only 1 ethernet outlet, how to share it with Blu-ray player, HD DVR, and PS3?

[quitemouse]

My wired router is located upstairs. I ran a cable from the router to the
basement TV room and installed an ethernet jack on the wall. The only
problem is now I have three devices that want ethernet connetcion:
Blu-ray player, DirecTV HD DVR, and Playstation3.

What do I do to share the one ethernet outlet with all three devices?

Thanks!

[Sonny]

get a spliter/switcherI don't know if monoprice.com has such a device but it will be worth a look.

[Wreck]

yeah, a router, i bought one at walmart 2 days ago for my office, cost 25 bucks.

[owa]

Yeah, just get a switch. Not saying to buy it from Best Buy, but below are a couple of links to what you're looking for.

10/100 $25
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1051384141038

10/100/1000 $35
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1149206843192

[Asylump]

Yup, just buy a switch. Plug it in, no setup required. Switches will assign IP Addresses to your devices automatically from your router.

[Zaphod]

Don't be fooled into getting a hub, since the prices are cheaper, make sure you get a switch.

[bootman]

Originally Posted by Asylump

Yup, just buy a switch. Plug it in, no setup required. Switches will assign IP Addresses to your devices automatically from your router.

Actually the router is assigning the IP addresses not the switch itself.

[quitemouse]

thanks for all the replies...

so I can just get a simple 4-port switch and all my devices will work
easily, no? I mean I don't have to configure some setting inside the
router and/or switch...

Come to think of it, is there a router that has more than 4 ports?
My current router only has 4. (3 ports used in the same room, with
the other one extended to the basement for the BR player/HD DVR/PS3)
Is there maybe a 6 or 8 port router? Will that be a better solution than
a 4-port router + a 4-port switch?(which mean I only end up with 7
available ports)

thanks again!

[Anthony P]

get a 4 port hub/switch in the basement, a router would be more expensive for nothing.

Yes there are more then 4 port routers, but if you change the one upstairs then you would need to run two more cables downstairs, while if the BD/HD DVR/PS3 are in the same room that means three short ethernet cables. If you think you might need more downstairs then buy a bigger hub

[larryj763]

Not that running a cable from where your main router is down to where your DB player, etc., is is a bad thing, but for anyone wondering about needing to run a cable as well, don't wtihout looking into a powerline ethernet adapter. I bought one to use with my Netgear Digital Entertainer (the wireless was proving too slow) and I've been VERY happy with it. I wish they would make those with built in switches/routers, but they don't as far as I know, so if you have more than one device at the remote location, you'll still need one of those.

[RazorFromHRSnet]

Originally Posted by quitemouse

thanks for all the replies...

so I can just get a simple 4-port switch and all my devices will work
easily, no? I mean I don't have to configure some setting inside the
router and/or switch...

Come to think of it, is there a router that has more than 4 ports?
My current router only has 4. (3 ports used in the same room, with
the other one extended to the basement for the BR player/HD DVR/PS3)
Is there maybe a 6 or 8 port router? Will that be a better solution than
a 4-port router + a 4-port switch?(which mean I only end up with 7
available ports)

thanks again!

Quickest thing to do would just put a switch in your A/V rack. Use the existing cable into the "uplink" port on your switch, and plug everything else into the regular ports. The reason why you want a switch instead of a hub is because from my understanding, a hub is less "smart" then a switch. If you have a 10/100 router, and a 10/100 switch, you will be getting a theoretical maximum of 100 MBPS to your switch, which will then be divided to everything plugged into that switch, according to the needs of the device, so if your PS3 starts pulling 92 mbps, the remaining 8 will be available to your other devices. If you use a hub, it's not as "smart" and just always divides it evenly - 4 ports would allow a maximum of 25mbps to each device, regardless of use, need, or even how many are plugged in. Probably not a big problem for internet downloads, but could adversely affect music and especially video streaming between devices in the house. A router is unnecessary because it basically is a switch with a DHCP server to assign everything an IP address and share the internet connection. You'd have major headaches with a router unless you disabled the router part anyway, rendering it, simply a switch.

[owa]

Best Buy has the Linksys 5-port switch (only 10/100 though) on sale for $14.99. Saw it today when I was there getting some movies.

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by Zaphod

Don't be fooled into getting a hub, since the prices are cheaper, make sure you get a switch.

What could be the problem with a cheap hub.

[tmok2000]

Get an Ethernet switch at your basement location. Don't buy a hub. They both work, but switch has better performance than hub. Don't want to go into the details here. The price difference is minimal.

Most switches these days are auto-sensing, so you don't have to worry about the uplink bit. Just look for the word "Auto-sensing" on the product specs. If I were you, I would get an 8 port switch. It's nice to have extra ports just in case you want to add more devices later on. Again, the price difference is minimal.

As for your upstairs, yes, they do make routers with more ports. The next step up from a 4-port would probably be an 8-port. Instead of replacing your router, you can get a second switch for upstairs. Hook up the switch to one of the ports on the router. You now have more ports off the switch. Simple.

[richteer]

Originally Posted by syncguy

What could be the problem with a cheap hub.

