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Hooking up two things to internet simultaneously.
JC of DI
I think we're fucked up.I know I am.Registered User regular
I think we're fucked up.I know I am.Registered User regular
I know - router, right?
I've currently got a setup going where I have to swap out cables to my cable box if I want to either be online on the computer or on my xbox.
I would like to just finally not have to do that anymore, but routers seem to be fairly spendy from a broke college kid's perspective. I really don't need any of the services of a router's software since I usually turned most of those things off when I did live in places where I had a router.
Basically, is there something that just works like a splitter for ethernet cables? Where would I find such a thing if so? I'd like to purchase it offline if possible - I've got a Walmart, OfficeMax, Target, and a handful of small computer repair places around my town.
I've currently got a setup going where I have to swap out cables to my cable box if I want to either be online on the computer or on my xbox.
I would like to just finally not have to do that anymore, but routers seem to be fairly spendy from a broke college kid's perspective. I really don't need any of the services of a router's software since I usually turned most of those things off when I did live in places where I had a router.
Basically, is there something that just works like a splitter for ethernet cables? Where would I find such a thing if so? I'd like to purchase it offline if possible - I've got a Walmart, OfficeMax, Target, and a handful of small computer repair places around my town.
JC of DI on
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No seriously what's your question?
My question is if there is something other than a router that would allow me to have two things hooked up simultaneously to the 'net.
Like if you have a line run for cable and you need to offshoot another cable to a second room, you don't need to buy a box for 30 bucks to send out that second cable, you just buy a cheap little thing that has input to two outputs. Is there something like that for Cat-5 that would work?
The reason television cable is different is it's a single stream of one-way data. All of the TVs in your house get the same cable stream containing all of your channels, and they simply filter the frequency they want to read (i.e. the channel). Since it's all the same, you can split it all you want.
If you've got a spare NIC floating around you could put a second one in your PC, run that to your XBox, and use the PC as a router. Windows will let you bridge the connections. A wired NIC will probably run you less than a router will anyway. The downside is, of course, you'll need your computer to be on if you want your XBox to see the internet.
A hub would work fine too if you set all the addresses right (at least, I'm pretty sure this is the case, I've never bothered trying it). I doubt the price difference is all that big between a hub and router anymore though...what's the price of a consumer router, $30? That's probably mostly for shipping it to the Wal Mart.
EDIT: A hub also basically does what you're describing. They're basically multiport repeaters, if they're powered, and will send whatever comes in one port out all the others. This isn't usually the best thing since now everything on your network is seeing traffic from everything else, and discarding most of it.
...looking around, though, most of the hubs I see are talking about 10BaseT, which makes them old. I just don't think anybody uses them anymore because the costs of switching traffic are absolutely negligible, so everybody just uses routers anymore.
But in all seriousness, I got a 5 port router, not a switch or a hub, for $20 about 5 years ago. If you can't afford that, skip the 30 case of Natty Ice for a weekend, hell or ask a friend or your dorm floor, someone probably has a second one sitting around. And then you have exactly what you want, for a very reasonable small cost, and if you care about issues like properly forwarding ports, the issue isn't complex as all hell as your other options would be.
tl;dr - suck it up and get a router.
Routers can be had for under $50. Hell, a couple I just looked up on Newegg are around $25, though I can't vouch for their quality. You can get a decent Linksys or Netgear for around $40. Even for a broke college student that doesn't seem like it's too spendy. You could also check around Craigslist and see if you can get a used one for a good deal.
A hub alone would require that you get another IP address assigned from your school or ISP, which may or may not be simple.
Though as suggested, if you are completely broke and can't afford the $50 or less for a router, you can do what ProPatriaMori suggests by getting another network card for your PC and sharing the connection.
OfficeMax lists this network card for $15. Routers at WalMart and OfficeMax seem to start at $35-$40.
Or, now that I actually think about it and look there are indeed Ethernet splitters. Amazon has one. These are basically unpowered hubs.
Looking at WalMart.com under ethernet I also see a NIC (labeled "Ethernet Adapter") and a couple "ethernet switches" for about $25.
Take your pick, OP.
router. Keep in mind they generally last about 4-6 years, if you take care of them.
extra ethernet card in your computer, and let the computer share the internet connection. requires computer to be on.
If you still want to go the other way:
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=CX-8169SC&cat=NET That goes for about $8.50. Then I guess you would need a cross over cable to run from your x-box to your computer. http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=24507-DT&cpc=SCH ($8.99)
Just some friendly advice:
Go with the router man, option 2 seems like a headache. Its probably worth the extra $10 just to use the router.
But yeah, if your connection won't support a switch as-is, you're better off just getting a router. If you get one that supports wireless and you aren't going to use any wireless, you should probably just turn that off.
If the ISP supports that.
The hassle and headaches that come from using an extra Ethernet card and setting up all the fuckton of routing (or even worse, trying to get Internet Connection Sharing to work in windows) are not worth it. Wash someone's car and take the $10 to buy a router.
A switch will probably not cut it in this scenario, there are very few ISPs that give out multiple IPs for that to work.
