Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

Ed, yeah I would give your housemates a 3 outta 10 for knowing what they should get. A switch allows 1 computer to go on the net at anytime...never more then that unfortunatly or you have to have a really advanced switch from say Cisco and those come with a nice £ÃÆ ’‚£Ãà¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã…¡Ãƒâ€šÃ‚£ tag on them. so my best bet is get a proper router and you'll be up and running within 5 mins if you dont get yourself strangled in the wires ;)
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Paul, I've used it before working for Belkin and I have to say its excellent :) no problems with it at all, my father in law got this 1 as well and even sharing the printer is a piece of cake.

so for students a well recommended piece of kit as you can just share the 1 printer :)
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shoot the lawyer already...poison the bio's and the physios well use em to your advantage as in getting massages of em... but make sure you arrange the IT stuff... if help needed I think that this forum is the best regarding IT help

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

right, firstly thanks guys for help diagnose a classic case of computer illiteracy,i didnt mention it earlier to avoid complication, but there is talk of a fifth laptop. we either need a router with 8 ports and use 5, or can we get a 4 port with wireless access too, and have the 4 pcs wired along with the laptop wireless.

any suggestions on routers?

thanks for all this help guys, its much appreciated.

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

Ed, okay you can get the router and still use the switch :) just plug the switch on 1 of the 4 lanports or if you really want wireless try this 1 okay I dont know how good it is but looking at the reviews it must be okay.

advice okay Belkin is "okay" (guys please dont castrate me for this) and it comes with a nice lifetime garantee so if its fooked then you can just have it replaced.

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

so if i connect two computers to the switch one of the two can use the internet at any given time, alongside the other three computers that are plugged into their own sockets?

or if i get the suggested router i can have all four wired pcs, and a finite number of wireless machines connected to the net at once?

i take it because we have 2mb bb access, the 22mbps of the router is insignificant?

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

errr Ed, I edited the link to a better router....the 22mbps is a 801.11B protocol and which is C R A P.

on the wireless router you can have up2 normally 64 pcs but at work we recommend to stop at 32 but even then thats not something that your average home user will have.

the speed of the Wlan is significant in someways say you play games and stuff on the laptop then you need faster.

with regards to the switch your correct in that....only 1 pc can get on the internet at any given time. but then if you connect the switch to the router you can have an infinite number :)

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

so a 8 port switch connected to a 4 port router in effect creates a 11 port router?

how do the router and switch connect, do we take a cable from the router socket to any of the switches sockets?

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

Is this thread and this thread related???http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/sh...358#post582358

The poster here says its a Safecom SBRU-10100 which a quick google tells me its a router???

Might not be related as I spose theres a lot of students moving in this week ;)

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

no not related m8.

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

lololol :P


not related.. but related.. i guess :D i dunno if its only with me.. but that router suggested up there.. is CRAP!!! i definetly wouldn't get that if I had the option. I guess you get what you pay..

my setup is quite similar to yours except we have 5 laptops already which creates the problem that most routers (wireless) only have 4 ports..

anyway, if I can't sort out my problem with the Safecom router, I'll be buying a Linksys WRT54G. Use this router back home and works like a gem! :P

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

Maybe the forum should have a students section for a week or so ;)

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

Yes
Pretty much. The switch should be intelligent enough to know which IP addresses are on which ports, however it is not capable of giving out IP addresses as it does not have a DHCP server built into it.
The Linksys WRT54G would be the router I would recommend, that will sort out the DHCP issue and also be wireless should you want to switch that on (and you can leave the wireless disabled until you have something that needs to wirelessly connect to it.

Router and switch
 

I am still slightly confused. If we connect 3 computers direct to a four port router, with a 8 port switch connected to the routers fourth socket, can we have 5 pcs on the shared internet at once. - 3 directly connected to the router, and 2 connected to the switch.

Or, can only 1/2 pcs connected the switch access the net at once? hence only 4/5 pcs can be on the net at one time?

Sorry if im being stupid.

Ed

Re: Ntl broadband sharing via router trouble
 

this link will explain the difference between routers, hubs, & switches

http://www.smallbusinesscomputing.co...le.php/3498476

Re: Router and switch
 

No you're right, you could connect an 8 port swich to each of the 4 ports on the router and have 4*7 28 PCs / devices connected to the router. Most routers can handle at least 50 devices. Just without something routing the traffic and handing out specific addresses for each device you are stuck.
A switch can learn where an IP address is in relation to the switch, but cannot create an IP address for a location.

Re: Router and switch
 

You can get routers with different numbers of ports - for instance, the Linksys BEFSR81, which is an 8 port router.