Ethernet Splitter/Router/Switch? Help!

1069 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by s28400, Aug 14, 2013

s28400

Discussion Starter · Aug 8, 2013

Hey guys, so here is the deal, I have my router on one end of the house, and on the other I have my main pc and my server pc. My main pc is hooked to the internet by an either net that runs through the attic and the server is currently on a wireless connection. However, I would like to switch it to a wired connection without loosing the one on my main pc. I looked into this but am a bit confused. I saw a great either net switch at bestbuybut am unsure if a swithc will work for this purpose. Also, I have my old verizon fios router, could I use that to "Split" the Ethernet cable? Thanks a bunch guys, Josh

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Seredin

· #2 · Aug 8, 2013

So your current router does not have more than one outgoing ethernet port?

If your budget is low, a switch would work for you. Though, if your budget is higher, I would suggest looking into buying a better router (better as in offering more options; I obviously don't know what you're currently using

).
Unless it specifically says so, I would not assume your old FiOS router could also function as a switch. You might want to consult your user manual.

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beers

· #3 · Aug 8, 2013

You should just be able to put a switch on your current ethernet run. Then you'll plug in your PC and Server and they'll use the singular uplink between them to get back to the router.

There's no real configuration you have to do, take it out of the box and connect the devices and it should work.

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s28400

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 8, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seredin

So your current router does not have more than one outgoing ethernet port?

It does, I just don't want to run another wire across the house in the attic.

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DuckieHo

· #5 · Aug 8, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by s28400

It does, I just don't want to run another wire across the house in the attic.

So you should just connect your server and PC to a 5-port switch. The switch then plugs into your existing cable run. You can get one for less than $20 shipped.

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Seredin

· #6 · Aug 8, 2013

Or move your router (I figure there's a reason you can't).
Or move your server (I figure there's a reason you can't).
Or look into powerline networking.
Or if your computer has two Ethernet ports, bridge the connection (same for server).

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Opcode

· #7 · Aug 9, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by s28400

Hey guys, so here is the deal, I have my router on one end of the house, and on the other I have my main pc and my server pc. My main pc is hooked to the internet by an either net that runs through the attic and the server is currently on a wireless connection. However, I would like to switch it to a wired connection without loosing the one on my main pc. I looked into this but am a bit confused. I saw a great either net switch at bestbuybut am unsure if a swithc will work for this purpose. Also, I have my old verizon fios router, could I use that to "Split" the Ethernet cable? Thanks a bunch guys, Josh

That's what switches are made for, they actually have very little brains. All they do is take one hot line and break it up across several lines. Tho read my comment below regarding the congestion and speed impacts that you will face if you do large file transfers between your main pc and the server. Or if the server is heavily network reliant, you'd be better off running a second line straight from the router.
Quote:

Originally Posted by s28400

It does, I just don't want to run another wire across the house in the attic.

And why is that? Cables are super cheap, it will pay off in the long run if you just ran a Cat 6 line for the server. Sharing a single cable is only going to cause congestion as your routers built in switch is most likely only rated for 100 Mbps per port. Even if it supports gigabyte ethernet it still would cut your transfer speeds in half, and create a huge latency in the line between your main machine and the server. Just buy and run the line once, its not a big deal should take you less then 10 minutes to do it. Just run it right alongside the current line directly to your room.

What kind of router do you have? (brand/model) and what purpose is the server in your home network?

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beers

· #8 · Aug 9, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Opcode

That's what switches are made for, they actually have very little brains. All they do is take one hot line and break it up across several lines transfer frames between interfaces. Tho read my comment below regarding the congestion and speed impacts that you will face if you do large file transfers between your main pc and the server hosts on the switch and hosts on the other side of the uplink. Or if the server is heavily network reliant, you'd be better off running a second line straight from the router.
And why is that? Cables are super cheap, it will pay off in the long run if you just ran a Cat 6 line for the server. Sharing a single cable is only going to cause congestion convenience as your routers built in switch is most likely only rated for 100 Mbps per port. Even if it supports gigabyte ethernet it still would cut your transfer speeds in half, and create a huge latency in the line between your main machine and the server. Just buy and run the line once, its not a big deal should take you less then 10 minutes to do it. Just run it right alongside the current line directly to your room. Having your main PC and server on the same switch will provide them with line speed capacity between each other. Bandwidth to the rest of the network and the Internet will be shared on the uplink on an as-needed basis.

That's probably a bit more accurate.

The latency part is just a bunch of misinformation.
Here's a ping between a host and a server through a couple of local unmanaged gigabit switches Edit: (and one 2960G):

Code:

Code:

[email protected]:~$ ping fs
PING fs (192.168.5.9) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from fs (192.168.5.9): icmp_req=1 ttl=64 time=0.240 ms
64 bytes from fs (192.168.5.9): icmp_req=2 ttl=64 time=0.238 ms
64 bytes from fs (192.168.5.9): icmp_req=3 ttl=64 time=0.244 ms
^C
--- fs ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 received, 0% packet loss, time 1998ms
rtt min/avg/max/mdev = 0.238/0.240/0.244/0.018 ms

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s28400

Discussion Starter · #9 · Aug 14, 2013

ok thanks for your help guys, I will pick up a 5 port switch for this.

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