Possible to have 2 eth ports in PC for internet and other PC?

[Shampoo]

I have another PC which is primarily used as backup storage and I'm fed up of constantly having to take the Ethernet cable out of the router and putting it in the other PC to access the files. Is it possible to add another Ethernet port to the main PC and select it's connection to quickly get access to the secondary PC or is there a device that would more quicker facilitate this requirement? A little switch for example? Router has no more ports so need a solution that isn't too cumbersome!

 

[MissChief]

You can buy another network card but I'd probably just buy a cheap, unmamaged switch. Less than £10 these days.

 

[Armageus]

Yep you just need a network switch, one cable from router to switch, and then you can plug in another 4 devices with something like the below

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x TP-Link 5-port Desktop Gigabit Switch, 5 101001000M RJ45 ports, plastic case (TL-SG1005D V9) (SKU: NW-174-TP) = £13.99

Total: £17.99 (includes delivery: £3.99)​

 

[Shampoo]

That would allow PC A to directly contact PC B? This isn't just a signal splitter or switch to let each device separately connect online?

 

[Armageus]

No it allows everything plugged into to connect to each other and the internet, the same as plugging directly into the ports on the router

 

[Shampoo]

Perfect That'll do the job I need!

 

[bledd]

You won't notice any difference in performance. Unless you're copying files from another location to both at the same time at a gigabit. And then you'd only really notice in benchmarks, not in real world web use etc.

Switches are awesome.