[boardsurfer]

I have two iMacs and one DSl modem. In order to get both machines on the net simultaneously, which of the three do I need? I dont think the install will be a problem, but which one do I need to get started?
I am pretty sure I need a router right? Just checking.

[BobW]

Yep, a Router is what you need. Check the http://www.dealmac.com site for prices. I've seen them as low as $30.00 on there.

[BobW]

Yep, you need a Router. Check
http://www.dealmac.com for prices. I've seen them as low as $30..00 there.

[Scarpa]

Actually, you want both a router and a switch/hub. The router shares the internet connection, the hub/switch interconnects all the devices. Most home routers come with a built in hub or switch though, so you should only have to buy one device. Linksys and IOGear are two popular brands of DSL routers.

[ghporter]

Scapa is right, but you should note that most "gateway routers" come with a 3-8 port switch. The typical product has 4 LAN ports.

[BkueKanoodle]

Just to make it more confusing, your DSL modem might having router functionality built in. What Brand is it? If so , you could get by buying a cheap hub and you'd be golden.

To understand the difference between a hub and a switch, imagine walking into a crowded room and needing to talk to your friend on the other side. If you start shouting, your friend will hear you, but so will everyone else. If you yell loud enough, everyone else in the room will be unable to carry on their conversations. This is a hub. Every device connected to the hub sees ALL traffic, regardless of whether it was intended for them or not. Ethernet is considered a base-band technology, meaning only one signal can be on the line at a time. If you?re yelling, nobody else can talk.

Switches on the other hand, deliver the message only to the device the message is intended for. Remember the old phone system? If you wanted to call someone, you picked up the receiver and asked the switchboard operator to connect you to their number. The Switchboard operator physically plugged a cable from your phone line into the phone line of your friend. This is a switch. While this sounds terribly inefficient, a computerized switch can handle 1000?s of these ?connections? per second. Because you are directly connected to your party, the people on your network line can continue to talk each other while you talk to your friend.

For most home use, a switch is overkill, especially if you only have a few computter

[ghporter]

Originally posted by BkueKanoodle:
Just to make it more confusing, your DSL modem might having router functionality built in. What Brand is it? If so , you could get by buying a cheap hub and you'd be golden.
.................
For most home use, a switch is overkill, especially if you only have a few computter

I would only agree with this last statement if you were buying a large switch independent of a gateway router. Most of these devices, as I said earlier, have 4 ports. That gives you some flexibility without taking up a lot of room. Once you spend a few minutes setting it up, a gateway router usually doesn't take any management to just keep connecting you.

On top of that, you can get very nice gateway routers for less than $50-I recently bought a SpeedStream router with print server (uses Unix LPR printing; fabulous!) for $28.76 with a (ta da!) $20 rebate! You can't find a network print server for less than $60, and I got one with a router attached!

Suffice to say that the small expense is usually to your benefit, even if your DSL modem has router functionality built in-most ISPs won't tell you how to get at that functionality, and it may be a violation of their terms of service to mess with it. On top of that, their tech support is probably clueless about those functions. It's much easier just to put an inexpensive router in between your modem and your computers.

[boardsurfer]

So I came here looking for a good definition of what a switch does and lo and behold, I dig up my own thread from way back. But I have a new question.

I went with the 4 port router as described above, but have outgrown it - or will outgrow it. I bought an eyehome and installing it will require a lengthy ethernet run. So while devising a plan to make that happen, I have decided to put ethernet in all the rooms in the house while I am at it.

Here is my new question
currently my setup is thus - modem->router->2 macs.

If I wire additional ethernet ports around the house (totalling 11 ports) what new hardware do I need to get it all together?

Would it be: modem->router->switch-> 11 locations?
or modem->switch-> 11 locations
or modem->3 routers connected-> locations divided among the routers.

please, have pity on the clueless.

[ghporter]

Go with option #1-the router provides some protection for your network, but it also simplifies everything else. You can configure your switch to simply pass everything through, allowing the router to be the DHCP server for the whole network. This guarantees that everything will be on the same subnet (unless you've manually changed addresses), and unifies your connection to the Internet.

[boardsurfer]

cool, thanks.