Thread: Networking Two Lap Tops Together: Hub Info Please

I guess the only remaining issue is whether or not you want to use the wireless card in your laptop. If so, get something that includes a Wireless Access Point. This will surely be some sort of router.

But, if you're happy with wires, buy a cheap switch. There are many available.

RDN, you've got all the answers you need from frankie and buadhai.
Just make sure you get a switch and not a hub, see:

http://www.duxcw.com/faq/network/hubsw.htm

^while in a larger office i might agree, here we've got two PCs. yeah you're gonna get more collisions but doubtful you're gonna see a big difference in perceived speeds.

But yeah switches are better than Hubs. Not sure of price differences though

I remember running in a (dot-com startup) office wher we grew so fuckin fast, infrastrcture couldn;t keep up with new employees, we had cubicles in hallways fuckin duct taped cables runnin willy-nilly over the floor every where we had fuckin spllitters connecting mini-hubs to mini switches to the patch panel. Fuckin' wire everywhere, looked like we had an explostion in the pasta pot! Server room looked like a electronics surplus store.

Point being, you can get by with alot less than optimum, but at todays prices?

^Imagine that you are copying some video files from one computer to another and at the same time browsing internet (or worser, downloading with bittorrent).

Most ADSL modem/gateways has problem just administrating and keeping the NAT tables up to date. Why should we put some extra burden onto the modem by letting it see a lot of uninteresting data (the copying between the two machines) ?

With two machines?
The argument has little validity.

The amount of traffic two machines can generate at one given moment is hardly enough to warrant the "need" for a switch. if the difference is on a couple hundred baht and one's n the shelf; OK buy it.

Al the internal router has to do is cast off any traffic for the internal subnet or pass all requests to the next hop. There are virtually no routing tables to mantain and mainatining NAT for two different machines connecting to the internet could probably be handled by your $15 casio digital watch.

Don't think you're gonna get a big performance boost on a two machine switched network. Maybe if you've got two machines working on some heavy 3D modeling or an MRI analisys application with the image server sitting on the same subnet you might want to shield the router from that traffic, but two folks downloading music/videos at 384 Kb, 768 Kb or even 1+ KB on a 100MB network is not gonna bog the router down with routing requests it can't handle with absolute ease. Hell, throw in a shared printer even a direct-jet print server.

Yes, Switched is better. But it ain't necessary, or in this config even gonna show it's value.

Last few years folks been all turned on by switches and they are getting cheap, but applications like this really don't truly call for them.


So it's safe to say that a switch will not slow down the net.
By all means buy one. But It ain't necessary. On a two machine 100mb network the difference is negligible.

Originally Posted by buadhai

The good news is that your modem is also a router.

ZyXEL Prestige 660R-61C Compact 1 x 10/100 ADSL Router

The link above has a graphic showing how you'd physically connect things.

This means that to create a network, all you need is a simple hub or switch.

But, if you want your laptop to go wireless you're going to need to buy a device that is also a wireless access point.

I happen to have a Linksys WRT54G. But there are many others out there.

Questions?

(Keep those photos coming....)

Thanks mate - I'm just working through the excellent responses now. I don't NEED to go wireless - it was just a way to free up the Ethernet port on my Acer so I could connect my old Dell lap top to it. But that's a pretty expensive way of doing it. I think the Ethernet hub/switch solution looks excellent.

OK, reading more...

Originally Posted by friscofrankie

There's this thing called Google, maybe you've heard of it?

I googled the name and found a datasheet. Among other things the datasheet had to say was:

IP Management
• SUA (Single User Account)
• Multi-NAT (Network Address Translation)
• Multimedia Support
• VoIP SIP Pass-through
• VPN (IPSec,PPTP,L2TP Pass-through)
• DHCP Server/Relay/Client
• IP Alias
• DNS Proxy
• Dynamic DNS
• UPnP Support

The bolded text above indicates that yes a cheapo four port hub and a couple (well three) of straight Cat-5 cables is all you need to get up and going.
if you need instructions setting it up, there's a User Guide in PDF format here:
http://www.zyxel.co.uk/Products.32.0...Type]=download

Google? That rings a bell . Thanks FF - I'm going to download and read that stuff soon.

