The current setup in our house is a virgin modem connected to a 4 port D-Link router on the ground floor, I have a 25 meter ethernet running upto my attic bedroom as even Wireless N gives a crappy signal in this old house. I want to connect my Xbox 360 and laptop to the wired network in my room by adding a switch to the end of the ethernet cable that runs there. The router doesn't have an Uplink port afaik and im aware that you're supposed to use a crossover cable to connect a switch to a standard ethernet socket. I don't want to disturb the wiring so should I convert the 25m ethernet into a crossover and get a switch, or does anyone know of a small/cheap switch that doesn't need to be connected via a crossover? Something like this: [Modem]--->[Router]------------25m Cat6-------------->[Switch]---->[PC] Hope that all makes sense, thanks
As long as the two routers/switches (effectively the same thing) are relatively new (ie. last 5-10 years), then you don't need a crossover cable thanks to Auto-MDIX. Basically, it figures out what cable you plug in and adjusts the data stream accordingly (effectively making an internal crossover inside the switch/router for you). Just plug them together using a standard cable to any ports and you'll be fine. Just make sure only one router/switch is managing DHCP.
Thanks for the reply, is there any reason why something this cheap and basic wouldn't be good? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/5-Port-10-100...puting_NetworkSwitches_RL&hash=item27b31f4c1d Would I actually gain anything by spending more money on one?
Going to go for this: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/D-Link-5-Port...Computing_NetworkCards_RL&hash=item1e5d0893c0 Its still cheap and the same brand as my router.
I would suggest not using a hub. A hub simply repeats the signal to all ports. A switch sends it to the proper place without causing excess network traffic.
Arrived this morning, all setup working great! Thanks everyone. To save starting a new thread.. Is there something I can plug into this switch to boost the WiFi signal to my iPhone? Basically I want a cheap/basic wireless access point in the room as the router downstairs is almost out of range. Or would it be better to add a signal booster to the router downstairs?
I have a old wireless G Linksys router somewhere, would it be worth digging that out.. would it even working having a router plugged into a router?
Move your existing router to a more suitable place or try changing the broadcast channel to check that there is nothing interferring with the signal, household phones are normally a good culprit.
it would work providing the router has DHCP disabled as you can only have 1 DHCP on any 1 particular network range.
Agreed. Just plug in your old WAP and make sure it is not DHCP-serving, then you're good to go. It will get its own IP from the DHCP already on the network and route wireless traffic there for any other requests for network access.
Its just occured to me that if I do find the old router and connect that to my switch, there was no point in my buying the switch! haha
I just got a similar system in place, The phone line is top floor in a 3 tier house. I have a BT HomeHub2 here, The wireless signal doesn't reach to the far downstairs/garden though I had an old HomeHub(v1) and connected it to the v2 upstairs using power socket network adapters. A quick setup using my laptop to the hub down stairs and it broadcasts it's own separate wireless network which iPhone/Laptop etc connect to automatically, however connects to the net via the v2 Hub upstairs which controls everything nicely! 2 useful pages I used to set it up http://www.filesaveas.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1266955148 http://www.jarviser.co.uk/jarviser/repeaterhubswired.html
