Is it a network switch I need?

[tw87]

I've recently had an extension done and I put network cables to every room. I have a computer room with 2 network ports plus LAN cable running to 3 other rooms.

Altogether I have 8 LAN cables and in my BT homehub I only have 3 ports. What's my best way to ensure I have access to internet on all computers/boxes?

I'm no network expert but is it a network switch I need to connect to the router and then on to all the computers/boxes?

Any help is appreciated.

[Egren71]

Either a switch or a hub will do what you want but a switch is probably a better choice.
A switch is essentially the same as a hub, but the switch has a bit more intelligence.
A switch learns and only passes the data on to the port that needs it where as a hub passes all data on to all ports. So if you are passing a lot of data around you home network then due to data collisions the hub speed can slow down where as the switch might not slow down, unless all communication is going to the same device.

A reasonably good explanation of switches and hubs is here i don't think the router explanation is quite as clear.

[tw87]

It will all be going to the router for internet connections. Do u reckon it'll slow that down. Are the eBay ones ok?

[yerman]

yes i can confirm a switch purchased through ebay works perfect

5 Port 10/100 Fast Ethernet Network LAN Switch hub RJ45 | eBay

[tw87]

yes i can confirm a switch purchased through ebay works perfect

5 Port 10/100 Fast Ethernet Network LAN Switch hub RJ45 | eBay

So basically I run one lan cable from my router to the switch and then all the computers/boxes to the switch? It does the rest itself?

[yerman]

yes thats correct, the switch also requires an additional mains socket...

[Egren71]

If all you computers are going through the switch/hub to the internet then wether you use a switch or hub should make no difference as unless you have a very fast network connection 50meg or more the thing that will limit your speed is your broadband connection.
Most switches/hubs are 10/100 although there are 1000 - Gigabit devices nowadays.
Switches are better at staying close to the 100meg connection speed than hubs, which depending on how many devices are connected and how much they are talking can get down to much lower speeds. It would take some strange usage to get the speed down below the 10 - 20 Meg internet speeds (and i am assuming you are in the UK) that majority of users in the UK are sold. And a lot of the time due to distance from the exchange what most people get is much lower that the quoted figure. Test your speed here.
I generally assume that if i am using a hub on a normal network, for a 100Meg quoted speed i will get about half. See info here
The only reason you might have problems with a Hub is if you are streaming data within you network on multiple computers.
Having said all of the above it is quite hard to find Hubs nowadays as Switches are so cheap but i thought the info might be useful.

As far as connecting a Switch/Hub to a Router goes there will, on a decent Switch/Hub, normally be a port labelled Uplink (Or just Link) that is separate though perhaps only slightly from the other ports on the device. The Uplink port is the one that should be connected to the Router. The Uplink port may have a button that needs to be depressed to put it into Uplink mode or it may be auto Uplink.
The Switch/Hub should take no other configuring.

Just as an aside if you plug a Switch/Hub into your Router the remaining ports on you Router are still useable.

[Sepiraph]

The question is one of scale, for your scenario which I assume you have 10 PCs or so, I would go with a switch (since the price for a switch is so low nowadays anyway, there is really no reason to use a hub).

For a hub, all the PCs connected to the hub share the total switching capability of the device (hence on a 10mb or 100mb hub, the more PCs you add, the less bandwidth is available to each port).

For a switch, each port will run at the device switching capability (nowadays the low end runs mainly 100mbs full duplex in the LAN).

see Direct Systems, Inc. - Moving & Storage Software for a Web Enabled Worldfor more detail explanation.

[smokin]

so this means put the switch someplace in the middle of the set up and use the router for part of the devices used and the switch box for the other set of PC's you use...this way maybe you have a free port on each side for future use or another switch.