Splitting Lan line with one Lan cable

bloodline76 · 31 Aug 2010 at 21:01

I was wondering if it is possible to split a lan cable line into two lan cables?

I have one lan cable down stairs but have two devices. Can I just buy a switch that would do that?

Thanks

Makhaira · 31 Aug 2010 at 21:03

You need a hub or a switch, which will work just fine. What you can't do though is just try splicing two cables together.

benftl · 31 Aug 2010 at 21:07

You could buy a cheap switch and put it downstairs, that'll work. The other thing to do is split the lan cable (but you'd be limited to 100mb on each link) which is easy enough to do as Cat5 contains four pairs, where only two pairs are used on a 100mb link.

K.C. Leblanc · 31 Aug 2010 at 21:07

Easiest way is to use a switch at the other end.

There is another option, 100m/b ethernet (not gigabit) only uses half of the wires in cat5. So you can fit "cat 5 economisers" at BOTH ends.

Makhaira · 31 Aug 2010 at 21:11

His motherboard is gigabit, so I presume he'll be wanting to maintain those speeds?

benftl · 31 Aug 2010 at 21:13

Not necessarily, the connection might be for other devices that don't support 1Gb, media players or games consoles etc.

It would be best to employ a small switch at the end of the cable, but the option of splitting it is there, at least.

bloodline76 · 31 Aug 2010 at 22:09

Thanks for all the replies. Could you recommend a hub/switch? Which ever would be better.

manbearpig · 31 Aug 2010 at 22:11

Anything like this would be fine, although thats out of stock, try checking the bay.

bloodline76 · 31 Aug 2010 at 22:14

manbearpig said:
Anything like this would be fine, although thats out of stock, try checking the bay.

What about this Netgear FS105?

Am i looking for a particular make/model?

Duke · 31 Aug 2010 at 22:20

Any cheap switch would be fine.

manbearpig · 31 Aug 2010 at 22:27

bloodline76 said:
What about this Netgear FS105?

Am i looking for a particular make/model?

Yes that will be fine, like Duke said any switch will do the job.

bloodline76 · 31 Aug 2010 at 22:34

manbearpig said:
Yes that will be fine, like Duke said any switch will do the job.

So cheap and cheerful isnt a problem as long as its 10/100?

What about this one?

OcUK Value 8 Port 10/100Mbps Ethernet Switch [GS-118P] Would prefer a 5 port one tho

PhillyDee · 31 Aug 2010 at 23:14

benftl said:
Not necessarily, the connection might be for other devices that don't support 1Gb, media players or games consoles etc.

It would be best to employ a small switch at the end of the cable, but the option of splitting it is there, at least.

I have this, one to run my modem to the router in the comms cabinet, the other to send it back again for a 10/100 switch

.

bloodline76 · 4 Sep 2010 at 00:16

Can I use an old router as a switch? I have a netgear one and o2 box.

Kotu · 4 Sep 2010 at 01:47

should be able to, you might need to login on it and switch off any dhcp stuff though.

kg648 · 4 Sep 2010 at 07:16

You can always get a splitter if you have no sockets spare

We have used this a few times in non priority bandwidth parts of the network, never had a problem with them.