Re: Ethernet Hub question

From: Ivan Marsh (annoyed_at_you.now)
Date: 02/18/05 

Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2005 16:18:16 -0600

On Fri, 18 Feb 2005 21:21:00 +0000, Jason F. wrote:

> Jafar wrote:
>> Hi,
>> At the moment, I have 2 NICs inside my server. eth0 is connected to a
>> laptop.
>> eth1 is connected to the ADSL modem.
>>
>> Soon I will have a 3rd PC so instead of shoving another NIC inside the
>> server I was thinking about getting a hub. I assume it's just a simple
>> matter of plugging the hub into eth0 and it will act just like a multi
>> port extension? Is there more to getting a hub going than just plugging
>> it in? Also, what kind of cables do I need? Do I still need crossover
>> cables anywhere or will standard cables be ok? Many thanks.
>
> What you want is cheap switch. Simply connect the switch to the LAN port
> on your server that your laptop used to directly connect to, then plug
> your laptop, new computer, and whatever else into the switch. No
> crossover cables needed.

A switch or hub will work. The difference being that a hub is a single
network segment to all ports and a switch creates virtual network segments
dynamically between ports based on traffic flow. Switches used to be more
expensive and a bit of overkill for a small home network, but these days
the prices are just about the same, so why not have a switch if you can.

Whether or not you need a crossover cable depends on the switch or hub you
buy and what you're plugging into it. Most of them auto-detect what
they're connected to on at least one port, if not all of them, and can
tell if they have a machine plugged into a port or another hub or switch.
...But since you will be plugging the network interfaces of machines into
it you shouldn't need any cross-over cables.

One thing to look out for is if you're looking at a 10/100 switch or hub
is that it auto-detects connection speed on every port. I don't know if
anyone still makes them this way, but some of the older home use
hubs/switches auto-detected the slowest connection and set all of the
ports to that speed. Not cool. 

-- 
Life is short, but wide. -KV

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