Need suggestions

[Cameron203]

I have 3 rooms I need to Lan the cat-5 is already ran, I need the best method to hook all of them up. I was thinking like a 5-port hub, like this one http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000030068/102-6488825-9655347?v=glance

I guess my question is more what is the difference between a switch and a hub. I want to share my internet connection with all 3 computers and be able to play LAN games with all. Will I be able to do that with the above??? Thanks

Also when hooking this one up my cable coming in would connect to the modem, then the modem would connect to my router then my first port of my router would go to my main rig, then the 2nd port would run into the garage and plug into which port of the hub??? The first?? Then from there I would run it to my other computers. Correct??? Also can the uplink port be used as an extra 10/100 port? Thanks again.

[mccoffee]

Get a switch

a hub forwards all the traffic at once where a switch just forwards to the computer that needs the data switch is a better choice for speed.

[YeOldeStonecat]

Hubs are extinct....they should be anyways. Old technology, gone with ISA network cards and classic 486 and Pentiums. A few years ago, switches were insanely more expensive than hubs, so that's why hubs kept selling. But now-a-days, switches, like most other computer technology, have gotten incredibly inexpensive, so no reason to get a hub.

Functionally, a hub and a switch have the same purpose. They are used to connect computers together, most commonly used to tie together local area networks.

A hub is a dumb repeater. Say you have a 5 port hub, with 5x computers plugged into it. Computer 1 wants to send data to computer 3...but computers 2, 4, and 5, also receive the data, because a hub simply repeats the packets from computer 1 to every port connected to it. Like a shotgun approach. Clearly this creates un-needed traffic. What if computers 4 and 5 are trying to so something else, they don't need to hear what computers 1 and 3 are doing. And visa versa. The entire bandwidth within the hub is also shared...so slice up the speed of the hub, into whatever traffic is being sent across by <whatever number> of computers.

Now a switch...think of a switch, as a hub...that has a traffic cop inside of it. Basically when a switch receives a packet...it examines who it came from, and it examines what destination the packet is going to...and it allows those packets to go directly to the destination,....it doesn't broadcast them to every port. So...in the above example, computer 1 wants to talk to computer 3...they basically get their own, dedicated direct connection inside the switch, computers 2, 4, and 5 don't have to hear about it. Now picture a busy network...this is much more efficient, right? No wasted bandwidth. Also...your computer will have a full speed dedicated pipe inside the switch, you're not "slicing up the bandwidth". Your bandwidth inside the switch is not affected by what other computers are doing. Now for sharing an internet connection....bandwidth doesn't become an issue, but still, performance is superior.

Add internet connections into the mix...and a switch really can help, there's a lot of little broadcasts and requests going on when the internet is involved. A single internet session has a lot of little things going on behind the scenes, so picture a network of computers connected to the internet.

There are other advantages to other types of switches which we don't need to get into here, more business/enterprise, such as managed switches and what they allow you do to. Not for the home user.

You have a router you mention? Doesn't that have an existing 4 port switch built into the back of it?

Also, look...the 5 port switch from Linksys is even less expensive than the hub you list.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00003006E/qid=1103197569/sr=1-54/ref=sr_1_54/102-4266484-4680953?v=glance&s=electronics

[Cameron203]

Thanks guys. Crap I should have asked before I ordered I ordered the 5 port workgroup hub. All i want to do is play LAN games and share my broadband connection. Well newegg is usually real good about returns. Thanks I will get the switch you suggested.

BTW basically I want to share my internet connection, maybe it would have been better just to put the router in the garage but it will do the same job correct? I mean as long as my router is in front of the switch I can share my cable connection with all the computers connected to the switch, correct? Thanks.

[ColdFusion]

You have a router ... why do you need a switch ? Just use the router. A router does the same thing as a switch in terms of connecting your lan together and sharing your cable connection. Plug your internet into the uplink port and the 3 computers in the other slots numbered 1-4 (assuming you have a 4 port router).

[YeOldeStonecat]

BTW basically I want to share my internet connection, maybe it would have been better just to put the router in the garage but it will do the same job correct? I mean as long as my router is in front of the switch I can share my cable connection with all the computers connected to the switch, correct? Thanks.

Correct....you can uplink many hubs/switches behind the router. They'll just pass on more private LAN IP addresses to the other computers.