Office LAN - gigabit problems

[sasikashiroshi]

Hi all, I work in a small office for a small business (5 or 6 employees), and we've been here for a long time. We have a bunch of computers and systems (routers, NAS, etc) that run on 100mbps ethernet, and some newer stuff (including main NAS and main switch) that run at gigabit speeds.

My question is this: Does having a mix of 100/1000 speed devices on the same network mean the whole LAN will only work at the lowest (100mbps) speed? I ask this because that's pretty much what's happening. This laptop here has a gigabit NIC, it goes straight to a gigabit switch, which has a gigabit NAS attached via another gigabit router. In my mind, that should mean I can access the NAS at 1000mbps, but I can't (I can access it but only at 100mbps). Is this because there are other slower devices on the same switch/router?

That's question #1. Assuming that all to be the case, how would I go about getting things to work at faster speeds, bearing in mind we're on a shoestring budget and can't replace a bunch of the slower stuff. If I keep the two speeds fairly seperate - eg have ALL 100mbps devices plugged into one gigabit switch, and all gigabit devices plugged into the other (and Cat6 between the two) - would this work? I have enough Cat6 cable to run rings round the office lol
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