Network geeks- A little bit of help

[andrewsmith]

Morning all

I'm need a quick bit of advice about using Hub/ Switches on a tiny network.
The situation is that the ADSL is on the front desk with the Router and associated gubbins.

A CAT5 cable has been run into the back office for the PC and Phone, but I've been told to get the two printer into back aswel.

Hub and Switches is where I plead insanity as its something I haven't had dealings with, or is there an alternate option?

Thanks in advance
Andy

[grimey121uk]

Buy a cheap switch, hubs are obsolete and aren't really used any more, I wont bore you with the technical differences but switches are superior with no real price premium attached.

All you need to do is patch the cat5 cable into a switch port (LAN port) on your router and then patch it into the new switch in the back office and then patch al of your computers/printers into the spare ports

Make sure there is only 1 cable going from your router to the new switch and ensure you don't plug a switch port into another switch port as this will cause a loop which will result in real problems.

Something like this will do (5 ports)
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/5-port-edimax-es-5500g-10-100-1000-ethernet-gigabit-environmental-friendly-switch

[SoulKiss]

I'd always recommend buying Netgear, so this will do ya

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/netgear-fs105uk-5-port-10-100-prosafe-unmanaged-switch

Or spend another 5 and get the 8 port version (you need to use 4 ports as it is, one to link to the router, one to the pc and 2 printers - might as well build in a little redundancy in case something like a NAS box is required.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8-port-netgear-fs108uk-10-100-prosafe-unmanaged-switch

You dont really need Gig-E capabilities from how you describe things so might as well save the tenner that would cost.

[andrewsmith]

Thanks lads

I think the 5 port should be adequate, as if we added more kit into the site, I think we would pull another cat5/6 from the front.
There's no chance of confusion with the ports as the cabling is single wire into the office.

Does the inbound cable need to be conventional network cable or a crossover?


Thanks so far lads

Andy

[SoulKiss]

Thanks lads

I think the 5 port should be adequate, as if we added more kit into the site, I think we would pull another cat5/6 from the front.
There's no chance of confusion with the ports as the cabling is single wire into the office.

Does the inbound cable need to be conventional network cable or a crossover?


Thanks so far lads

Andy

Seriously, for the cost of a pint (in London mind) the extra 3 ports are worth the cost.

[grimey121uk]

Thanks lads

I think the 5 port should be adequate, as if we added more kit into the site, I think we would pull another cat5/6 from the front.
There's no chance of confusion with the ports as the cabling is single wire into the office.

Does the inbound cable need to be conventional network cable or a crossover?


Thanks so far lads

Andy

In theory a switch patched into another switch should be a crossover however in reality most switches (even the cheap ones) auto sense the cable in use and set the transmit/receive pins accordingly

[andrewsmith]

Cheers lads

Just time to get it vetted off the boss and order it

[Tomor]

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/19137826/TP-Link-TL-SF1008D-8-port-10-100M-mini-Desktop-Switch/Product.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=8+port+switch&urlrefer=search

I think this is the same just quite a bit cheaper :)
I have one and they are great!

Tom

[beabert]

http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/4-/19137826/TP-Link-TL-SF1008D-8-port-10-100M-mini-Desktop-Switch/Product.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=8+port+switch&urlrefer=search

I think this is the same just quite a bit cheaper :)
I have one and they are great!

Tom

+1