX-10 sends a 100 Mbps signal to your switch which sends the 1Gbps signal to your other switch or router, which sends 1 Gbps to your next switch which sends 100 Mbps to your MRX-2 (or whatever). Your net gain is the unmeasurable amount in miliseconds you gained with the Gb switch/router.

I prefer to put the MRX-10 NOT downstream from the MFS, but from a pure theory standpoint, the bottle neck would only be created if the streams created by the DMS's are maxing out more than 100 Mbps. Even that is tough to say because the MFS is suppose to create its own subnet for the streaming sources, not allowing them to pass back through the uplink. (I have all these other networking arguments floating around my head about why it shouldn't matter), but in practice the MFS chokes the MRX-10. Pre managed switch? Poorly managed switch.