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PHoynak · May 21, 2003, 12:26 PM

My Linksys router is full (4-port) and I want to add a Vonage Internet Phone to my network. Would I be better off buying a new larger router or just add a hub to my router and plug it into the hub?

John Strung · May 21, 2003, 02:27 PM

Just buy another hub or switch and uplink it to the LinkSys. Bear in mind that when LinkSys says it is a 4 port router they mean it. It is not 4 ports plus an uplink port. If you use the uplink port, you have to leave the immediately adjactent straight-through port (I think it is port 1) empty. Those two ports are really only one port wired differently.

PHoynak · May 21, 2003, 06:04 PM

Will I have to configure the hub at all when I plug it in?

John Strung · May 21, 2003, 06:57 PM

There is nothing to configure on a hub.

ghporter · May 21, 2003, 07:01 PM

Generally a hub is so simple that there's nothing to configure. However, I'd recommend getting a switch rather than a hub. The price difference has basically gone away (at least if you shop around), and the performance difference is very striking.

A hub is, in general terms, a dumb device. It effectively connects the send wires from each port to the receive wires of all the other ports (this is oversimplifying, but bear with me). A switch, on the other hand, reads the destination of each packet sent from each port, and directs it to the proper end point port. This allows for much faster traffic passing because it helps prevent collisions (two ports trying to send at the same time), and it is much more efficient from a network standpoint because the computers connected to the ports aren't receiving a bunch of packets that they have to read the address of and then ignore because they aren't the intended recipient.

Also, there's very little to configure in a small/home office-type switch; you may need to assign it an IP so you can monitor its performance, but usually they are plug and forget.

PHoynak · May 21, 2003, 07:26 PM

Can anyone recommend a good/cheap switch? I saw a hub for $30 or so by Linksys.

bink · May 24, 2003, 09:39 PM

Originally posted by GHPorter:
Generally a hub is so simple that there's nothing to configure. However, I'd recommend getting a switch

The Apple Store has 2 listed. the Asante FS5005 5 Port 10/100 Ethernet Switch and the Belkin 5 Port Ethernet Switch both for
$39.95. Either of these better than the other?

Are these the switches that you refer to in your post?

Would one of these be better than the other?

tia......Rich

ghporter · May 26, 2003, 10:55 AM

There are tons of swtiches around, by other makers and for varying prices. Check places like BestBuy, CompUSA, even OfficeDepot and OfficeMax for competitive prices.

I personally like Linksys and Siemens brand equipment, but that's sort of on the same level as a religious preference. Everybody's products have strengths and weaknesses; I have not run into serious weaknesses in either of those two brands. USRobotics is getting into the home network market, but they may not be as up to speed as other manufacturers.