Multiple items on one LAN cable?

CaveDweller

CaveDweller

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Some of the plugs are forked on my router so I'm only left with one spare port. I've rung Virgin and they are unable to get me one for a few weeks but I have multiple things I want to plug in.

Am I able to use a Y splitter for my only ethernet cable and run multiple items from that? or is it not that simple.

I've tried it just now and when I plug two thing into the one wire they get confused because technically they are getting plugged together (dodgy splitter or doesn't work like that?). Is there any temporary fix I can do for a few weeks. I need my PC wired all the time for work so swapping the cable about isn't an option. I'm not clued up on this type of thing.
 
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You may have more luck in "Computers" than OoF Paul ;)
 
Cobra said:
You may have more luck in "Computers" than OoF Paul ;)
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Haha you were on the ball with that one!

I keep forgetting about all the other sections to be honest. It was only the other day Matt pointed out digitalrev had their own section...never knew that :rolleyes:
 
Look on ebuyer for a gigabit switch, they start around £11.
 
Mikesphotaes said:
Look on ebuyer for a gigabit switch, they start around £11.
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Thanks, and one of them would allow me to use multiple items at the same time through the one ethernet cable? It's only till I get a new router.
 
CaveDweller said:
Thanks, and one of them would allow me to use multiple items at the same time through the one ethernet cable? It's only till I get a new router.
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Yes,that would work.

Just checked your profile. If you were closer to NW London I have one you could borrow till you get your one sorted.
 
Awesome thanks all, got one ordered now. I've had promises from Virgin before about delivery dates so i'm expecting it to take a while for a new router...again.
sep9001 said:
Yes,that would work.

Just checked your profile. If you were closer to NW London I have one you could borrow till you get your one sorted.
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Thanks for the offer but that's a bit far for a sunday drive lol
 
CaveDweller said:
Thanks, and one of them would allow me to use multiple items at the same time through the one ethernet cable? It's only till I get a new router.
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Aye, plug it into a working port on your router then plug the rest of your stuff into the switch ( usually 4 devices).

Better with 1000 rather than the 100 linked to as the Internet might drop.
 
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Depending on your needs you could buy a whole new router and just use the Virgin one for DHCP (or even move that to the new router and just use the old one as the gateway to the net)

I found my internal wired speeds and wireless a lot better once I moved it off the Sky branded router, all depends how and what you have connected up though. For me copying between multiple machines regularly made it worthwhile, so now everything runs into a gigabit switch and into the gigabit router, which is connected to the sky router at 100MBps
 
mjScall said:
Depending on your needs you could buy a whole new router and just use the Virgin one for DHCP (or even move that to the new router and just use the old one as the gateway to the net)

I found my internal wired speeds and wireless a lot better once I moved it off the Sky branded router, all depends how and what you have connected up though. For me copying between multiple machines regularly made it worthwhile, so now everything runs into a gigabit switch and into the gigabit router, which is connected to the sky router at 100MBps
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It's just really the PC, xbox (the wireless is broken on it) and the wifes laptop (also with knackered wireless). I'm getting the router for free from Virgin because it's not been damaged by myself, it's a problem with the router. If it happens again though I'll go down that route. I'm getting about 140MBps on a good day.
 
Splitting a LAN cable is not a good idea, you would be best to just get small switch to expand the routers ports.

Even if your Router only had one available LAN port, you could simply plug an unmanaged switch into that port and then hang multiple devices off that switch.

Make sure you buy a switch and not a hub, they are very different things.
 
Can you still buy an ethernet hub these days?

The virgin media router can be set to be a 'modem' only (or at least the cables ones can) then use your own more reliable router to sort dhcp, wireless etc. The wireless on the virgin media router was never the best in my experience, I currently have one of the earlier Superhubs although I heard the later version did improve on the wireless side of things.
 
noneforit said:
Make sure you buy a switch and not a hub, they are very different things.
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New hubs seem to be made of pure unobtainium these days, anything one can buy will be a switch. To a typical home use a hub and an unmanaged switch will function identically though.

I keep a hub for a task that a switch cannot perform (short of using ARP spoofing), but I haven't seen one for sale new in years.
 
onomatopoeia said:
New hubs seem to be made of pure unobtainium these days, anything one can buy will be a switch. To a typical home use a hub and an unmanaged switch will function identically though.

I keep a hub for a task that a switch cannot perform (short of using ARP spoofing), but I haven't seen one for sale new in years.
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Curious! Repeating? Packet sniffing?

Switches have almost completely replaced hubs due to falling cost. And for most applications they're better. I have a couple spare but I think I'm a bit out of the way too!
 
Ethereal (or wireshark, as it is now. They should never have changed the name) on a computer separate from either end of a network connection. It's rare that I can't packet sniff directly on the computer that is the local client end of the connection, but it has happened in the past. Or I might just take a fancy to seeing exactly what my TV / Blu-ray player / PVR / other embedded device is sending from its ethernet connection.
 
onomatopoeia said:
Ethereal (or wireshark, as it is now. They should never have changed the name) on a computer separate from either end of a network connection. It's rare that I can't packet sniff directly on the computer that is the local client end of the connection, but it has happened in the past. Or I might just take a fancy to seeing exactly what my TV / Blu-ray player / PVR / other embedded device is sending from its ethernet connection.
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So why not a managed switch that can port replicate? Or is it just 'cos you have one lying about so it's cheaper...
 
I have one lying about so it's cheaper ;) and I don't have any managed switches at all, although it looks like there will be a need for VLAN tagging in the future so that will change.
 
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