Originally Posted by lom

RDN, you've got all the answers you need from frankie and buadhai.
Just make sure you get a switch and not a hub, see:

http://www.duxcw.com/faq/network/hubsw.htm

Excellent link, lom! That's one web page to "Save as...". Much appreciated.

I had a look for hubs and switches in the "computer zone" of Big C, Phuket. They had a Surecom 8 port switch for 1,290 baht. If I can get a 4 port switch for under a 1,000 I think I'll go for it.

Thanks for all your input - you guys have given me some good solutions and excellent reading material. Thanks very much.

Maybe my next thread will be "Why can't I see my old Dell on my Acer network?". But let's hope not! I'll certainly let you all know how I get on.

PS. The "Bus Computer" shop is now selling the D-Link ADSL Router G604T for 3,390 baht. They appear to have got a new load in stock. The old price was 4,590.

Originally Posted by RDN

PS. The "Bus Computer" shop is now selling the D-Link ADSL Router G604T for 3,390 baht. They appear to have got a new load in stock. The old price was 4,590.

Good price, but I wouldn't by that one today.
It will soon be discontinued and that's the reason for the cheap price.
I am using one right now myself, bought it 2 years ago for 5000baht.
D-Link is a good hardware manufacturer, but lousy at software bug upgrades, and really lousy when they are in the end of the product cycle.

Originally Posted by lom

...D-Link is a good hardware manufacturer, but lousy at software bug upgrades, and really lousy when they are in the end of the product cycle.

OK. Any thoughts on a good value for money/reliable Ethernet switch manufacturer? I will Google for it later, but any advice/personal experience as usual gratefully received.

Originally Posted by RDN

If I can get a 4 port switch for under a 1,000 I think I'll go for it.

Didn't I post the price of my one? Surecom - works well, 750B.

Now all I need is someone to tell me how to share the printer...

Linksys, Netgear or D-Link has quite a few models in different price classes to choose from but I have not bought a switch for some years so I can't give you a personal recommendation.

Personally, I would have choosen one which could handle gigabit speed
and has QoS control. QoS is used to prioritize certain type of traffic like VoIP.
D-Link DGS-105 is such a beast but is probably 2000+ baht here.
Cheaper switches around 1000+ baht does not have QoS and are "limited" to 10/100 MBit.

Here is a link with a good assortment of switches :

http://www.directron.com/46ports.html for 10/100
http://www.directron.com/gigabitswitch.html for gigabit

I think you should reconsider the wireless option unless you're on a very tight budget. You've already got the laptop with a wireless card.

I've got wireless here and I love the convenience of being able to sit on the porch with my PowerBook: enjoy the garden, crank out some e-mail, read the news all while listening to music that is streamed wirelessly to the stereo system....

Originally Posted by buadhai

I think you should reconsider the wireless option unless you're on a very tight budget. You've already got the laptop with a wireless card.

I've got wireless here and I love the convenience of being able to sit on the porch with my PowerBook: enjoy the garden, crank out some e-mail, read the news all while listening to music that is streamed wirelessly to the stereo system....

You bugger! Now you're giving me ideas again! I sometimes think of that too... sitting outside, doing some surfing... but I have two external hard drives connected to USB ports - I'd need some kind of USB to Blue Tooth adaptor... or ...???

Do the external drives have to be mounted all the time? Can you not just boot from the internal drive when you're wireless and do your net surfing without the external drives?

Originally Posted by buadhai

Do the external drives have to be mounted all the time? Can you not just boot from the internal drive when you're wireless and do your net surfing without the external drives?

Yes I could... but nearly all of my "stuff" is on the externals. I still have about 25 GB free on the internal though, so storing downloaded stuff would not be a problem. Hmm, food for thought!

The trouble is, there's never enough:

Never enough storage
Never enough memory
Never enough bandwidth
Never enough speed
Never enough toys
Never enough time....

I think there must be a Dhama lesson in here somewhere.