I'm deliberately keeping this simple, but here goes (if anything here isn't clear, ask again, cause I do this stuff for a living):

A switch provides multiple point-to-point connections, so if a computer on port 1 wants to talk to a computer on port 2 at the same time that something on port 3 wants to talk to something on port 4, all is good: both communications happen at full speed with no interference.

A hub uses shared connections (everything is connected to everything else), so in the same scenario as above, collisions would occur and the communication on one (or probably both) paths would be slower.

In summary: except for certain specialised applications (and if you need to ask what, then it doesn't apply to you!), hubs are a waste of money. Switches are *much* better. Oh, and avoid like the plague those horrible D-Link boxes. I've had nothing but bad experience with them. Linksys and Netgear stuff is fine, though.

[tmok2000]

Netgear FS-105 (4-port)
$7.99 after rebate -- Free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833122005

Linksys EZX55W (5-port)
$13.49 + shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833124005

Netgear ProSafe GS-105 (4-port Gigabit)
$32.99 after rebate -- Free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833122128

Dlink DGS-2208 (7-port Gigabit)
$44.99 after rebate -- Free shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833127082

Originally Posted by owa

Yeah, just get a switch. Not saying to buy it from Best Buy, but below are a couple of links to what you're looking for.

10/100 $25
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1051384141038

10/100/1000 $35
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1149206843192

[Iago]

Originally Posted by richteer

I'm deliberately keeping this simple, but here goes (if anything here isn't clear, ask again, cause I do this stuff for a living):

A switch provides multiple point-to-point connections, so if a computer on port 1 wants to talk to a computer on port 2 at the same time that something on port 3 wants to talk to something on port 4, all is good: both communications happen at full speed with no interference.

A hub uses shared connections (everything is connected to everything else), so in the same scenario as above, collisions would occur and the communication on one (or probably both) paths would be slower.

In summary: except for certain specialised applications (and if you need to ask what, then it doesn't apply to you!), hubs are a waste of money. Switches are *much* better. Oh, and avoid like the plague those horrible D-Link boxes. I've had nothing but bad experience with them. Linksys and Netgear stuff is fine, though.

Smart man!

[tmok2000]

Good and concise explanation.

What's wrong with the D-link switches? How can one mess up a switch?

I don't own D-link switches, but I do own their Gaming Router. It has been performing great for two years now. Not a single problem! It is quite a contrary to two of my Netgear routers that I have used before.

I also have a bunch of Netgear GS605 switches. They have been fine as well. I have tried several other Netgear models before, and they were all fine. I did return a half-baked Linksys wireless router before, because their software didn't support one encryption format that they claimed they supported. They said they would fix that in a future upgrade. It did give me a bad taste, and I never bought any Linksys product since.

Originally Posted by richteer

I'm deliberately keeping this simple, but here goes (if anything here isn't clear, ask again, cause I do this stuff for a living):

A switch provides multiple point-to-point connections, so if a computer on port 1 wants to talk to a computer on port 2 at the same time that something on port 3 wants to talk to something on port 4, all is good: both communications happen at full speed with no interference.

A hub uses shared connections (everything is connected to everything else), so in the same scenario as above, collisions would occur and the communication on one (or probably both) paths would be slower.

In summary: except for certain specialised applications (and if you need to ask what, then it doesn't apply to you!), hubs are a waste of money. Switches are *much* better. Oh, and avoid like the plague those horrible D-Link boxes. I've had nothing but bad experience with them. Linksys and Netgear stuff is fine, though.

[Anthony P]

In summary: except for certain specialised applications (and if you need to ask what, then it doesn't apply to you!), hubs are a waste of money. Switches are *much* better.

but this is one of those specialized situations, which is why it does not matter. Everyone (the three devices downstairs) all want to talk to the same place (go over the one cable from down stairs to upstairs). So the device downstairs will never be an issue. It is not like the PS3 will communicate to the PVR while the BD player wants to access the internet. Chances are he will also not use all three at the same time (i.e. I am guessing attached to the same display).


A hub is the simplest device, all the ports are connected together and so go in all directions (i.e. like posting on the forum, everyone can read what I am writing) a switch is a bit smarter and it learns and switches to the right person (like PMing on the forum) so on a busy network (PC A, B, C, D where each has a specific task and needs to talk to a particular PC, A to B and C to D at the same time) it slows stuff down (because A cares about what B has to say but not C's and D's conversation which it is also hearing). But in this case any communication will need to go over the Ethernet (and the internet) so there should not be any issue.

[syncguy]

Originally Posted by Anthony P

but this is one of those specialized situations, which is why it does not matter.

Yes, this seems to be right for the current basement application. Unless there is some form of parallel communication between the equipment in the basement, the advantage of a switch diminishes. If the purpose is to up/download through the remote Router, the performance of hub and switch would be similar. Therefore, a hub would be better since it is a simpler device (hence in “principle” more reliable in comparison to a switch but in practice this may not be the case). However, if there is a need to have parallel transfers in the basement, e.g. PVR to PS3 and vice-versa, a switch would be most useful. May be in a future date, he may wants to connect a laptop to basement and transfer to PS3, PVR etc., in this case a switch (with extra ports) would be useful.

If the price difference is negligible, I think, a switch would be better when possible future scenarios are considered.

(So I wish to note that I agree with both explanations given by Anthony P and richteer - good explanations)