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General discussion

Two computers over here, three over there

by dadofdavid22 Oct 5, 2004 3:18AM PDT

I have a 5-user home network (yeah, I know, that's a bunch of computers) that share a DSL line.

Two computers are in one location along with my DSL modem. Let's call this Location A.

Three computers are about 70 feet away (actual cable length over 100). Location B.

I have an 8-port network switch which is at Location A.

My current configuration has 3 150-ft cables running from A to B.

I'd like to run a single cable from A to B, so I tried installing a switch at each location, but my Internet speed dropped from 1000 KBPS to less than 200 at location B.

Is there any (easy and cheap) way to make this work without degrading my Internet connection speed?

TIA.

Don Tsuchiyama
Los Angeles, CA

Discussion is locked

7 Posts
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Re: Two computers over here, three over there
by r. proffitt Forum moderator Oct 5, 2004 3:42AM PDT

Odd, where's the router?

Bob

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Re: Two computers over here, three over there
by dadofdavid22 Oct 5, 2004 10:34AM PDT

I guess I left out that part. Duh...

I have an 8-port switch at location A. Two computers are connected via short cables there and the three at location B are connected via the very long ethernet cables.

I tried running a second switch at location B (using just one of the three cables), connecting the three computers to the second switch and my Internet speed went south.

The situation seems to work okay, so I guess I shouldn't mess with it, but one of my three long cables is iffy (dog chewed it... really!) and I might add another computer (#4) at location B.

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Still, where is the router at?
by Melati Hitam Oct 6, 2004 3:10AM PDT

Router and and switch are different thing...

What you need is:

Modem --> Router --->> Switch

You connect the Modem to Router WAN port, if the router have other port, then you can connect your PC and your Switch to it, then your other PC to the switch.

Good Luck

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Re: Still, where is the router at?
by dadofdavid22 Oct 7, 2004 3:53AM PDT

I have a peer-to-peer network.

My DSL comes in via a phone line that is connected to a DSL modem.

The modem and all my other computers are connected to an 8-port switch.

It works fine. I'm just wondering if there is a way to run just one cable (rather than three) from location A to B.

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Re: Still, where is the router at?
by Melati Hitam Oct 7, 2004 5:05AM PDT

Peer-to-peer networks are generally simpler, but they usually do not offer the same performance under heavy loads.

Although you can use two switches (connected by long cable) like you said.. the performance will suffer.

I quote from http://www.duxcw.com/faq/network/uplink.htm

"If two hubs/switches are connected together with a straight-thru cable then one end must crossover (regular port) and one end must not (uplink port). If a crossover cable is used to connect them, then the ports at both ends must be the same kind of port. If a straight-thru cable is used to connect them, then the ports must be different. A PC can be connected to an uplink port with a crossover cable and to a regular port with a straight-thru cable.

Also, be aware that many hubs/switches share the uplink port with one of the regular ports, usually port 1. Both ports will not work if they are both connected at the same time. Finally, many hubs and switches have a switch associated with the uplink port that can switch the port between uplink and regular port configurations."

I still would consider using a router for such setup.

Best of Luck

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Re: Still, where is the router at?
by dadofdavid22 Oct 8, 2004 1:26AM PDT

First of all, thank you very much for the information and guidance.

You suggested using a router for this setup. How would I go about doing that? Or is it too complicated to explain in this forum?

Thanks again.

Don Tsuchiyama
Los Angeles, CA

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First of all...
by Melati Hitam Oct 8, 2004 3:51AM PDT

can you tell me what brand/model of DSL modem and Switches you have?

I'm asking because maybe its already a DSL Modem/router...

Look at www.linksys.com (many people using this brand)

you may find what you need .. and actually its practically a plug n play thing.

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