Linksys Cable broadband Router problems!

[monkeynuts]

Is there a simple solution to this problem?
-one of the 4 ports on the router is faulty, therefore it is causing chaos in our house when 4 people want to use it at once!

Linksys and Ebuyer are very slow to get back to me so i was wondering if there is a way to split one of the ports further at little expense?

Thanks in advance

Sam

[gab2001uk]

Buy an 8 port switch, plug it into a working port on the router and you then have 10 working outlets..Like This (http://www.gab2001uk.com/images/router.jpg)

[monkeynuts]

i had hoped that would be a solution.
Whats the cheapest switch i can get? as long as i can run a total of 4 computers that would be sufficient.
Many thanks
Sam

[gab2001uk]

I use a switch as I often copy large video files (2 - 40GB) over the LAN, and a switch allows 100Mb/s, but for normal internet use a 10Mb/s hub is quite sufficient, should get one for around £20.
PCWorld has one for £29.99 Here (http://www.pcworld.co.uk/martprd/store/pcw_page.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@1594950203.107420564 8@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfadckfjlghfgcflgceggdhhmdfho.0&page=Product&sku=228362&category_oid=-9978)

[monkeynuts]

Thanks graham, your help is much appreciated, just one more question!

sorry for being a pain, but i'm new to networking and learning as i go along!

But if a switch can split a broadband internet source from a router, why does the router need to be there in the first place, i.e why don't i need another router to divide it up? is setting up a switch as simple as it sounds?

I appreciate that you are correct about using a switch, but have always been puzzled by this fact!

Thanks again

Sam

[hornydragon]

If router is like mine connect hub to port 5 as this is a specific uplink linksys manual should help you out. I am having my own issues with Ebuyer and linksys at the moment! WPC11 V4 cards dont work with the PCMCIA compatible router! V3 and earlier only and Ebuyer sent me a V4 card!

[gab2001uk]

The purpose of a router is to separate 2 networks: The Internet and Your LAN. The router provides each of the computers on your LAN with an internal private IP address, often in the range 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.254, so they can communicate with each other freely, but are forced to communicate the internet by the IP assigned to you by your ISP. This address can be found using sites such as http://checkip.dyndns.org

If you add another router to your LAN, you would effectively block access to the computers on the other side of the router. A hub simply distributes the network requests to all connected, a switch actively switches communication to obtain the fastest speeds.

Connection of either is a case of simply plugging it in.

[monkeynuts]

Hornydragon, graham

Thanks for the replies, my linksys box has an uplink port and i now know the purpose of the router! If i had not wanted a LAN and just a sharing of the IP address from the ISP, would a switch have done the job on its own?

Hornydragon,

Who are you sending messages to regarding your problems?
I have left an eNote on ebuyer and emailed linksys support UK with no luck.

Should ebuyer supply me with a new router, or are linksys responsible for returns?

Mnay thanks

Sam

[gab2001uk]

ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) in its simplest form consists of a dial-up and 2 PCs linked by a crossover cable to their network cards. You can share the internet via ICS in Win98SE and above, or a third party Proxy software. The computer is effectively the "router" here.

If you have a Cable Modem/ADSL, you can use a similar arrangement (with a second network card if connected via ethernet). The downside is this computer has to stay operational for the sharing to work. Some ADSL modems are a simple router as well (with one port) and can be connected directly to a hub or switch for sharing over a LAN. AFAIK no cable modems have this facility.

[hornydragon]

well a mate who was installing it rang Linksys US Tech support who said Linksys UK should swap it, with a faulty unit then Ebuyer should swap it. do they have an online returns button? It took me 72 hours to get a reply from 3 emails to dabs.com about a fax that had not been delivered so i am going to wait for linksys first.
As graham says with a router 1 PC needs to be on for others to access the net i have a few mates runnning this, IMHO Router is a much better system especial as it can be remotely located like if you have the Cable modem in your STB in the lounge.