Need more ports!

Belloni · 22 Oct 2013 at 22:38

Hi all,

So my netgear router has 4 ports but I need an extra one but I don't know the best way about it?!

I've read about a switch?! Or is there a good 5/6 port, priced reasonably well out there?

I have my PC, my mums PC, my dads PC, the TV and then my PS3, all requiring a wired connection (well it's what we prefer).

bremen1874 · 22 Oct 2013 at 22:47

You do want switch. You just need to decide between 5 or 8 ports, and whether you want Gigabit or not.

If you aren't bothered about Gigabit something like this would be fine.

Belloni · 22 Oct 2013 at 22:55

Thank you for the speed response.

I'm a novice when it comes to these switches, so i'm guessing I plug an ethernet cable from my router into this, and it just extends it so I can plug in extra cables into the switch and it acts as a router?!

Sorry if this is a stupid question!

bremen1874 · 22 Oct 2013 at 23:02

Yes, you just connect it to the router with an Ethernet cable. You can then use any of the remaining ports on either device as usual. It'll work without requiring any configuration.

Glanza · 23 Oct 2013 at 07:37

Would recommend you get a gig switch for the small increase in cost if your only after a 5 or 8 port switch.

DJMK4 · 23 Oct 2013 at 08:38

Yep, just use a port on your netgear to uplink to the new switch, job done.

Remember though if you are buying a gigabit switch, and you want your LAN devices to be able communicate over gigabit, then plug all your devices in the gigabit switch, otherwise say if you have PC 1 & 2 on your netgear, and PC 3 & 4 on the gigabit switch, PC 3 & 4 will only be able to communicate with 1 & 2 over 10/100.

So have your netgear router connected to the internet, then have an Ethernet cable from port 1 on netgear router, to port 1 on the gigabit switch, then have your lan devices (if you can) plugged in to the gigabit switch if you want to fully utilize gigabit LAN speeds.

If you dont need this, then its not a requirement.