Hi all, Probably an easy question for someone: I have a couple of friends who have the net, but only a single network port from their broadband modem to their computer (non wifi). I'd like to be able to lan game with them or just use the net and so want to find a smallish router/hub that I can plug into their modem and then have both their PC and my laptop into it at the same time. I'm guessing I need a router for this, but dont really know what the difference with a hub is. Is there a specific router type I need or anything I should watch out for? i want to be able to use this at more than one persons house. Thanks in advance for the advice
just need a DSL router which can be had for as little as £30 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/48546 this will do the job has 4 hardwired ports and wireless you dont want a hub as it an old piece of tech not really used now. it sends data from a source to all ports unlike a switch which sends it to just 1 and generally without going into it means the network is slower.
Is it a cable modem? If so you need a router. If it's an ADSL router (like the BT speedtouch ones) you might be able to use a switch as they have everything else built in.
yeah check the the modem you have. Bagpuss's suggestion is easiest and fairly low cost just swap out the whole piece of hardware, particularly if you are going to need to add wifi. However Saspro has a point, if you need an even more budget solution it may be possible to just buy a switch (around £10?) to add wired LAN ports, as long as the device you have already is actually a router. What most people call a router is usually a router and switch combined. The router is the technology thats routes the packets to different ports and the switch is just the hardware behind the ports, (I agree, forget about a hub, these are now obsolete). So a four port router is in fact a router + 4 port switch. If your ADSL modem is already a router (maybe 2 port, say 1 usb, 1 ethernet) you might be able to use it as it is, one computer attached to usb the other to the ethernet port (I have seen this working on a BT Voyager, which is a rebranded speedtouch I think). As long as it is a router (not just a modem) and there is only one port you can add a switch to the port and then attach other devices to the switch.
As Bungletron mentions, it doesn't help that manufacturers are not very consistent in the naming of their products, with 'modems' or 'routers' being some combination of modem, router and switch. If you're still uncertain let us know exactly what modem your friends are using. That should help people make recommendations to you.
Seen this work on many things, most routers are indeed switches these days, just for simplicity. Not all of BT's Voyagers do it though - I've fallen into that trap before, although it was several years ago now. Their new bundled routers are a different problem altogether.
Thanks for the info so far guys. I unfortunately dont have the detail of my friends BB Modems, and was hoping to find a small router which I could carry in my laptop bag and use as needed, as it seems to be the case that a lot of my friends havent routers for some reason. i have just ordered a used Belkin 4-Port DSL cable Router F5D5231-4 for a few quid off ebay, I'm hoping it will be small enough just to chuck in my back and plug into someones modem as needed. i have a plenty of router --> PC network cables, is this the same type of cable i'll use between their modem and my router? Thanks
For that kind of work a simple switch/cable router probably would've been better - less config trouble, every time you take it to someone's house you'll have to fiddle with all the network settings to get it to dial up.
I was wondering if its not possible to just use a splitter something like this? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-PORT-RJ45-E...uting_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item4aa31108c0
What he has chosen is just a simple cable router isn't it? Shouldn't be too hard to use. Several ways to do it, if the friend's modem issues IPs via DHCP then switch off DHCP on the router and just connect everything to the router's switch ports (not the DSL/upstream port). The alternative is to connect the modem to the router's upstream/DSL port and create a second subnet, that is a little trickier though with more configuration. Really depends on what your friend's modem is capable of.
You cannot use this plugged into a cable modem, for the same reason you cannot simply plug a switch into it. A cable modem gives ONE IP address to ONE PC plugged into it. The other device (AKA you) would not get an IP address, and wouldn't be able to talk - even over LAN - to your friend's PC. In the case of the splitter, you and your friend wouldn't get direct comms anyway, you'd each have a single path to the cable modem only. Your options are: 1. Cheap router or 2. If you don't need internet access yourself, and your friend happens to have 2 NICs (a lot of newer PCs do) then you could simply use a crossover Cat5e cable or get a 5 port switch for a tenner
