Router/Switch question

[nickburns]

hi, i am alittle confused when it comes to routers and switches because i just use a hub and leased 2 ip's for my home network. So if anyone could break it down for me it would be appreciated very much and feel free to stupify it for me. From what i gather the one you would use to split an IP over a network would be a router? and dont most/some routers have built in switches? thanx for any help.

 

[DannyLove]

yup, you got it. Routers take 1 IP and distribute others to other computer allowing your other computer on the network to be connected online from using 1 ip. this saves you money from these damn DSL company's that sell multiple ips where as all you need is 1 for a small network.

i recommed you go here to get some more info:
http://www.dslreports.com/, and http://www.practicallynetworked.com/

have a nice day/night

Danny

 

[SnoopCat]

arent you, "Nick Burns, the company's computer guy!"?


and

MOVE,


and

YOUR WELCOME


btw: Hows chang?

 

[Tsaico]

I am not sure what the last guy is talking about, but here is the topic as I understand it.
Many routers have built in switches, but not all. It is a good selling opint, so they will make it clear if they have one or not. The next thing is that a switch is similar to a hub, but there are some major differences. For instance, a hub sends the information packets to all ports. This can cause extra traffic that isn't need. A switch will send the information only to the port that te packets need to go to. Also, hubs all share the same bandwidth. So a four port 100baset will actually only have 25mbs transfers. Switches all have independant ports, so the 100Mbps is for EACh port. Then most switches also handle full duplexing (sometimes called 2000MBs, though they really just add the traffic both ways) As for the router, it just directs the traffic to the computer that requires it. Though, I would suggest you keep the two seperate. Get a cheap router, and spend more on the switch. If you leased another IP from the DSL company, then all you need to get is a switch and you are good to go. Good luck.

 

[DannyLove]

<< If you leased another IP from the DSL company, then all you need to get is a switch and you are good to go. Good luck. >>



?????????????? shouldnt a router be the best way to go for 1 IP from a DSL comp.
or is this some other topic, and im talking outta no where......(??? hehe)

Danny

 

[stonythug]

Seems the best to me next to setting up a linux/unix server. Other options are Windows 98 Service Pack 2 has internet sharing but you need 2 ethernet cards in whatever comp will be the server. There are other internet sharing programs out there that work ok, but not great. I think if you go to tucows.com and look for modem sharing software you'll find some. I got one program from there that worked ok, but was far from perfect. Now I've got the Asante router and it's seems to be great. Took about 10 minutes to set up and now me and my roommate are sharing our dsl. Most people just don't want to fork over the ~$100 for a router I think. Plus they really just started targetting the home users in the last year or two, since cable modems and dsl have become so popular.

[I meant to tell you though, that I'm currently having some trouble hosting an ftp from behind my router just in case that is important to you. I mapped the port and everything and I can't seem to find what I'm doing wrong. I'm almost sure it's user error, but I can't understand why it won't work which is why I'm going to post a question right now]