Some ISPs are starting to give out DSL/Cable modems with a single port out, but they still perform network address translation (NAT). In those cases, a simple switch will work, since the modem is capable of translating several internal addresses into one out. HOWEVER, this is the exception, rather than the rule. Unless you know for a fact that your modem does NAT, and you haven't paid for a business-class connection where they issue you more than one static IP address, you need to either use the ICS that Windows provides (which means extra NIC, and the PC has to be on), or get a router. The router does the NAT for you.
Also - the NAT provides a layer of security that a directly connected Windows PC cannot match (at least, not without extra software).
I don't believe it - I'm on my THIRD PS3, and my FIRST XBOX360. What the heck?
No, no, no, no. And no. All this allows you to do is run two computers/devices over a single length of cable, until the other end of the cable at which point you need another thing to decouple them back into two ports. It will not allow you to hook up two computers/devices to a single ethernet port and have it work.
Since one of the reviewers at Amazon can certainly explain it better than me:
Your modem has an IP on one network, it connects whatever's hooked up to it directly to that network, giving it said IP.
A switch or hub wouldn't allow all devices connected to that modem to share the internet connection, since both devices can't share the same IP.
In lamen's terms, a router connects to the modem, connecting to the ISP network, then creates a second network for your local machines connected to your local ports/wireless, assigning them individual IPs. It then routes the data between the networks.
If you're a student, you probably have housemates; why not get a wireless router and split with one or more of your housemates for internet access? Saves you money in the long run, and as long as nobody's going crazy with the torrenting, saves you a shedload of money. This is what I did last year, and aside from some issues with my ISP, we had very few problems sharing the net between four of us. I even installed the DD-WRT custom firmware on our router and restricted torrent traffic to certain times in order to make sure that one particular housemate didn't rape our connection.
It could not have been easier.
I have yet to come across a router around here which is less than $40. It's not a lot of money per se, but given that I don't need the software firewall and security measures that usually come packed in with them I can't help but feel like part of that $40 is just going to waste.
Still though - it does look to be the simplest option so I'll just start setting aside some money and try and find a cheap one eventually here. Thanks again, all.
Trust me, it's not going to waste. It's not particularly powerful itself, but more robust than anything you'll get software side. The $40 isn't for the firewall portion of the NAT router, believe you me.
What you've described is a network hub. It's a non powered device that you plug everything into, and everyone can see everyone else. The next level up is a switch. It does the same thing, however does it more intelligently. Next come the Routing switches. These are commonly just called "Routers" but they're not true routers in the classic definition. This is your Linksys WRTG type and Dlink devices that you can pick up relatively cheap. (I just saw some for $25 CAN yesterday)
The long and the short of it is this. If your ISP will assign you two ip addresses, once for your computer, and one for your Xbox, then a hub or a switch will work just fine. If they won't, then you'll need to get a router) LinkSys or Dlink are by far the most common ones.
Also, taking into consideration that these home routers are so cheap, you might not be able to find a hub anymore.. that it's probably simplest and most cost effective to go with one of these home routers.
Here is one that will work just fine for $21US and free shipping..
Zonet ZSR0104CP 10/100Mbps Broadband Router w/4port Switc
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833130014
If you want to hook up 2 things to the internet, at the same time, without any fuss of any kind from device level to your ISP, you have to have a router, there isnt really any other solution that is that robust and that cheap. Much in the same way if you want to take a shit, you need toilet paper - sure you could tear a few pages out of a note book but that just seems ill-advised.
Again, if you can't come up with $35 for a router of any sort, you have serious financial issues and you should probably pawn the xbox. Or you know, pass on the next dime bag or two, or 30 case of coors, problem solved.
Just picking nits, but aren't hubs usually powered, as they have to send that one signal to multiple ports. They also create packet collision. Though with just two devices that may not be an issue.
Because he's a college student and statistically college students go to school with laptops and they have built in wifi cards these days.
Just because he doesn't use the wifi - many dorms/campuses are not entirely wireless - doesnt mean it isnt there. What it does mean is I would more hesitant to suggest an expansion card for a slot he doesnt have, and NICs for PC card slots are harder to come by...
Hubs are just wiring concentrators. There is no electronics in them at all, hence no need for power. It's also true that they don't do anything for collisions, which is why they generally don't run at full duplex. 100 half, or 10 half is what your nic will set itself to. If the NIC goes to Full Duplex, then it turns off CSMA/CD and nothing really works well.
There ARE passive hubs which are little more than a patch panel in a nice little box, but I've been messing with this stuff starting with home hobbyist stuff as far back as '96 or so. The ONLY passive hub I've ever seen was a broken passive token ring hub that a college teacher brought into class one day and is of course completely different than an ethernet hub.
That said, you'd be hard pressed to even find a hub for sale these days, so it's largely irrelevant.
Eh, I've seen NICs for very very cheap - they're the kind of thing you can find lying on the "clearance pile of crap for $10" at any microcenter/office depot
However, when you add in the pain in the ass dealing with setting up the routing to work correctly, it's likely worth it to just get a router (ESPECIALLY if you're trying to hook up a 360 to live through this; I have an insanely pain in the ass time connecting to my friend who has his 360 hooked up like this, because it requires a large amount of fiddling to get the 360 to believe it can connect well through the firewall settings on the two connections)
I've got one or two kicking around. Little 4 port passive hubs that were built prior to the integration of the repeaters. I still remember the day when repeaters and bridges were separate devices. :P 5-4-3 rules and fun stuff like that.